the hitcher ( 1986 film )
the hitcher [ 1986 ] - rutger hauer / c. thomas howell: truehorror
geoff t' s hoop - tober 4. 0 challenge the hitcher (1986 )
film noir: the original 1986 film mostly plays out as this; the original screenplay was even more noir - ish then the actual film .
today’s contenders are; the hitcher (1986) vs the hitcher (2007). ready? 3, 2, 1 fight !
stealth pun: the film is not called the hitchhiker, but the hitcher, which is a foreshadowing of the film' s most famous murder .
this is a very good film, rutger hauer is creepy and very good as the hitcher. i can recommend this film if you havent seen it .
seen from this perspective, the film transcript functions as a mediator in the interplay between film and viewer .
with the headline: screen:' the hitcher,' terror on the highways .
the hitcher, 1986. starring: rutger hauer, c. thomas howell and jennifer jason leigh. [ v ] note: one gruesome scene filmed at shoshone and death valley junction .
yeah, because of my relationship with ed feldman and charlie meeker on
the hitcher
, i helped put the financing together for the film .
last june, ign was invited to the texas set of rogue pictures' the hitcher to observe a full night of filming on the platinum dunes - produced remake (the original debuted in 1986). be advised: minor spoilers follow .
crew: (color) widescreen. available on vhs, dvd. extract of a review from 1986. running time: 97 min .
is the film under discussion, some readers may now be wondering, the same film widely reviled by reviewers in the united states when it opened in early 1986? yes, and it' s the same film which won the critics award, grand prix, and the tf1 special award at the 1986 cognac festival du film policier. why this discrepancy in the reception between the united states and europe? why award (or, for that matter, write on) a film about which variety in 2004, eighteen years after it was released, says contains
extreme ultraviolence that [ is ] such a draw for hardcore gore hounds
( leydon) ?
in a nutshell: renowned film critic roger ebert gave the hitcher zero stars in his review of it in 1986, and decried the film as
diseased and corrupt
. we wouldn' t go that far; in its time the hitcher may have set new records for blood - letting and gore, but it' s nothing compared to anything in the current torture porn genre. the hitcher is definitely a worthy entry in the horror road movie canon, but it does have a couple of problems that stop it from being elevated to the level of films such as duel or roadkill .
george w. bush served on the board of the company that made this film .
one steve limit: averted when counting both the original film and its sequel. in the original film, one of the arresting officers, donner, is addressed by sergeant starr as jack, while in the sequel, the new hitcher' s name is jack too .
the hitcher is a highly unimaginative slasher that keeps the tension going with a massacre about every 15 minutes .
( 1986) written and directed by savage steve holland; starring: john cusack, demi moore, joel murray, bobcat goldthwait, tom villa ...
closely linked with questions of content, aspects of the film form are - in analogy to novel analysis - of special importance here. in the manifold system of the film
in a film that sets out to create one of the all - time great movie psychopaths, the hitcher succeeds on every level. never letting him on - screen for a lot of the…
you know how us film fans always want to recast a film, well today we play the role of producer and this script has turned up on our desk. the next job is to cast the film as if it the year is 2016, the rules are as simple you can’t use anyone who is in the original film however good or bad you think the film is. so without further ado let’s cast this movie .
actually his blade runner part and the hitcher are probably the best two roles he’s had in his whole career .
rumor has it that there might be a hitcher sequel. care to clear that up ?
every component functions within the overall pattern that is perceived. thus we shall treat as formal elements many things that some people consider content. (bordwell / thompson 1986: 25 )
the film must be very close to your heart, since it was your first .
rodney dangerfield' s college comedy didn' t graduate top of its class at the box office in 1986, but it came close. one of the last shots of the opening montage shows dangerfield' s character golfing, which was taken directly from his other hit film caddyshack .
( 1986) directed by robert harmon; written by: eric red; starring: c. thomas howell, rutger hauer, and jennifer jason leigh; available on dvd .
i’ve had problems with the ratings board on every picture i’ve directed except for
undertow
. i got an x rating for
cohen and tate
not specifically for the gore in the film, although my initial cut of the film was much gorier than the film that was released .
we shall call any significant repeated element in a film a motif. a motif may be an object, a color, a person, a sound, or even a character trait. we may call a pattern of lighting or camera position a motif if it is repeated through the course of a film. (bordwell / thompson 1986: 37 )
future learning and skills – giving everyone the opportunity to build a lifelong relationship with film .
foe romance subtext: deliberately implied in the original the hitcher, to the point where it creeps out the cops to watch the lead characters interact in the interrogation room .
met with head shaking from its very conception the hitcher remake wasn’t helped by being backed by michael bay’s production company platinum dunes (who would go on to remake a nightmare on elm street terribly). the 1986 original had aged surprisingly well, by 2007 it was a widely respected horror film that no longer carried with it the bad reviews it had suffered years before. news of a remake provoked some to partake in a little revisionist history calling the original hitcher an untouchable classic (that’s not what the viewing figures in 1986 said) and there was much indignation at the idea of a redo. original screenwriter eric red worked on the script as a consultant, in exactly which areas his influence took effect though remains unknown .
edited into the hitcher:' how do these movies get made?' (2003). see more »
rutger hauer did a lot of the stunt driving throughout the movie which amazed the film crew and even the real stunt drivers .
fresh from topping the us box office with the remake of the amityville horror, director / producer michael bay is to take on the challenge of reworking the classic rutger hauer chiller the hitcher. bay, the director of pearl harbor and armageddon, has already remade the texas chainsaw massacre as producer and is currently at work on a prequel to the 2003 slasher flick. the original 1986 the hitcher starred hauer as a murderer who frames a young man transporting a car from state to state, displaying apparently supernatural powers along the way .
the second film takes up one of the best - known pieces of american literature of the 1920s. f. scott
thirty years later, and this film is considered one of the classics from the 1980s. the film is so iconic, people are organizing a three - day festival in chicago this summer to commemorate the anniversary .
i don’t think we needed too. the whole opening of the film right down to the rain storm and the character…you can see the analogy .
i just have to say this: your hitcher script is probably one of the best scripts i have ever read .
the hitcher
begins and ends with the same sound: a match being struck, flaring into flame. at the beginning of the film, the sound is made by the villain, a hitchhiker who is a mass murderer. at the end of the film, the sound is made by the hero, a young man whose life has been spared so that he can become the special victim of the hitchhiker .
a: you directed your first film
cohen and tate
at the age of 26 .
a young man who escapes the clutches of a murderous hitch - hiker is subsequently stalked by the hitcher and framed for his crimes .
the war film about vietnam was written and directed by oliver stone, who himself was a veteran of the same war. the film won best picture at the academy awards in 1987, and stone won for best director .
the film was released to 800 theaters and made 2. 1 million in it’s opening weekend. then came the reviews. . robert ebert famously gave the film zero stars declaring it to be “diseased and corrupted”. other reviewers followed suit accusing the film of being schlock horror that was trying to disguise itself as a hitchcockian thriller. much was made of the film’s violence and was it harshly derided for it .
the hitcher is like if haute tension had mullets, texan police itching to shoot unarmed suspects, and a synth soundtrack .
brilliant film. prefer this version. definitely beats the remake. film is in excellent condition sound and picture. good trusted seller too. 5 star. a + + + + +
[ a literary adaptation is the transformation of the text system drawn from the literary text into the notation of the film - author' s transl. ]
the hitcher
grants the hauer character almost supernatural powers. although that makes the movie impossible to accept on a realistic level, it didn' t bother me. i could see that the film was meant as an allegory, not a documentary .
the hitcher
follows the exploits of a homicidal hitchhiker in texas who ceaselessly torments a young driver until he is finally goaded into killing the maniac .
i did not know there was an original! i actually just watched the hitcher last week out of boredom. good review .
for immediate release: visionary writer / director eric red is teaming with horror equity fund for the new horror movie, white knuckle. eric has crafted a script and will helm the movie based on his novel of the same name. horror fans know eric as the writer of genre favorites, near dark (1987) and the hitcher (1986). … the post creator of near dark & the hitcher partners with horror equity fund for new horror movie, white knuckle first appeared on hnn | urltoken 2018 - official horror news site
how do films like this ever get made? what could the people who make these movies possibly be thinking about? calendar posed these questions to executives and film makers who were familiar with or directly involved in
the hitcher .
the film went on to garner a loyal fan base over the years and despite the terrible critical reception upon its release and it is now seen by many to be a cult horror. it is a film that deserves a viewing, rutgar hauer gives menacing life to an incomprehensible villain and the film knows how to build tension .
eric red, (writer), said that the film was inspired by the doors song ,
riders on the storm
.
a powerful, disturbing film well - deserving of its place in the cult pantheon, the hitcher, released in 1986, is an existential horror movie in which former teen star c. thomas howell takes a drive - away car cross - country from chicago to san diego (by way of texas). there, he picks up hitchhiker rutger hauer, a psychopath without portfolio who systematically terrorizes him into delivering the suicide that hauer himself seems incapable of administering .
the hitcher ...
the youtube account associated with this video has been terminated due to multiple third - party notifications of copyright infringement .
best bit: jim' s first encounter with the hitcher is around ten minutes of the most nail - bitingly intense footage available for public consumption .
my favourite film of all time – this may surprise you—is sorcerer, william friedkin’s remake of the great henri - georges clouzot ’s the wages of fear. some may argue that the clouzot film is better; i beg to disagree .
c. thomas howell. his small role as tyler—one of elliott’s friends who helped e. t. evade authorities—was a precursor of big things to come for howell. many moviegoers remember him from a string of cinematic 80s hits like the outsiders (1983), the hitcher (1986), and soul man (1986). but besides being a film and tv actor, howell has worked with francis ford coppola behind the set as a producer, screenwriter, and director for various projects. he’s also dabbled in reality tv, appearing on a game show called celebracadabra in 2008, of which he won and was crowned the greatest celebrity magician. howell is set to appear in this year’s anticipated blockbuster the amazing spider - man .
i would never profess to put myself in the minds of other viewers, or question their fealty to the hitcher, but i wager the first thing to come to mind would be hauer’s terrifying portrayal of evil incarnate. howell pales by comparison, appearing out of his league when the two actors are together. the showier, stunt - laden scenes just seem shoehorned into the film to keep viewers with short attention spans entertained. while the hitcher falls short of the classic that some would have you believe, it’s worth checking out for hauer’s deranged, mesmerizing performance, and almost makes me want to forgive the film’s trespasses. if you’re looking for a more successful film about a sociopathic hitchhiker, however, you might consider ida lupino’s 1953 film noir, the hitch - hiker .
i agree with the reviewer, the hitcher is a horror classic. if you haven’t seen either, see the original, do not see the unbelievably bad remake of this movie .
the cars: jim' s driving a 1975 cadillac seville across the country when he picks up the hitcher. later his nemeisis tries to run him down and kill him in a 1979 cheverolet c - 20... and the cars really aren' t the point of this film .
yeah, i love it. i did things on that picture that i wouldn’t do now. in retrospect, i like that it wasn’t at all a
safe film
to do for a first picture, it' s very film noir. for me, the film is a lot like a don siegel picture. it has a really hard edge and a realistic film noir feel to it .
random fact: telegraph film blogger, iain gray, believes the hitcher is actually a critique of the inadequacies of the reagan administration with reference to blue - collar workers. believe it or not, his theory holds up better than ours did about ryder and jim being the same person .
i have had the occasion to see the original on cable but alas, i was too young and too scared to sit through the whole film. now that i am old enough i would love to watch the hitcher. the sequel and remake i' ll skip. cheers! buy tv, radio
without the original film' s subtext of male bonding gone awry, nothing here has a shred of psychological resonance .
the hitcher (1 ...
the youtube account associated with this video has been terminated due to multiple third - party notifications of copyright infringement .
the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans. it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
extremely short time span: the film begins around 5: 00 am on one day, and ends sometime before noon the next .
i remember enjoying split second a great deal when i first saw it on vhs – a minor cult film amongst friends at the time – but if it wasn’t for the chemistry of the two lead actors and their over - the - top characters, the film wouldn’t be worth watching .
those looking for an intensive review of the film’s development and release should consult deborah caufield’s article for the los angeles times, “‘the hitcher’ gets a ride to hollywood. ” those looking for a close - reading of the film and a more philosophical approach to the movie should take a look at tom whalen’s essay “you’re a smart kid. figure it out. ” both of these writings were extremely helpful in the preparation of this post .
i loved this film. the television serires that i believe was a companion to this was called the hitchhiker. that was amazing too .
, steven' s picture is chosen as the best film of its production year (1951) by the american national board of review .
creator cameo: eric red can be seen in a cameo role toward the end of the film as a sheriff' s deputy escorting the prisoner to the transfer bus .
the hitcher is one of my favourite films of all time. a young man makes the mistake of picking up a hitch - hiker. his mother told him never to do that and he should have listened to her. the hitcher (played by rutger hauer) then proceeds to make his life a misery. rutger hauer puts in a superb performance as the villain, he manages to be both sinister and on rare occasions, sympathetic. the rest of the cast also put in good performances, especially the young driver. in some ways it is a silly film, the hitcher is almost supernatural in his abilities, but that doesn' t matter. he' s such a deadly opposing force you dread his next appearance. the film does a great job of just hinting at the horror, the scene at the truck stop is a good example. modern films would have shown you everything, this film does not and is better for it. all in all a great film and has stood the test of time well .
at first glance, youíd think the hitcher was just another mid - 80ís slasher movie. the promotional artwork certainly makes it look that way, and if you read the blurb on the back of the video box, the main idea you come away with is that of a young couple being pursued by a psychopath. factor in a 1986 release date, and the slasher signs look unmistakable. but the hitcher is something far trickier and more complex than that, and it is also one of the most unpredictable horror films iíve yet run across. granted, that latter quality comes at a very high price in credibility, but if you can arrange to quiet that little internal voice saying, ďyeah, but how did he... where did... huh? ! ē then the hitcher is tremendous fun .
in the nation, andrew kopkind concluded that the hitcher was
too often disgusting [ and ] always real scary at the gastrointestinal level .
likewise for gene siskel in the chicago tribune who found it
as opposed to the first subjective viewing of a film under the conditions of the movie - theatre - dark room, uninterrupted reception, collective sharing of impressions - the topic at issue involves a rational film reconstruction through repeated viewing. access to the film in the form of a videotape and the use of a video cassette recorder (vcr) is therefore one of the primary technical requirements. since a film of average length contains about 500 to 1000 shots, the use of a personal computer (pc) - the second technical necessity - is suited to an economical processing for the abundant data presented here. whereas in the mean time literary studies (and linguistic studies as well) make habitual and regular use of the pc for economical and analytical reasons, the work at film
the reviewers were quick to note a few of the film' s antecedents (hitchcock' s strangers on a train [ 1951 ], lupino' s the hitch - hiker [ 1953 ], laughton' s the night of the hunter [ 1955 ], spielberg' s duel [ 1971 / 1983 ]) and in a few instances even found reasons to praise the film' s look, but inevitably bypassed the opportunity for reflection, preferring instead to sneer at the film' s
unmotivated viciousness
( new york times, janet maslin). for michael wilmington, writing in the los angeles times, the hitcher was
an interview with writer / director boots riley about his incendiary new film ,
sorry to bother you .
college hill review :
you' re a smart kid. figure it out .
: robert harmon' s the hitcher (page 1 of 3 )
of course not! this is the hitcher, after all. the next scene had jim being surprised and accosted by john ryder. jim presses against the bars of his cell to peer into the dark. that' s when ryder appears and reaches through the bars to grab jim by the neck. ryder delivers a cryptic warning and, almost as soon as he appeared, the terrifying hitcher vanishes .
in gary sherman’s 1986 film hauer played nick randall, a cia operative turned l. a. bounty hunter. he’s hired to track down a terrorist (gene simmons, no less) who blew up a cinema full of people (while they were watching rambo). the brilliantly overblown action sequences, hauer’s harmonica blowing, the bright blonde eighties haircut you could set your watch by – what’s not to love ?
credits: the commentaries, the “making - of” documentary, and the shorts by harmon and hauer are all found on the 2 - disc uk dvd edition of the hitcher. china lake is particularly noteworthy, as harmon seems to have made the perfect audition film for a feature - length debut with the hitcher. we’ve added eric red’s two short films, gunmen’s blues and telephone, for added reference. we might be a little over - zealous in proposing an introduction by hollywood blockbuster movie director christopher nolan, but nolan is on the record as being a fan of the film and his comments on the movie would really elevate the regard of this title and the label. we selected michael gingold as an essay writer given his service as host to a screening of the hitcher earlier this year at the alamo drafthouse cinema in new york and given arrow video’s past inclusion of fangoria articles in their booklets .
this is the uk 18 cert dvd of the hitcher. it' s the optimum / studio canal release & apparently this print is uncut, so many thanks to the reviewer (s) for that gem of info. the picture quality' s very decent, 2. 35: 1 the top and bottom black bars are quite chunky though. it' s basically a top shelf game of' cat & mouse played out in a stark featureless environment. throw in an unstable rutger hauer, shake the dvd box a bit and your left with a fantastic film. extras: commentary, the hitcher: how do these movies get made?', & a trailer. not watched extras. run time: 1hr 33min 21secs. 1986 trainer tongue in front of jeans. sheriff station no. 7
a sequel exists with c. thomas howell returning, but i’d rather not know what happened to jim halsey. watching the hitcher has proven that sometimes the questions are more entertaining than the answers .
the hitcher began its life within the mind of twenty year old writer eric red, who came up with the concept of the film after repeat listenings of the doors song riders on the storm on a cross country car ride from new york to texas. with no backing or connections (just a homemade short film, entitled gunman’s blues in his back pocket) red began writing the hitcher. red’s enthusiasm for violence and gore would later become famous among those in hollywood who read the script. the original screenplay was riddled with unrelenting bloody murder. when he had completed his script, red sent letters to hollywood producers proclaiming his script to a bloody thrill ride and stated ;
the story on its surface is a simple initiation tale. youth (c. thomas howell as jim halsey) picks up a hitchhiker (rutger hauer as john ryder) who is a killer. the two curiously bond. a young woman (jennifer jason leigh as nash) tries to help the youth falsely accused of the hitchhiker' s crimes. the hitcher, somewhat supernaturally, again and again comes to the rescue of the youth, though he also, alas, captures and kills the young woman. finally arrested, the hitcher escapes police custody, leading to the final confrontation between halsey and the hitcher, whom the youth kills .
the film is extremely gory, especially for its time (one of the producers calls it “a bloody, wet film, ” in an exhaustive 1986 profile in the l. a. times), and yet it suggests much more. this is especially true in the money scene, one of those graphic moments that people talk about after they leave the theater — which red professionally terms “rippers” — in which a young jennifer jason leigh is drawn and quartered by an 18 - wheeler, for no apparent reason other than that janet leigh (no relation) unexpectedly dies in psycho .
p. s. another eric red movie that doesn’t get the love it deserves is ‘100 feet’; a deeply underrated ghost film .
in 1986, hauer taught us a valuable lesson about why you should never ever pick up hitchhikers, even if they appear to be hopping to their grandma’s funeral on a fractured shin bone. hauer’s hitcher john ryder is a total madman, whose favourite pastimes include murder, mayhem, blowing things up and playing nasty tricks with severed fingers. the movie as a whole is pretty grim, but hauer’s performance sticks in the memory like a butcher knife in the sternum .
records the screened information. as a precise model for a later description of filmic details and for a quick re - orientation throughout the film, the film - transcript displays a table with eight columns, presenting the serial number of shots, the serial length, the duration of each shot in seconds, the framing of the image and the camera movement, the description of the ongoing action, the dialogue and the musical score plus sounds (buchloh 1980) .
in the end, the only thing that does scare you about' the hitcher' is its emptiness: not the emptiness of a desert road or a fear - soaked night, but a shriveling void in the people who made it .
and under - heard, for the hitcher' s aural motifs, as those of, say, robert culp' s hickey & boggs (1972) or jerzy skolimowski' s the shout (1978), exemplify how sound can give meaning and form to film. two aural motifs, rising out of the background of wind and car engines and mark isham' s score, dominate the sound design of the hitcher: the striking of matches and gunshots. the viewer sees these motifs as well, of course, but at times the sounds are commentative, heard but imposed from outside the film' s present narrative reality. for example, when halsey, a young man taking a drive - away car from chicago to san diego, first picks up the hitcher one stormy night in rural texas, the thunder we hear mimics the sound of a gun shot. in another scene, when the hitcher tosses car keys to jim halsey in an abandoned garage, we hear the chhhhhh sound of a match striking though no match is seen, as if the keys moving through the dust - filled light were a lit match .
tags billy green bush c. thomas howell eric red gene davis jack thibeau jeffrey demunn jennifer jason leigh john m. jackson jon van ness robert harmon rutger hauer the hitcher
a young man who escaped the clutches of a murderous hitch - hiker is subsequently stalked, framed for the hitcher' s crimes, and has his life made into hell by the same man he escaped .
road locations 1: halsey and the hitcher driving by the volkswagen - barstow road, lucerne valley, ca (34. 688877, - 116. 970642) halsey pushing the hitcher out of his car - e lake mead blvd, henderson, nv (36. 147306, - 114. 889622) halsey trying to warn the family about the hitcher - fort irwin rd, barstow, ca (34. 955845, - 116. 913937) halsey discovering the dead family - fort irwin rd, barstow, ca (34. 907830, - 116. 920170 )
slasher
or
gore
movies tend to rely on blood and gruesome effects, rather than on plot. the grisly effects are graphically depicted. in
hitcher ,
most of the gruesomeness, such as the ripping apart of the woman, takes place off - camera. that, the film makers said, made the film more
hitchcockian
in implied shock value than
cronenbergian
( as in director david cronenberg' s
scanners ,
in which heads blow up) .
one movie that still made an impression was the hitcher. despite being panned and scanned from 2. 35 widescreen in the cinema down to 4: 3 on videotape (the way i first saw it), the story' s power was increased by deliberately avoiding always showing the gore while suggesting very violent scenes. aided by the suspense and emotional impact on the characters, the film was memorably surprising and chilling without troubling the censors .
if you' re a film enthusiast and enjoy writing, we need you. become a roobla writer, now - urltoken
that was actually something that rutger came up with. there’s maybe a type of sexual charge between the hitcher and the kid but it certainly wasn’t intended to be some kind of homoerotic allegory .
ign chatted with stars bean, bush, and knighton, as well as director meyers, in - between the filming of the aforementioned scenes. bush sees the hitcher as a character study disguised as a thriller .
it has thus to be re - emphasized that a still presents just one part in the whole system of the filmic process. technically, a film consists of single shots and a film analysis - in a similar way as with novel analysis - breaks up the whole work into the different layers in order to point out specific techniques and effects. in addition to the camera work, dialogue, music, mise - en - scène, etc. , digitalised stills drawn from the film specific points enrich both the analysis and the interpretation by illustrating the film' s method of character presentation, figure interaction and the use of visual leitmotifs, as is referred to in the given example (see still from
the producers later said that they felt that the film’s failure derived from not showing the actual death of nash, saying that robbing the audience of the gore of her death was anti - climatic and a let down .
and as noted, on the strength of previous horror adaptations of the texas chainsaw massacre and the amityville horror, michael bay’s platinum dunes company, in conjunction with rogue, the horror division of universal’s independent arm focus features, is currently developing a remake of the hitcher for a proposed 2007 release. red sold at least the sequel rights, if not the remake rights (the two are usually but not always bundled together), to hitcher producer charles r. meeker some time after the 2000 accident, and meeker produced the straight - to - video hitcher ii: i’ve been waiting in 2003, written by one molly meeker. the elder meeker is listed as a producer on the hitcher remake, and the script appears to be based on red’s original screenplay, although it is unclear whether or how much he will prosper financially. both platinum dunes and focus features refused to comment .
the hitcher [ 1986 ] (special edition) [ dvd ]: urltoken rutger hauer, c. thomas howell, jennifer jason leigh, jeffrey demunn, john m. jackson, billy green bush, jack thibeau, armin shimerman, gene davis, jon van ness, henry darrow, tony epper, john seale, robert harmon, charles r. meeker, david bombyk, edward s. feldman, kip ohman, paul lewis, eric red: dvd & blu - ray
original content © 2010 - 2015 by barry polin. images are the property of film copyright holders. awesome inc. theme. powered by blogger .
the film of the song: the movie was inspired by
riders on the storm
by the doors :
there' s a killer on the road / his brain is squirming like a toad / take a long holiday / let your children play / if you give this man a ride / sweet memory will die ...
just to drive the point home, the movie opens on the road in a storm, and the hitcher gives his name as john ryder .
of course such visual and aural patterns are difficult for viewers to detect in a single viewing, but they are essential to the understanding and appreciation of this underrated film. as we traverse its semantic landscape of collisions and ruptures, the hitcher operates as a remarkable mechanism of form generating patterns and more meanings, drawing us back (aesthetically) from the abyss as surely as it (epistemologically) draw us to it. on the one hand it directs us to reduce it to abstraction or even allegory. what else can we do with a name like john ryder? on the other hand (e. g. with the name jim halsey), the film establishes a (relatively) firm realistic base to which the film' s psychology adheres. but then the name nash & dash; well, isn' t a nash a deceased automobile? down the center line of the continuum between the realistic and the fantastic drives the hitcher, leaving more than a few critics and viewers befuddled in the backseat .
written by the very talented eric red (who never seems to get the recognition and respect he deserves), the hitcher (1986) is a thrilling movie that is held in high regard by most fans of the horror genre. i agree with the fans of the movie and think that it kicks all sorts of ass. it holds up very well when compared to other horror films that were made around the same time period and is a lot better than the majority of scary movies being made today. do yourself a huge favor and check out this movie as it is a modern horror classic in my humble opinion .
great film and a classic. i saw the re - make with sean bean but this version does not have the same feel as the original. this one (the original) is way better and has more psychological suspense. needs to be watched to appreciate the film. the acting is also great with good performances by c thomas howell and rutger hauer (the man from the 80' s beer commercials) .
arrow video has just announced new april release dates for both the upcoming blu - ray of the chiodo brothers ’ classic horror - comedy killer klowns from outer space, and also alexandra heller - nicholas ’ academic non - fiction novel based on eric red ’s the hitcher. the chiodo brothers’ killer klowns from outer space will be hitting blu - ray on april 4th and alexandra heller - nicholas’ the hitcher will be hitching [ … ]
often enough, it is in the exposition that the various motifs are carefully presented. almost with psychological necessity the exposition thus becomes the criterion for the viewer. seen in retrospective, it gives the film its visual and thematical frame, as the given examples will illustrate .
where the film falters is its over - reliance on road chase sequences, with plentiful car crashes and explosions, which only divert the audience from ryder and jim. the hitcher becomes the shaggy dog of thrillers, as one situation builds off of the next, making the film more unbelievable as it progresses. when things get out of hand, it’s hard to imagine the local authorities wouldn’t have called for assistance from state police or the fbi. as the body count escalates, logic would dictate he’d put as much distance between himself and ryder as possible, instead of checking into a local motel with nash .
the hitcher is a highly unimaginative slasher that keeps the tension going with a massacre about every 15 minutes. film proves mom’s admonition not to pick up hitchhikers, especially if they’re anything like john ryder, a psychotic and diabolical killer played with a serene coldness by rutger hauer. along comes an innocent young man (c. [ … ]
the ballad of narayama
is a japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice, telling a story of startling cruelty. what a space it opens…
established itself as an immediate success in its publishing year of 1925 and credited its author once more with being the spokesman of the jazz age. two years later hollywood turned out a silent film version, which was followed by a second adaptation in 1949, presenting the box - office magnet alan ladd in the lead. months before the opening of the jack clayton - film in 1974, this production was advertised by a huge campaign. the built - up expectations - mainly for a major romance - could not be reached. the film flopped both at the box - office and at critical reception. nevertheless, a re - examination in the context of this analysis credits it as a thoroughly structured and very well produced film with the potential of a classic .
o final dos filmes se tornou pra mim algo mais importante do que o seu início ou as cenas sequentes. em
the hitcher
( a morte pede carona) não foi diferente .
overall the hitcher garnered a very bad name for itself and horror remakes in general. though i do feel that in hindsight in 2007 no one truly realized how bad the remake pandemic was going to get (friday the 13th (2009) a nightmare on elm street (2010) et, al) and in comparison to dreck such as those, the hitcher remake does not have quite so many sins to atone for .
red has widely claimed that the film was based on the doors song “riders on the storm”: the ominous thunderstorm at the beginning, the “killer on the road” and the rest of it; the hitcher’s name is “john ryder. ” the film' s influence can easily be seen in modern - day mainstream horror fare like breakdown, joy ride and jeepers creepers. historically, it is probably a bridge between the slasher or splatter genre on display in the grindhouses of times square in the late ’70s, during red’s adolescence — the driller killer, i spit on your grave, bloodsucking freaks — and at least the impulse behind those mainstream horror franchises (halloween, friday the 13th, a nightmare on elm street) that continue to serve as cash cows for the studios two decades later .
a young man who escaped the clutches of a murderous hitch - hiker is then subsequently stalked, framed for the hitcher' s crimes, and has his life made into hell by the same man he escaped .
- imdb
curiously, or not, the hitcher is a movie that' s always forgotten among the horror lovers crowd. and and i don' t understand why has it is such a good movie with the 3 actors in their best .
hauer is fantastic in this film. i only wish the rest of the movie was up to his standards, but as you mentioned, sometimes we only want to be entertained .
the original hitcher was a concept - driven thriller penned by eric red that followed jim halsey (c. thomas howell) as he made the mistake of picking up hitch - hiker john ryder (rutger hauer). jim did not have a college girlfriend named grace in the film, but he did become involved with a diner waitress named nash (jennifer jason leigh) .
the underused neal mcdonough carves an interesting role out of very little as the police captain in charge of the chase. when he gets angry, it occurred to me he' d have made a far more interesting hitcher than sean bean .
worse still, using that nine inch nails track that backed the opening titles to se7en is the clunkiest way to spoil the best action scene in the film. the soundtrack abruptly opts out of steve jablonsky' s score like a bad playlist .
the film spawned a sequel in 2003, the hitcher ii: i' ve been waiting, with howell returning to the role of jim halsey. a remake, produced by michael bay and directed by dave meyers, was released on january 19, 2007, which starred sean bean as john ryder, zachary knighton as jim halsey, and neal mcdonough as esteridge. the remake added a female protagonist named grace andrews, who was portrayed by sophia bush. in the film, andrews survives, while halsey suffers nash' s fate. the movie was released to generally negative reviews .
is an unnerving, perplexing film that vacillates between being an intimate thriller and an action movie, like hitchcock filtered through michael bay’s lens. despite a lukewarm critical and box office reception, the film has gained a loyal cult following over the years, thanks in no small part to rutger hauer’s chilling performance as the titular character. set in the dusty american southwest ,
editing provides the key for the analysis, since the film' s components such as scenes, segments and sequences are formed by single shots (linear, successive design). a shot - by - shot
the air mail, 1925. director: irvin willat. paramount pictures. note: filmed at rhyolite. willat restored the “bottle house” to use in this film, a modern western .
wanderer of the wasteland, 1923 - 24. director: irvin willat. paramount pictures. note: based on zane grey’s novel. hollywood’s first all color film .
thus begins robert harmon’s the hitcher. emerging in the mid eighties as an enigmatic and intelligent if violent thriller, the hitcher carved a place for itself amongst the glut of dime - a - dozen slasher sequels. harmon, who has gone on to a successful career as a director of tv crime dramas, notably the movie gotti and the series
homicide: life on the streets
, paints the picture of a cross - country road trip detoured into a hellish nightmare for young jim halsey as portrayed by c. thomas howell .
can be found in the first third of the film - they all present the long extended, static and presumably
unexciting
meetings of george and alice, the factory - worker he is dating until angela vickers be comes interested in him. the film' s editing pace is accelerated in the various meetings with her, the woman from the upper - class. the subjective, psychological time now also moves faster, since alice was drowned and the moment of george' s arrest is coming inevitably closer .
the transmission of some of the table data into a diagram offers a useful examination of the film' s linear development. other diagrams can be constructed in this connection, whose form would differ from the presented one - e. g. of the figure
even though the sequel to 1984' s the karate kid didn' t get reviews as good as the first film, it raked in a lot more money at the box office. despite being set in japan, the movie was filmed in hawaii .
c. thomas howell' s character is now an adult, obviously haunted by his bad experiences with road trips. despite the lesson he learned the hard way, he winds up picking up another hitcher with plenty of baggage .
emphasizes the film' s visual information. a young man (george eastman) is introduced immediately as the protagonist. at the end of the establishing shot, the camera zooms up to his face in a close - up. with the character apparently appearing out of nowhere this procedure creates a curious tension for the figure' s
story .
the oversized bill - board
it' s an eastman
is set up as an indicator for the unfolding of the filmic narration. it directs the hitcher george directly to eastman himself, the head of the swim - suit factory. as one of the film' s leading visual symbols, it is connected with the main theme of the protagonist' s persistent pursuit of the american dream. morally and socially encoded conventions are neglected for romantic reasons, which leads to an inevitably tragic end .
stylistical and narrational principles of the same novel and film, of the presentation of the story in place and time form the centre of interest here. the film' s
narration
is defined as a process, as an activity of collecting and arranging
story material in order to achieve specific time - bound effects on a perceiver .
( bordwell 1985: xi) questions of point of view as well as figure characterisation are constitutive within this process. with regard to the overall structure of the film, the repeated use of certain motifs should be given special attention. filmic motifs occur on different levels :
strike me down with all of your hatred: there are occasional hints in the original film that the title character is trying to get jim to kill him in order to fulfill this trope .
hourglass (1995) —“michael jardine, ” director avc: you had another significant career transition when you starred in the film hourglass, which was also your directorial debut .
worth watching? if you' re up for a one - note splatter - fest, the hitcher delivers with aplomb. just don' t expect anything like character development or a screenplay which answers any of the questions it presents .
the film - transcript thus provides information about the film' s structure, its design and style. especially important in this respect is the time factor. it shows the length of each shot in seconds - it marks suspense climaxes (fast succession of cuts) as well as extended periods of time (slow succession of cuts). if the time - data are taken separately, the linear course of the film can be presented in a shot - length diagram. with the duration of each shot in seconds filled in vertically and the seriel number filled in horizontally, the filmic course of time and the editing pace can be viewed at a glance. with several films at issue, different styles in the unfolding of the action may evolve.
the hitcher is a 1986 american road action-horror film directed by robert harmon and written by eric red . it stars rutger hauer , c. thomas howell , jennifer jason leigh , and jeffrey demunn . howell plays jim , a young man who gives a ride to a hitchhiker , played by hauer . after narrowly escaping death , jim repeatedly encounters the hitchhiker , who is revealed to be a serial killer , and the two engage in a game of cat and mouse . it was released in the united states on february 21 , 1986 . 
the hitcher is a 1986 american road action-horror film directed by robert harmon and written by eric red. it stars rutger hauer, c. thomas howell, jennifer jason leigh, and jeffrey demunn. howell plays jim, a young man who gives a ride to a hitchhiker, played by hauer. after narrowly escaping death, jim repeatedly encounters the hitchhiker, who is revealed to be a serial killer, and the two engage in a game of cat and mouse. it was released in the united states on february 21, 1986.
the hitcher is a 1986 american road action-horror film directed by robert harmon and written by eric red. it stars rutger hauer, c. thomas howell, jennifer jason leigh, and jeffrey demunn. howell plays jim, a young man who gives a ride to a hitchhiker, played by hauer. after narrowly escaping death, jim repeatedly encounters the hitchhiker, who is revealed to be a serial killer, and the two engage in a game of cat and mouse. it was released in the united states on february 21, 1986.