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| A suspicious, dark figure hitchhikes on this highly ominous poster for Robert Harmon's The Hitcher |
A young man driving his car through the desert towards San Diego decides to pick up a hitchhiker, against his mother's advice. - He really should have listened to his mother!
The Hitcher is written by Eric Red (Blue Steel (1990)) and directed by debuting Robert Harmon (Highwaymen (2004)).
Rutger Hauer (Il Futuro (2013)) is intense as the barbarian title character, who chases the young man around for the rest of the film. The photography (by John Seale (Mad Max: Fury Road (2015))) is cool and stylish, and the action elements and car stunts are well-made, so that one hangs onto this entertaining car horror, even though it stretches its plot elements beyond credibility sometimes.
Watch a 3-minute scene of Hauer's villainous mastery in the film here
Cost: 6-7.9 mil. $ (different accounts)
Box office: 5.8 mil. $ (North America alone)
= Uncertain but likely a big flop (projected return of 1.26-1.66 times the cost)
[The Hitcher premiered 17 January (Victoria, Texas) and runs 97 minutes. Shooting took place from February - April 1985 in California, including in Los Angeles. The film opened #8 to a 2.1 mil. $ first weekend in 794 theaters in North America, where it grossed 5.8 mil. $. It was released in many other markets, but the gross details are regrettably not available. If figuring on a 10 mil. $ final gross, the film would rank as a big flop with a cost return of 1.26-1.66, depending on the budget size. Roger Ebert gave the film a 0/4 star review, translating to 3 notches under this one. A 2002 sequel and a 2007 same-titled remake followed. Harmon returned with Eyes of an Angel (1991). Hauer returned in Wanted: Dead or Alive (1986). The Hitcher is fresh at 62 % with a 6/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of The Hitcher?
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