ChikPapa Very disappointed :(

Supelice Dreadfully Boring

Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

huddleston-jon30 This is a dark and suspenseful, edge of your seat, thrill ride. This movie was so much better than I had thought it was going to be. I really can't believe I hadn't seen this sooner.

Shilo October 31, 2015"The Hitcher" is a violent, disgusting, meaningless shocker that forces us to sit for 97 minutes of blood, guts, and non-stop brutality. This film only exists for the truly sick and corrupted and maybe that says something about the people who made it? This is another take on the indestructible mass murderer genre like "Friday the 13th" only, this time, we have a killer who lives to harm and kill people for fun with no motive and were supposed to sit back and watch the mayhem unfold. This film made me feel sick along with its message that hateful violence is okay to commit.It's about a young man, Jim Halsey (C. Thomas Howell) who is driving a car from Chicago to San Diego when he picks up a man hitchhiking on the side of the road. Jim narrowly escapes from death when the Hitcher, John Ryder (Rutger Hauer) becomes invasive and pulls a knife on him. Jim discovers that Ryder is a serial killer who begins framing him for several murders he commits along the highway. With the cops hot on his trail, Jim ends up going on the run with a waitress, Nash (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and the two hit the road while trying to figure out who Ryder is.I'm willing to bet this film was made to cash in on the recent rise of slasher pictures and I'm willing to bet I'm right. As reprehensible as "Friday the 13th" is, I have to give it some credit for explaining why Jason Voorhees slaughters all the dumb teenagers that dare to crash on Crystal Lake. What's sick about this picture is that we are given a killer who has no identity, no motive, and no reason to do what he is doing and we are never made aware of why he is doing it. He travels the countryside murdering people for no reason and that's just sick. Why would someone write a screenplay that hollow? it's disgusting. Even in the faulty end, he somehow has no identity with the police either.It opens with Jim driving in the rain when he sees Ryder on the side of the road. Jim stops and lets him in the car. As they drive along, Jim notices a car in the ditch and Ryder slams his foot down on the gas as they cruise by. Ryder starts toying with Jim and tells him he murdered the driver and he is going to murder him as well. He strokes Jims face with the knife and tells him to say " I want to die." In an act of desperation, he shoves Ryder out of the ajar car door. Jim continues driving and sees Ryder is in the back of a family's station wagon. He tries to warn the driver but ends up in an accident. When he comes across the car, you guessed it, the family has been viciously slaughtered. Ryder is deliberately presented as a character with no motive and killing children for fun is sick.Ryder begins playing with Jims head as he frames him for several murders and as a result, he ends up with a two-bit police force chasing after him. Jennifer Jason Leigh is dragged into this as a waiter turned fugitive when she realizes Ryder is after Jim and she becomes his second target. When the police discover a bloody knife in Jims pocket, they are jailed. Jim awakens to find the police force slaughtered and a dog chewing on his master's face, how nice. Jennifer Jason Leigh is a sweet actress and the film really outdoes itself when Nash is tied between two trucks going in opposite directions and yes, the truck splits her into two pieces. The film plays out just to see Jennifer Jason Leigh split in half, the only likable character in the movie? This is truly awful and a corrupt film and the screenwriters should be ashamed of themselves for not only subjecting us to this garbage but also for subjecting Jennifer Jason Leigh to a role that simply sets her up to be an innocent victim who is ripped in half. I didn't admire anything this picture has to offer and I sensed there was something going on between Ryder and Jim and the climax confirms that. Ryder is finally arrested and the police have the gull to apologize to Jim for not believing him. We can't go home yet because, of course, Ryder breaks free of the transport police and it becomes a final showdown of who is the real killer and we get the sense that once Ryder is shot dead by Jim, something else is going on as well. The fact that Ryder is considered a ghost killing innocent people for his own cruel enjoyment is sick and this film makes no point in attempting to explain anything other than bloodshed and that murder is okay in any way to which this film is an immoral and reprehensible piece of trash.0/10

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)

thesar-2 Despite "John's" omnipotence, The Hitcher was a tight, thrilling horror/suspense that contained one helluva bad guy from Rutger Hauer. Even in 1986, it showed some absolute originality and liberties with the death toll…namely one towards the end. I guess if I can forgive Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees knowing more than they possibly could, I can skip over many of the plot holes, such as the hitcher magically getting dozens of miles ahead of our hero as if he teleported and multiple problems, such as the conveniently placed heroine and the opening takes place at night, then day, then dusk, then day, then night – all in 3 minutes…and in a storm.Since Rutger was just so awesome and hero C. Thomas was believable as he was losing it, the good outweighed the bad. Not to mention the motives, or lack thereof, of John made it all the creepier and kept the story going. A little more than a decade later, the same theme would be that of Halloween: H20 and another two plus decades we would be introduced to the similar villain, (Heath Ledger's) Joker. This is my first time seeing the original The Hitcher and I might have cried foul on my 2nd favorite Halloween flick and 2nd favorite Batman movie had I seen this first. That said, I still enjoy all three movies and am sorry I hadn't seen this sooner.Completely recommended, as it holds up today…and this coming from someone who saw it for the first time today: June 15, 2015.