The Hitcher (1986) ****

Robert Harmon's The Hitcher (1986) is a cat and mouse thriller, a suspenseful horror action flick, and a neo-noir tinged slasher with style. Rutger Hauer is a deliciously delirious and perturbing villain with no backstory, terrorizing the young and vulnerable C. Thomas Howell for seemingly no apparent reason. 

My appreciation of this tense slow burner grew on a rewatch. There is a mythical quality to the film, alluded to by an almost psychic connection between the two lead characters, that, if you're willing to accept a bit of unreality, makes for rewarding viewing. I can see the DNA of this movie in Jeremy Saulnier's Blue Ruin (2013) and Coralie Fargeat's Revenge (2017) (review). There are some incredible stunts and it's all shot beautifully by John Seale (who also lensed Peter Weir's 1985 film Witness (review) and George Miller's 2015 film Mad Max: Fury Road (review)). 

Another thing that struck me on this revisit is how much of Eric Red's writing style is apparent in both The Hitcher and the following year's Near Dark, despite the two films being made by different directors (Kathryn Bigelow in the case of the latter). Those two Red-penned pictures share a similar look and tone, and feel very much of a piece with one another. Mark Isham's moody synthesized score (which isn't too far removed from Tangerine Dream, who scored Near Dark) helps to engulf the viewer in the hopeless, desolate, and mournful atmosphere of the movie.

Recommended for fans of Duel (1971) (review), Breakdown (1997) (review), Halloween (1978) (review), and The Terminator (1984).