Line #62 Film/TheHitcher


1	[[quoteright:264:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hitcher.jpg]]
2
3	->''Once you pick up The Hitcher, you'll '''never''' pick up another!''
4	->-- '''The original 1986 trailer's slogan'''
5
6	''The Hitcher'' is a 1986 road thriller starring Creator/CThomasHowell, Creator/RutgerHauer, Creator/JenniferJasonLeigh, and Creator/JeffreyDeMunn.
7
8	The story is about a young man named Jim Halsey (Howell), who's driving a car through the US of A. He decides to go against his mother's warnings and pick up a hitchhiker, [[AxCrazy John Ryder]] (Hauer), who then turns his next few days into a waking nightmare.
9
10	It got a sequel in 2003, ''The Hitcher II: I've Been Waiting'', with C. Thomas Howell reprising his role as Jim, and this time featuring Creator/JakeBusey as the murderer. It was [[TheRemake remade]] in 2007 by Platinum Dunes, with Creator/SophiaBush, Creator/ZacharyKnighton, Creator/NealMcDonough and Creator/SeanBean. See also ''Film/{{Highwaymen}}'', its SpiritualSuccessor by the same director.
11
12	Compare with ''Film/{{Duel}}''.
13
14	----
15	!! ''The Hitcher'' contains examples of:
16
17	* ActorAllusion: This isn't the first time Henry Darrow played a VigilanteMan, as he had played one before as the iconic Franchise/{{Zorro}} in the 1981 animated series ''WesternAnimation/{{The New Adventures of Zorro\|1981}}'' (through voice acting) and in the short-lived series ''Zorro and Son'' in 1983. Also, this is not the [[Series/TalesOfTheGoldMonkey first time]] Darrow played an InspectorJavert law enforcer attempting to execute a WronglyAccused protagonist for murder while ignoring the accused's friend's protesting his innocence and attempts to stop the execution.
18	* AdaptationalHeroism: In the original screenplay, the second batch of arresting officers, Troopers Hancock and Hapscomb, while the former's still a VigilanteMan, were way more [[DirtyCop corrupt]] and Hapscomb was more willing to partake in the VigilanteExecution unlike in the actual film where he was a ByTheBookCop reluctant to participate, while Hancock, who unlike in the screenplay is instead on-screen [[AdaptationalExpansion had a justified and understandable personal motivation behind being a one-man judge, jury and executioner out of thinking Jim killed two of his work friends and was in an emotionally compromised grief-stricken rage that was making him behaving irrationally and is hinted to be a]] HeroOfAnotherStory because of his reasons that are left unexplored in the final cut, tells him to shut up as he proceeds with the execution.
19	* AdaptationalJerkass: Not that he ''wasn't'' a {{Jerkass}} in the original (simply calling him that would be a huge understatement), but John Ryder is much more blatantly misogynistic in the remake, casually asking Jim "how long he's been fucking" Grace, and trying to violently rape Grace when he sneaks into bed with her at the motel.
20	* AdaptationalNiceGuy: In the original screenplay, the {{Rabid Cop}}s on Jim's tail were more vicious, nastier, crueler and borderline [[DirtyCop corrupt]] towards him than in the actual movie, making their on-screen still-abrasive counterparts looking like upstanding sweethearts in comparison.
21	* AdaptationalWimp: In the remake, Jim is turned into a DecoyProtagonist who is also made more pathetic and emasculated than his counterpart from the original movie. The most notable example of this is where he is the one who gets torn in half by Ryder, instead of Nash. This is all done for no real reason, other than just for the sake of making Grace (the true protagonist of the remake) look more like a badass in comparison.
22	* AllMenArePerverts: John Ryder, who, before murdering an entire family, kisses the head of a young girl in a rather suggestive way, and later on, he molests Grace while she is sleeping.
23	* AmbiguouslyEvil: The police officers who first arrested Jim, while their persecution of him can be viewed as them being {{Inspector Javert}}s towards Jim, it's left unknown if they really started to think Jim could be innocent after interrogation and only still booked and jailed him as part of police protocol until further confirmation of his innocence or they don't really care and are borderline {{Dirty Cop}}s who want to imprison him anyway without giving him a chance to clear himself.
24	* AmbiguouslyHuman: John. See MaybeMagicMaybeMundane below.
25	* AntagonistTitle: Jim is the protagonist; the Hitcher is SerialKiller John Ryder.
26	* ArchEnemy: Jim Halsey has John Ryder, a homicidal hitchhiker who makes a game out of stalking him.
27	* ArtisticLicenseBiology: [[spoiler: It is not possible to rip a human apart between two trucks in the way shown in the remake. The joints - whether in the elbow, arm, knee, pelvis or feet - would give way earlier, and the victim would get their arms or legs ripped off instead of being ripped in half - still, a messy way to die. In the original, a cop says the victim would be torn in half, but whether he meant that literally or not, nothing is shown.]]
28	* AssholeVictim: Downplayed, but [[RabidCop Trooper Jack Donner and Trooper Dodge]] would count, due to them [[PoliceBrutality abrasively mishandling Jim when arresting him (to a point Donner calls Jim a "sack of shit") and Donner not giving a chance for Jim to have his brother to call him by not letting the phone ring a little longer]].
29	* AxCrazy: John Ryder is a serial killer who butchers whole families for kicks.
30	* BadassLongcoat: John Ryder wears one in both the original movie and the remake as does Jack in the sequel.
31	* BewareOfHitchhikingGhosts: Although the film has a living hitchhiker, John Ryder [[spoiler: has no social security number, driver's license, or any other indication that he exists]]. Oh, and he's a psychopathic killer that beats down anybody he pleases.
32	* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: Subverted in the sequel. [[spoiler: Jack after injuring a female police officer and he's about to shoot her says that he's sorry in doing this since she was nice to him. He still kills her anyway.]]
33	* BigBad:
34	** Original film and remake: John Ryder is the hitchhiking SerialKiller.
35	** ''The Hitcher 2: I've Been Waiting'': Jack is the hitchhiker SerialKiller who wants to kill Jim and Maggie.
36	* BittersweetEnding: With a heavy emphasis on the Bitter part. [[spoiler: The first film ends with Jim finally killing John Ryder, ending his reign of madness. However, Jim is traumatized by all the hell John has put him through, and worst of all, Jim's love interest, Nash, has been killed by John.]]
37	* BookEnds: The original begins and ends with Jim lighting a match, although photographed in different ways.
38	* BreakTheCutie: No explanation is given as to why Jim isn't simply killed immediately like everyone else, so this is the implied motivation.
39	* CarFu: In the remake, coupled with an odd variant of ImprobableAimingSkills.
40	** Ryder is also briefly the target of this in the original.
41	* CellphonesAreUseless: Used shamelessly in the remake.
42	* CentralTheme: The thrill of the hunt.
43	* CopKiller: Ryder kills a lot of police throughout the movie. In fact, most of his victims are cops.
44	* CreatorCameo: Eric Red can be seen in a cameo role toward the end of the film as a sheriff's deputy escorting the prisoner to the transfer bus.
45	* CruelAndUnusualDeath: [[spoiler: Nash's horrific death by being tied between a Mack truck and its trailer and then ripped in half by the completely psycho title character.]]
46	* DeadlyRoadTrip: In the remake, Jim Halsey and Grace Andrews are a young couple driving across New Mexico on Spring Break. Unfortunately, things don't go very well for them...
47	* DeathByAdaptation: [[spoiler: Jim and Lt. Esteridge]] are BOTH killed in the remake.
48	* DeathSeeker: John Ryder. As the plot uncovers, he repeatedly asks Jim Halsey to kill him in cold blood (after their first encounter when Jim picked up Ryder as an unsuspecting hitchhiker). When Jim fails to do so, John proceeds to go on a path of carnage.
49	* DecoyProtagonist: [[spoiler: Jim and Lt. Esteridge are both BackForTheDead in the continuation to the original film. The true protagonist is Jim's new girlfriend, who is even framed for their deaths by the new hitcher. Same thing happens to them in TheRemake.]]
50	* {{Determinator}}: John Ryder, especially in the remake, where he mutilates his own hand to break out of his cuffs just to keep his killing streak going.
51	* DiabolusExNihilo: When the police arrest [[SerialKiller John Ryder]], they can't match his finger prints to any existing criminals, nobody knows anything about him, and even his name is undoubtedly an alias. It's as if the desert just spat out Death in human form.
52	* DidntThinkThisThrough: [[spoiler:When trying to warn the family who picked up John Ryder about how dangerous he is, Jim and Grace pull into the other lane to get their attention. When the family doesn't seem to hear them, rather than pulling in front of their car to try to have them pull over, they linger in the other lane long enough for a semi to run them off the road, thus costing the lives of the family.]]
53	* DissonantSerenity: John Ryder, who never loses his calm as he continues killing people in gruesome ways. Even more so in the remake, where he basically degloves his own hand to escape from his cuffs while keeping a straight face the whole time.
54	* TheEndOrIsIt: [[spoiler:Subverted. John does get up at the end of the original, but Jim shoots him dead on the spot.]]
55	* EverybodySmokes: Jim, Ryder, and Nash all smoke in the original film.
56	* EvilIsPetty: Ryder spends the whole film harassing and trying to kill Jim, simply because he fought back.
57	* {{Expy}}: John Ryder is possibly inspired by the nameless truck driver from ''Film/{{Duel}}''.
58	* ExpyCoexistence: Jack from the sequel is also clearly meant to be an {{Expy}} of Ryder, to the point where he not only has blonde hair like Ryder, but even dresses in exactly the same clothes. That, and he's a psychotic killer who terrorizes people.
59	* ExtremelyShortTimeSpan: The film begins around 5:00 AM on one day, and ends sometime before noon the next.
60	* FatalFamilyPhoto: It happens at the ending of the remake; one of the cops on the cop bus that's carrying [[AxCrazy John Ryder]] takes out a photo of his daughter.
61	* FauxAffablyEvil: Downplayed. Ryder will occasionally put up a friendly front, but it never lasts long.
62	* FilmNoir: The original 1986 film mostly plays out as this; the original screenplay was even more noir-ish then the actual film.
63	* TheFilmOfTheSong: The movie was inspired by "Riders on the Storm" by Music/TheDoors: "There's a killer on the road/His brain is squirming like a toad/Take a long holiday/Let your children play/If you give this man a ride/Sweet memory will die..." Just to drive the point home, the movie opens on the road in a storm, and the Hitcher gives his name as John Ryder.
64	* FinalGirl: Jim Halsey (to an extent) and Grace in the remake.
65	* FingerInTheMail: The protagonist stops at a roadside diner to call the cops on the serial killer who's been pursuing him. The killer slips a human finger into a plate of fries the waitress brings him.
66	* {{Fingore}}: One of the most infamous scenes involves Jim finding a severed finger in his french fries.
67	* FoeRomanceSubtext: Deliberately implied in the original ''Film/TheHitcher'', to the point where it creeps out the cops to watch the lead characters interact in the interrogation room.
68	* ForTheEvulz: Seems like Ryder's only reason d'etre.
69	* {{Gorn}}: The remake. The scene of a German Shepherd licking blood off a slit neck in the original may also count.
70	* GoryDiscretionShot: What happens to [[spoiler: Nash]]. Subverted but badly done ([[SpecialEffectFailure the body BOUNCES after being cut in half]]) in the remake. Also, the fate of the family in the station wagon.
71	* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: [[spoiler:Nash]] in the original, [[spoiler: Jim]] in the remake.
72	* HappyEndingOverride: In the second film [[spoiler:both Jim Halsey and Captain Esteridge [[BackForTheDead killed off early on]] by another crazy hitcher that hunts down the female protagonist (Halsey's girlfriend, even!). To add insult to injury, the man frames her for their deaths]].
73	* HateSink: John Ryder is a murderous, sadistic psychopath, as well as a complete creep, with no redeeming qualities who kills and tortures others without any reason or provocation and spends the whole plot trying to ruin Jim's life.
74	** [[RabidCop The cops]] who mishandle Jim while arresting him also count as this. They even border on being CorruptCops, since they not only refuse to give Jim a chance to talk to his brother on the phone by deliberately hanging up the phone before his brother can even answer it, but they even outright say that "even a fool can tell Jim isn't a killer", heavily implying that they could care less whether Jim is innocent or not and that they just want an excuse to imprison him. However, they are AmbiguouslyEvil as this depends on one viewer's interpretation and they are killed before their alleged and implied corruption is fully confirmed.
75	** Jack from the sequel is every bit as depraved and sadistic as John Ryder. Some of his actions are almost more brutal than John's since Jack is not above scalping his victims.
76	** The 2007 remake manages to add a whole other layer of depravity to Ryder by making him a would-be rapist, and a thuggish, foul-mouthed misogynist in addition to a bloodthirsty killer.
77	* HeroOfAnotherStory: Trooper Lyle Hancock and his quest for vengeance against the killer of his friends would have been given more depth and emphasis if he was a main character. The fact alone Hancock was played by Franchise/{{Zorro}} at the time from the cartoon ''WesternAnimation/{{The New Adventures of Zorro\|1981}}'' and live-action television show ''Zorro and Son'' also further attests to this.
78	* HeroWithBadPublicity: Jim Halsey, thanks to Ryder framing him for the murders. Jim and Grace in the remake as well.
79	* HostileHitchhiker: John Ryder in both the original and the remake, stalks and manipulates the protagonists after failing to kill them outright.
80	* IcyBlueEyes: Ryder has these, which only emphasizes how inhuman he really is.
81	* ICannotSelfTerminate: Ryder repeatedly gives Jim the opportunity to kill him, goading him to do so.
82	* ImprobableAimingSkills: Ryder takes out several squad cars and a frickin' helicopter with no more than a handgun ''while driving''...all to the strains of [[SoundtrackDissonance Nine]] [[Music/NineInchNails Inch Nails]] (in the remake). See also the CarFu entry above.
83	* InspectorJavert: The police pursue Jim Halsey with Captain Esteridge as an exception.
84	* {{Jerkass}}: Calling Ryder this would be far too generous of a word to describe him.
85	* KickTheDog: John Ryder is a dog-kicking machine, traveling the roads to murder people, including children, ForTheEvulz, and deciding to try and corrupt Jim into being just like him on a whim.
86	* LackOfEmpathy: Ryder never once feels any guilt for any of the murders he commits, or for any of the suffering he inflicts on Jim.
87	* LoveInterest: Nash in the original, Jim in the remake.
88	* MadeOfIron: John Ryder in the remake manages to dislocate his thumb with an extremely audible "CRACK", skin his hand in bloody/painful-looking detail to free himself from handcuffs, but still is able to use that hand without any problem.
89	* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: John Ryder is portrayed as almost supernaturally dangerous and elusive. The man slaughters roomfuls of armed cops with ease, shoots down a helicopter with a revolver, and seems to vanish and reappear whenever he chooses. Rutger Hauer has even speculated that Ryder is actually a ghost haunting the desert highways.
90	** Also, it's difficult to explain the timing of the motel scene if there isn't something supernatural going on. A whole lot of things including the police being fully aware of and involved in a situation Ryder sets up in the time Jim is taking a shower.
91	* MetaTwist:
92	** For roughly the first half of the movie we only see Ryder from Jim's point of view and a lot of the killings he makes happen to come right out of the blue in front of Jim. The experienced viewer would think that maybe Ryder is some sort of split personality he has and he's really the killer. Nope. We later see other characters specifically see him in person aside from Jim, meaning he actually is real.
93	* MisanthropeSupreme: Ryder has shades of this, as he is willing to murder and torture literally anyone for his own sadistic pleasure.
94	* MyCarHatesMe: Used in both versions:
95	** In the original, Esteridge's Dodge truck stalls out in the climax for no readily apparent reason preventing Jim from escaping for a few suspenseful moments.
96	** In the remake, Jim's Oldsmobile stalls out at the beginning at a crucial moment.
97	* NiceGuy: Jim. Even after being psychologically broken by Ryder, he never loses his sense of justice or good heart, even if he does become more ruthless in order to defeat Ryder.
98	* OneSteveLimit: Averted when counting both the original film and its sequel. In the original film, one of the arresting officers, Donner, is addressed by Sergeant Starr as Jack, while in the sequel, the new hitcher's name is Jack too.
99	* PickOnSomeoneYourOwnSize:
100	** The original film is a textbook example of this. After young teenager Jim Halsey manages to thwart serial killer John Ryder's attempt to add him to one of his list of victims, Ryder becomes completely obsessed with [[StalkerWithACrush stalking]] Halsey and [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou killing or being killed by him]]. Ryder himself looks to be around 40 to 50 years old.
101	** The 2007 remake turns this into an intergender example by adding Jim's girlfriend Grace Andrews to the mix. Ryder eventually murders Jim and puts all his focus on Grace.
102	* PoliceBrutality: Downplayed, but Jim Halsey ends up on the receiving end of this due to being WronglyAccused, whether it's either being abrasively mishandled while in incarceration, having an interrogator act seemingly coldly towards him despite Jim telling him about himself (though after sending Jim away, this is subverted when he privately expressed to one of the arresting officers, Trooper Jack Donner, that Jim is not a killer which "any fool can see that") or being a target of a vengeful {{vigilante\|Man}} RabidCop with a personal agenda to [[VigilanteExecution summarily execute]] the one responsible for the murders before finally getting shot at during a car chase by officers who are following martial law to shoot-to-kill Jim and Nash rather then just to arrest them alive, forcing them to shoot back in self-defense. So do Jim and Grace in the remake.
103	* PoliceAreUseless: At least in the remake. Not only do the cops inflict PoliceBrutality on the main protagonists like in the original, [[AdaptationalDumbass the police officers act idiotically and unmethodical]].
104	** While not as bad as their [[AdaptationalJerkass remake counterparts]] and are [[MauveShirt way more developed]] in comparison, Jack Donner and Dodge count as well, arresting Jim for being the killer with little evidence and are [[PoliceBrutality excessively brutal]] with him. It gets to the point that their superior Starr flat out calls them idiots for arresting Jim, though it’s left ambiguous as to whether he would have let Jim be arrested or not.
105	** The sequel takes this up to eleven. [[SerialKiller Jack]] slaughters cops by the dozens without breaking a sweat, and they don't suspect him even after he's caught at one of the crime scenes with no ID or anything to verify his identity. [[OnlySaneMan Sheriff Castillo]] is the only one who figures out how absurd this is, but [[spoiler:Jack blows him away with a shotgun before he can help]].
106	* PopCultureOsmosis: The CruelAndUnusualDeath mentioned above is what most people know about the original.
107	* PsychoticSmirk: Ryder is often seen with one, while killing people and tormenting Jim.
108	* RabidCop: The InspectorJavert policemen who are after Jim Halsey, especially the abrasive Donner and Dodge (the latter being described in the script as a [[LowerClassLout redneck]] rookie to Donner's seasoned senior officer) and the corruptly vengeful Hancock. Also see PoliceBrutality above.
109	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Captain Esteridge, who is probably the nicest cop in the film in contrast to the InspectorJavert {{Rabid Cop}}s, even when Jim's got a gun on him.
110	** The interrogator Sergeant Starr may also qualify. Despite [[JerkassFacade seemingly acting cold, sarcastic and flippant towards Jim during the interrogation]], Starr thinks there is no way he can be a killer.
111	* RevisedEnding: [[spoiler:The film originally ended with Jim Halsey shooting John Ryder as Ryder lay prone on the highway. However, to avoid an X rating, the filmmakers shot the ending that was ultimately used (with Ryder getting to his feet, showing he is still a threat, and giving Jim at least partial justification for shooting him)]].
112	* {{Sadist}}: Ryder gets a kick out of not only killing people but also terrorizing them and messing with them, all for his own pleasure.
113	* SadisticChoice: Later in the film, Ryder gives Jim the choice of shooting Ryder, or else he will tear his lover interest, Nash, in half with the truck he's driving. Unfortunately, even if Jim shoots Ryder, his foot will come off the break, causing the truck to roll and tear Nash in half anyway, forcing Jim not to kill Ryder, [[spoiler:resulting in Ryder killing Nash]].
114	* SenselessPhagia: There's a scene which features a severed finger in a man's fries. He doesn't notice until he directly looks at it.
115	* SlasherSmile: Ryder pulls a very creepy one when he's inside a car with a family in it. Take a good guess what he's going to do to them.
116	* TheSociopath: Ryder is a walking talking textbook example with a complete devoid of any empathy or humanity, who enjoys hurting and maiming whoever he wants, whether they are men, women or children.
117	* SoftSpokenSadist: Ryder always speaks in a calm and gentle voice, even while he's committing acts of murder and cruelty.
118	* SoundOnlyDeath: The murders in the police station, when you only hear two gunshots.
119	* SpiritualSuccessor: The movie has been compared to ''Film/{{Duel}}'', another thriller movie about a man in the desert being targeted and terrorized by a maniac who is possibly supernatural.
120	* TheSpook: Ryder is called a ghost because there is nothing that identifies him. The fact that he also seems to have the ability to teleport wherever he wants at any time further enforces this.
121	* StalkerWithACrush: John Ryder. After Jim Halsey manages to thwart his attempt at murdering him, Ryder becomes obsessed with either [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou killing Halsey or being killed by Halsey]]. He stalks him throughout the entire movie, framing Jim for crimes he committed (but rescuing him when the police are about to kill him) and killing Jim's [[OfficialCouple only female love interest]] violently. In one very disturbing scene, he holds Jim's hands, and Jim spits in his face. After Jim leaves, he is seen [[{{Squick}} rubbing the spit onto his lips, smiling]].
122	* StealthPun: The film is not called ''The Hitchhiker'', but ''The Hitcher'', which is a {{Foreshadowing}} of the film's most famous murder.
123	* TheStoic: Despite smiling and laughing in a few scenes, Ryder is very robotic in emotions for the most part, which makes him all the more creepy.
124	* StrawNihilist: It's made more or less clear that Ryder is this.
125	* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: [[spoiler: Jim and Lt. Esteridge]] in ''both'' the sequel and the remake.
126	* TooKinkyToTorture: Ruder, to the point where being rammed into a car by Jim near the end, seems to have no affect on him.
127	* TortureTechnician: Ryder puts Jim through all sorts of sadistic psychological torment in order to break him. And although it's never shown, it's made very clear that Ryder would not be above putting anyone through physical torture either.
128	* UncertainDoom: After Jim tricks the pursuing {{Rabid Cop}}s[=/=]{{Killer Cop}}s under orders to shoot-to-kill to blow each other's tires away, it's unknown if the crash impact only knocked them out unconscious besides likely severe and possibly life-threatening injuries sustained from such a crash.
129	* UnflinchingWalk: Ryder walking away from the burning transport van in the remake.
130	* VigilanteInjustice: The framed Jim was on the receiving end of this attempt by a [[RevengeBeforeReason very vengeful]] [[RabidCop Trooper Lyle Hancock]] before Nash saved him from this.
131	* VigilanteMan:
132	** HotBlooded [[RabidCop Trooper Lyle Hancock]] (played by Henry Darrow who had previously played a vigilante as Franchise/{{Zorro}} in the 1981 animated series ''WesternAnimation/{{The New Adventures of Zorro\|1981}}'' and in the short-lived series ''Zorro and Son'' in 1983), who tried to invoke LoopholeAbuse to find an [[HeWhoFightsMonsters excuse for killing Jim rather than just arrest him out of]] [[JerkassWoobie blind grief-stricken rage]] [[RevengeBeforeReason to avenge the deaths of two of his police force buddies]]. When that does not work, he tries to shoot him anyway in front of a busload of witnesses, an action which would cost him his badge and have him be prosecuted for being a KillerCop and a borderline DirtyCop who went against typical police protocol. It could have been worse for him when Jim's innocence would be later revealed.
133	** Jim in the end becomes this, wanting to kill Ryder personally for all the torment he underwent because of him.
134	* VillainousRescue: Ryder, who actually saves Jim and Nash's lives (but only so he can try and kill them later) from the vengeful cops.
135	* VillainousValour: Exaggerated to the point that Ryder can take down a helicopter with just one single gun.
136	* WhiteHairBlackHeart: Ryder noticeably has grey hair, and a complete lack of humanity.
137	* VomitIndiscretionShot: Lots of these in the original.
138	* WouldHitAGirl: Ryder doesn't care if his victims are male or female.
139	* WouldHurtAChild: Ryder massacres an entire family. Children included. Even creepier, before he murders said family, he kisses one of the children (a young girl) on the head, leaving the implication that he is also a pedophile.

Context Film / TheHitcher