Robert Harmon used to be a still photographer, which goes a long way to explaining the superb photography and images of the desert. And he did get great performances–not just Hauer, but Howell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jeffrey DeMunn, as mentioned.

Hitcher was apparently inspired by Duel and the song “Riders On The Storm”. The opening scenes are pretty much “Riders On The Storm”, and the end is very much Duel, right down to the image of the traumatized hero silhouetted against the sun. Robert Harmon, meanwhile, seems to have taken a close look at Duel, The Sugarland Express, and The Road Warrior. The two highway patrol cars flipping over and rolling down the road in synchronized tandem–that remains astonishing no matter how many times you see it.

(Interesting sidenote: Jim Morrison actually made a short film about a hitchhiker in the desert; he played the hitchhiker, and it includes at one point a scene where he makes a phone call and says he’s killed someone. Wonder if Red ever saw it at a film festival or something.)

And I was also glad to see someone mention No Country For Old Men–rewatching The Hitcher recently, I had the same thought, that now it almost feels like it’s taking place in the same universe as No Country For Old Men.

Anyway, a unique and remarkable film, probably one of the best horror movies of the 80s.

Wow. The Hitcher is almost a perfect example of whatever the hell genre it is.

It’s like Dario Argento directing a sequel to Duel or something.

I like how there’s all this weird coded supernatural / surreal subtext that invites you to interpret what you are seeing in all kinds of non-literal ways – because this is not a realistic film by any stretch and it damn well knows it.

Every time we see Rutger, he is wiping fluid off his face. Rain at the start, sweat (presumably) during the day and finally C T Howell’s spit. When CT Howell finally spits in Rutger’s face you get the sense that some kind of Donnie Darko time loop has been completed and that the spit is the reason he’s been wiping his face all along… or something…

Also, nearly every time we see Rutger, we have just seen C T Howell doze off. Some Nightmare on Elm Street style implications here. Is the whole thing a dream? Is Rutger a dream and C T Howell is actually doing all the killing Fight Club style? Definitely Rutger’s incredible feats of murder exist outside conventional reality, and made me think of Argento “dream logic” in a big way.

The other creepy theme that’s going on is it feels like Rutger is trying to drive C T Howell crazy because he’s grooming him as a replacement. I fully expected to see an ending where he’d been driven nuts and had become the new Hitcher. But that’s not how it turned out. Even though the film resolves in an “obvious” way, you are still left with a severely damaged C T Howell and you can still imagine him snapping and becoming the new hitcher after the film ends…

Also the cinematography was great as has been said, and the SCORE was effing brilliant. It’s mostly jusy creepy synth chords and hardly ever ventures in to either horror score or action score territory. Enhances the sense of surreal detachment greatly.

Phantasm. That’s another film this reminded me of in a tangential way.

Man, what an awesome and unique film. So glad I finally watched it.

As far as the myth of JFK is concerned, I think films like Air Force One or that film where Michael Douglas
is the president say a lot more about Americans’ dreams and anxieties than Stone’s JFK or that Nine Days
film do.

I just hope Ford’s character didn’t have his speechwriter pen a book for him, take the credit, and win the Pulitzer. And considering one of his ex-wives scripted E.T……

I’m just saying.

“Ich bin ein Asskicker.”

DePalma.

If you want to know how and when to execute that shit, watch his stuff.