The Hitcher (1986)
Director: Robert Harmon
Starring: Rutger Hauer, C. Thomas Howell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jeffrey DeMunn
Primary genre: Thriller
Secondary genre: Horror
80s cult horror flick The Hitcher can enjoy a bit of a critical re-appraisal through the eyes of 2020s but not for the reasons you might have thought. Back in 1986, this nihilistic, mean-spirited horror thriller unfolded a deadly game of cat-and-mouse in the desolate streets of Texas. Its devious antagonist, a hitcher who makes the life of a young driver a living hell for no apparent reason was easily the most memorable thing in it. If one examines this pic closer though, he will find plenty of things to admire and discuss.
Under the beautiful cinematography by John Seale (Mad Max Fury Road (2015)), Harmon decides to shoot most of the film from far way as if we are placed inside a gigantic fishbowl filled with highways and routes populated by a handful of life forms in gas diners, or police stations. Thus, the rampage of Rutger psychotic menace feels voyeuristic. The director stages several tense sequences that have not lost their edge all these years. From Hauer’s unnerving during his hitchhiking pick up, to the way the action is being framed, Harmon seems to be Michael Bay before Michael Bay even existed. There are plenty of vehicular set pieces with strong and fast-paced stuntwork, and explosions resulting in a lot of dead people. As the trench-coated angel of death comes and goes as he pleases like a deadly deus-ex-machine, the whole ordeal borders to supernatural giving Harmon the opportunity to neatly place a few shocks. Let’s say you won’t look your fries the same again.
“Why are you doing this to me?”
People forget The Hitcher’s underlying themes (whether this was done intentionally that is a story for another time altogether). It is remarkable though how a what was seen as a typical 80s horror, is reappraised as queer boundary pushing medium in conservative 80s era. Unlike the hilarious approach which A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985) elected to walk resulting in chuckling audiences (“He wants to take me now!!”), this relentless chase can be examined as a metaphor of gay obsession (blame the era’s gay panic) and perpetuating ambiguity. It could be trolling the audience (or lacking a sense of irony) but after all the spitting, crotch touching, and intense staring, you might find yourself looking at this thriller through a different perspective.
Hauer’s villain (like Christopher Nolan’s The Joker was in The Dark Knight (2008)) represents what unlimited, corrupted freedom looks like. Freedom to kill when he wants, whom he wants, without an ounce of remorse. And it is precisely perhaps in this newly founded freedom that our main lead sees some sort of paradoxical (or maniacal) appeal setting a goal of eliminating his tormentor due to his own internal disgust for his flared up emotions or because he deserved to be punished for his evil deeds. No one knows and having an 1986 flick raising such questions within a straightforward context is, at least, fascinating. The Hitcher remains engaging even if the typical damsel in distress (a wooden Jennifer Jason Leigh) has nothing to do besides waiting the hero to save her.
A street slasher with layers
+Hauer is effectively creepy
+Brave homoerotic layers throughout
+Michael Bay-esque action
+And the body count keep rising!
+Beautifully shot
-Cathartic finale
-Jason Leigh’s character simply exists