The Hitcher
by Robert Harmon
List Price:
Our Price: $2.70
You Save: $3.24 (54%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $2.25 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: C. Thomas Howell, Jeffrey De Munn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Rutger HauerDirector: Robert Harmon
Brand: HBO Home Video
Other Contributor: Mark Isham
Producer: David Bombyk
Producer: Kip Ohman
Producer: Edward S. Feldman
Producer: Charles R. Meeker
Writer: Eric Red
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Color, DVD, Letterboxed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 97 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1999-06-08
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Hbo Home Video
DVD Reviews of The Hitcher
DVD Review: "You want to know what happens to an eyeball when it gets punctured?"
Summary: 4 Stars
I've never picked up a hitchhiker, and not because films have continually shown me it to be a bad idea, but more specifically because it truly is a bad idea, one that seems to defy even the most basic of common sense. I mean seriously, who would pick up a complete stranger standing by the side of the road in the middle of the night? Well, okay...I suppose if it were some hotsie totsie like Jessica Alba or Phoebe Cates I could see myself being a bit more charitable, but even then they should know one thing...cash, grass, or ash, no one rides for free. Written by Eric Red (Near Dark, Blue Steel), and directed by Robert Harmon (Nowhere to Run, Highwaymen), the film stars C. Thomas Howell (Red Dawn, Soul Man) and Rutger Hauer (Blade Runner, Wanted: Dead or Alive, Sin City). Also appearing is Jennifer Jason Leigh (Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Easy Money), Jeffrey DeMunn (The Green Mile), and John M. Jackson ("JAG").
C. Thomas Howell plays Jim Halsey, a young man participating in a `drive away' program, which means you get paid for driving someone else's car (usually cross country), in this case from Chicago to San Diego. The film picks up as Jim is driving a lonely, desert road in the wee hours of the morning, and after nearly getting into an accident (due to drowsiness), he decides to pick up a hitchhiker (Hauer), if only to provide company to help keep himself awake. Turns out the guy is a real deranged head case...a few French fries short of a happy meal, a few clowns short of a circus, a real whack-a-doo, nutcase, mental defective, knitting with only one needle, etc...and not only that, he's homicidal to boot. So anyway, Captain Insano seems to take a real liking to Jim, but Jim manages to give him the old heave ho at fifty miles and hour. End of story? Not by a long shot...it's head games time, as the guy begins stalking Jim (including a not so friendly game of bumper tag), killing a few motorists and whatnot along the way, all the while implicating Jim in his crimes. Jim tries to contact the authorities, but given the wide-open expanses out in the desert, help is hard to find (even when Jim manages to come in contact with the police, they're not too receptive as they now think he's the serial killer, responsible for the death of a few of their own). Every effort Jim makes to try an extricate himself from the madness only further serves to sink him deeper into the mire. Eventually Jim befriends a waitress in a roadside diner named Nash (Leigh), one of the few people who actually buy off on his bizarre tale, and she becomes tangled up in the whole mess. As the story rolls along, Captain Insano continues to up the ante, not only bumping off trigger-happy members of the local law enforcement community, but also kidnapping Nash. The situation continues to degrade to the point where the two men are locked into a struggle to the death, one that neither is likely to survive.
I like C. Thomas Howell about as much as I like actor Andrew McCarthy, that is to say not very much, but I have to give Howell credit here as I thought he did a most excellent job here as the hapless protagonist caught up in a situation beyond his control (he was also good in the film The Outsiders) before shuffling off into the relative wasteland of direct to video films. Oh sure, he's appeared in a handful of well known features since, but for every film you may have heard of he's appeared in like ten you haven't. And this is pretty much the same story for Hauer, whom I really like, and proves here to be just as freaky and deadly as his Roy Batty character from the 1982 film Blade Runner. I think one of the reasons this film works as well as it does is because Howell actually seems intimidated, perhaps even terrified, by Hauer, by his intensity, far beyond that of just acting. And who could blame him? Hauer presents a completely menacing character, one capable of anything, whose unfathomable motives are known only to himself. He's obviously not afraid to die (he even offers Jim the opportunity to kill him a few times throughout the story), and pain doesn't seem to be a factor, so how do you deal with someone like that? One thing that sort of baffled me was Hauer's character's ability to continually get people to stop and give him rides...maybe there's something about the desert that makes people really gullible and willing to do things they normally wouldn't do...basically what you've got here is a definite `B' movie that reaches beyond its limitations and succeeds, primarily due to a solid story, a strong cast, and an surprisingly impeccable sense of direction. Director Harmon continually milks the hell out of nearly every sequence, squeezing forth a great deal of tension that kept me focused on the screen, and I've seen this film like three of four times since its initial release. Perhaps the overall impact has waned a little, but the fun hasn't. All in all I thought this is a highly entertaining feature, and one that stresses the importance of always paying attention to what you're eating, as you never know what you might get served, especially at a greasy, roadside diner...
The anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) on this DVD release is sound, but does exhibit a slight murky and grainy quality throughout. I'm glad to have the film on DVD, but I do wish those who released it had made an effort to clean it up. There are two option for audio, Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, both of which come through very well. As far as extras, there are English, French, and Spanish subtitles, a theatrical trailer, and cast & crew bios.
Cookieman108
Howell did revive his role for a 2003 direct to video release sequel titled The Hitcher II: I've Been Waiting, of which I have yet to see. Also, there seems to be plans to remake the original, tentatively scheduled for a 2007 release (Howell's character will be a female), directed by Dave Meyers, whose specialty to date has been music videos. I don't think this film really needs a remake, but regardless how things turn out, we'll always have the original.
Description of The Hitcher
HITCHER - DVD MovieSteven Spielberg's first feature film, 1971's Duel, is set on a desert highway. It stars Dennis Weaver as a driver being pursued by a menacing truck, which is following him with all the vengeance of the ancient furies. In this spiritual update from 1984, C. Thomas Howell plays a guy taking a drive-away car from Chicago to San Diego. On a whim, in the rain, and against his better judgment, he picks up a hitchhiker (Rutger Hauer). The hitcher quickly admits to being a murdering psychopath, and once Howell finally gets him out of his car, he is pursued with all the vengeance of the ancient furies. We're never sure if the hitcher is a figment of his imagination, making Howell a schizophrenic killer, or if he's real and Howell is the random victim of a wandering madman, which is how his potential new girlfriend (Jennifer Jason Leigh) thinks of him. Either way, The Hitcher is great fun, kinda scary, and teetering on the brink of "must see." --Andy Spletzer
Bestsellers in DVD
![The Story of Jeremiah [VHS] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
The Story of Jeremiah [VHS]Vision Video; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Wresting With God [VHS]by Vision Video
Vision Video; Published: 1990-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Study Bible Video with Workbook [VHS]Spring Arbor Distributors; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
Tempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.17
Price in other shops:
Tempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/ Party Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
![Strike the Original Match [VHS] Image](/images/Strike-the-Original-Match-VHS-0001374079-X.jpg)
Strike the Original Match [VHS]New Liberty Films; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
![Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS] Image](/images/Medjugorje-The-Miracles-and-the-Message-VHS-0001373293-X.jpg)
Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS]JPN Film Production; Release date: 1995-12-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.99
Mayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008by Mayo
DVD
Price in other shops:
Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single Userby Oakstone
DVD
Price in other shops:
Cost Accounting [VHS]by Charles T. Horngren, George Foster, Srikant M. Datar, Howard Teall
Pearson Canada, Toronto; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Candyman (Special Edition)MADSEN,VIRGINIA; Release date: 2004-08-17; Published: 2004-08-01; DVD
Best price: $3.75
Price in other shops:
Blind FurySony; Release date: 2004-12-28; DVD
Best price: $4.29
Price in other shops:
When a Stranger CallsSony; Release date: 2006-01-31; DVD
Best price: $5.71
Price in other shops:
Cujo (25th Anniversary Edition)Lions Gate; Release date: 2007-09-25; DVD
Best price: $5.61
Price in other shops:
Duel (Collector's Edition)Universal Studios; Release date: 2004-08-17; Published: 2004-08-01; DVD
Best price: $5.98
Price in other shops:
Secret Admirer (Widescreen Edition)HOWELL,C.THOMAS; Release date: 2003-01-07; Published: 2003-01-01; DVD
Best price: $7.24
Price in other shops:
BreakdownRUSSELL,KURT; Release date: 1998-12-01; DVD
Best price: $5.68
Price in other shops:
The Hitcher II - I've Been WaitingHOWELL,C. THOMAS; Release date: 2010-06-01; DVD
Best price: $0.99
Price in other shops:
The Fog (Special Edition)TCFHE/MGM; Release date: 2005-10-04; DVD
Best price: $3.92
Price in other shops:
The Hitcher (Widescreen Edition)NBC Universal; Release date: 2007-05-01; Published: 2007-05-01; DVD
Best price: $1.99
Price in other shops: