GUENOT PHILIPPE I discovered this fantastic film more than thirty years ago. The first week of its release and I still feel astonished by this first viewing. It is one of the best film ever, all genres confounded. I did not consider the Rutger Hauer's character as the devil side of the hero, but only as a mad man who desired to be stopped in his bloody odyssey. he used the young man to kill him. That seems so obvious to me. And this is also the second film starring Hauer and Jennifer Jason Leigh after the tremendous FLESH AND BLOOD, a couple of years earlier.

Leofwine_draca This unstoppable psycho on the loose film has strong links to two other classic thrillers which came before it: Rutger Hauer, as the indestructible maniac on the loose, has some of Schwarzenegger's menace as THE TERMINATOR; and the chase through the deserts is a lot like DUEL, except with Hauer replacing the mysterious truck. THE HITCHER has a great pace which just doesn't let up until the very end of the film, and all the time you can feel events building towards a showdown as more and more violence erupts on to the screen.Written by Eric Red (BODY PARTS), the plot is both intelligent and intriguing, so you just sit back and marvel at the way Hauer manages to implicate Howell more and more in the various crimes he commits, the most memorable moment being the shooting of the two policemen (just after Howell says he will give himself up), for which of course Howell gets the blame. The feeling of helplessness against this psycho is done well, and Howell is believable as the boy caught up in all the violence. He's no Bruce Willis hero type, but just an everyday person who screams and sweats a lot and barely manages to survive against Hauer's relentless onslaught of knifings, shootings, massacres, and brutality.It is Hauer's performance which sticks in the mind however, and it is a career-best role. Hauer is perfectly cast as the maniac, a sadistic psychopath who coldly kills with no remorse; his is a superb, text-book example of what a true psychopath is like, with the bulging eyes, maniacally grinning face, and heartless jokes. Hauer does his job so well that you almost begin to wish that he does win out against Howell's snivelling, wimpish hero at the end, as he has a lot of charisma in this film.The pair are joined by an accomplished supporting cast, including a young turn from Jennifer Jason Leigh, who brings a touch of warmth to the story. The sheriff from THE BLOB also turns up as, yes, you guessed it, a sheriff, and Armin Shimerman, best known to sci-fi fans for his role in STAR TREK, has a tiny role as an interrogator. There are lots and lots of cool action scenes to move things along, with cars bouncing, rolling and exploding, lots of shooting, and scenes of carnage where the blood does flow quite thickly (the moment where Howell discovers a dog, licking the blood from a corpse, is truly horrific).There are many moments to savour in the film and which stay in the memory long after viewing. The bit where Hauer nonchalantly shoots a helicopter out of the sky to even the odds; when Howell finds a severed finger in his burger and chips; the abandoned car, with blood dripping out of the door (a sudden moment of subtlety here which is far more gut-churning than more visceral images would have been); the bloody carnage in a police station; and the set-piece at the end. These moments of inspired originality are what help to propel THE HITCHER into classic status. And it'll certainly make you think twice the next time to see someone thumbing a lift along the highway...

PimpinAinttEasy Dear Quentin Tarantino,I know it will never happen. But I urge you to remake The Hitcher. It would be amazing. The film has all the elements that you could expand upon. A young man driving across the country. We get the beautiful long shots of the highways. He drinks coffee from a flask. Must be cozy driving early in the morning across a deserted highway and drinking coffee. Of course, then it all falls apart when he meets this serial killing hitcher and has to fight him off. The film turns into a typical genre flick.But things pick up again when he meets a cool and smart waitress (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Their exchanges after she makes him a burger and fries are interesting. I am not surprised you cast Leigh in The Hateful Eight. What a terrific actor she was/is.But the best elements of this film are not expanded upon. The film needed a risk taking gender bending director like you. Don't get me wrong. I loved the action scenes. Rutger Hauer looked menacing. Though the novelty wore off after a while because the character was so silly. It is an entertaining film with many interesting bits. But you wish the director had taken more liberties.Best Regards, Pimpin.(6/10)

NateWatchesCoolMovies I feel like Robert Harmon's The Hitcher is a misunderstood, under appreciated film. A lot of folks see it as either a crass piece of exploitation, or a run of the mill slasher film, a by the numbers product of its decade without distinction or class. They couldn't be more wrong. Yes it's a horror film. Yes it is brutal, sadistic and unflinching with its jarring violence. But it's crafted with such an ambient, graceful beauty and paced aesthetic that makes it truly stand out. It preys on our ancestral, archetypal fears of the unknown, the unnameable, and the desolate grey undefined ares in our world where sparse life thrives, the perfect breeding ground for an evil force to stalk people. In this case the evil takes the former of a mysterious, murderous hitchhiker played magnificently by Rutger Hauer. This is one of two towering, biblically epic performances that made his career (the other being Blade Runner), and he is a seething diabolical wonder in the role. He plays him initially as an endearing, quiet gentleman who quickly morphs into a deranged, blue eyed angel of death, stalking a terrified young man (C. Thomas Howell) across the dusty back roads of the southwest. The film walks a perfect line between chaotic blood and metal vehicular violence, tense, intimately frightening conversations and moody, dreamy interludes of eerie Vistas set to a haunting score by Mark Isham. Jennifer Jason Leigh has an a adorable extended cameo as a poor waitress inadvertently caught up in the mayhem. Written by Eric Red (Near Dark) who has a flair for brutal scenes, the film flies wild with a gut punch gritty bunch of kills and shocking stuff, which run parallel to the ponderous and atmospheric ambiance which is counter intuitive to the way most horror films of this type operate, but works just amazingly here, creating a dread soaked, lonely, inexorably doom laden horror masterpiece that stays in your dreams long after you see it, especially popping up in your mind on random road trips to desolate areas;)