Ryder's on the Storm

The Hitcher (Robert Harmon, 1986)

The inability to unironically distinguish between the real world and fantastical liberties in film never gets old. On the other side of the coin, adopting the "Just switch your brain off!" mentality is often a means to ignoring your own honest conclusions and joining the hive mind. Robert Harmon's feature length debut - The Hitcher (1986), manages to steer away from both these approaches. Never does his film even attempt to answer its own implausibilities, but neither is it an insult to one's intelligence. This is crucially noteworthy. As a result, The Hitcher is an almost dreamlike film in an unsettlingly brutal world.

This extends further with The Hitcher not adhering fully to one genre label to categorise it. Flirting with elements that would label it as horror, western, action, and psychological thriller. Simply put: The Hitcher is not an easy film to box in conveniently.

Inspired by The Doors song Riders on the Storm, screenwriter Eric Red turned the lyrics pertaining to a serial killing hitch hiker into a smart and resourceful, supernatural like character as the film's monstrous antagonist. The attraction to this particular individual is he desires to be stopped; possibly the one shred of humanity left inside him. Therefore, he's tasked himself with appointing and grooming an unwitting apprentice; Jim Halsey (C. Thomas Howell), a naive young man on a long distance drive to California, who made the mistake of offering him a lift to relieve his boredom. "My mother told me never to do this!" says Jim to the rain-soaked reaper in a duster about to get in his car. He should have listened to his mother. 

The Hitcher contains a phenomenal character arc for its protagonist; evolving from a bland do-gooder, to being completely broken and suicidal, to going beyond the rules like his antagonist. By the final act of the film, the predator and his prey are inexplicably linked together and share an inexplicable psychic bond.

John Ryder, the film's almost supernatural like antagonist, is blessed with Rutger Hauer providing what's unquestionably a career defining performance. His cold stare is like death incarnate. A maniacal grin hinting at someone in a completely different plane from us all. Hauer's lines are equally chilling; particularly his exchange between the unlucky Jim early in the film:

Jim Halsey: What do you want?
*John starts laughing*
Jim Halsey: What's so funny?
John Ryder: That's what the other guy said.
Jim Halsey: What other guy?
John Ryder: That guy back there, the one we just passed. The guy who picked me up before you did.
Jim Halsey: That was him in there?
John Ryder: Sure it was. He couldn't have walked very far.
Jim Halsey: Why's that?
John Ryder: Because I cut off his legs... and his arms... and his head... and I'm going to do the same to you.

Ryder's words aren't hollow either. Granted, many of his sadistic kills are done off screen and implied; like the murdering of a poor family who unfortunately picked him up. One of many notably horrific scenes in the film, but never graphically shown. There for us to psychologically play out and fill in the gaps.

Diner waitress Nash (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is the only person Jim initially encounters who appears sympathetic to Jim's plight as a suspected mass murderer. She's obviously unsure whether he is being truthful, but she goes all in once a zealous law official intends to execute Jim whilst being arrested. An endeavour that eventually leads later on to the most memorable scene involving a heavy goods truck and its trailer.

Harmon's film is brutally nihilistic and downbeat in tone, sharing many obvious elements with China Lake (1983); his short film starring the ubiquitous Charles Napier as a sadistic patrol cop on vacation. The tremendous sense of despair and isolation are constantly enforced thanks to its arid setting and remote locations. Even when Jim and Nash find temporary respite in a motel room, Ryder is able to hide in the shadows like a stealth like ninja. Hence, one of the many reasons why the antagonist can be compared to some malevolent supernatural being.

As an avid believer in every creative artist possessing at least one good film, book or album in them, Robert Harmon confirms this theory as his debut feature is a bonafide eighties classic. Thus, there's no point moaning about his other films, largely consisting of a load of TV movies starring Tom Selleck, or helming one of Jean-Claude Van Damme's lesser efforts from the height of his stardom. He shot his load with producing what is arguably one of the best road films ever made. A phenomenal feat for a relative unknown at the time.

At a lean ninety-seven minutes, The Hitcher successfully manages to say heaps in its run time. Astonishingly (compared to today's film making), it conveys various complex nuances with its characters without delving into expository dumps. Clever transitions, such as the sounds of gunshots synced with Ryder tapping on Jim's car window, lead to another nightmare scenario for our protagonist. The icing on the cake is Mark Isham's hauntingly sparse synth score that compliments the film to great effect.

Won't resort to plugging the long awaited Second Sight release of The Hitcher, but I will say that I never realised how good John Seale's cinematography was until seeing it in 4K. A substantial contrast to how I remember it on VHS. It's amazing how striking the locations look, particularly with the desert hills in the background. What's also beneficial, are the intense close up shots, which give a Sergio Leone claustrophobic flair to the film. Perhaps the best shot might be the panning close up of Hauer getting up after being pushed out of Jim's car and freezes to a Dutch angle (no pun intended) of Hauer staring into the distance. Little surprise Seale eventually went on to photograph another classic set in the arid desert, the magnificent action film classic Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). 

Can you believe The Hitcher was hated by the critics? The overrated, even from beyond the grave, Roger Ebert was appalled and described it as being really about "gay sadomasochism", while his partner Gene Siskel was hilariously outraged by a graphic dismemberment that wasn't even in the film. Jokers like them might have contributed to the film being a commercial flop, but much like Brian De Palma's Scarface (1983), The Hitcher found a new lease of life on home video and became a cult classic. Its legacy would result in C. Thomas Howell returning again in The Hitcher II: I've Been Waiting (2003), a film I never even knew existed until only quite recently, while king of overblown and hyperstylised action Michael Bay would produce a 2007 remake with Sean Bean as the titular villain.

To conclude: The Hitcher is an undeniable classic film. One that showcases the late Rutger Hauer's acting talent and presence to great effect. Deliberately enigmatic, whilst not falling into the trappings of pretentiousness. A film that almost veers into the realm of supernatural, and if you're willing to accept this, it makes for a rewarding and highly entertaining slice of eighties cinema.