The Hitcher (1986) MOVIE REACTION! FIRST TIME WATCHING!! 

This is such an underappreciated masterpiece and it's about time you guys watched it. Christopher Nolan has actually cited this as one of his favorite films and Ryder's determination to make Jim go over the edge and kill him definitely evokes Joker’s behavior towards Batman in The Dark Knight

R.I.P. @ Rutger Hauer: Dutch actor (January 23rd 1944 - July 19th 2019)

One of the greatest psychological horror movies of all-time. The atmosphere throughout is just incredible and stays with you long after the movie is over :-)

When I was in high school a local theater would show this as a $1 movie every Saturday at midnight. My friends and I must have seen this 20 times. Good memories. I think my favorite part of the movie is that no effort is made to explain Hauer's character or his motivation -- he's just a pure force of evil.

The writer of this, Eric Red, co-wrote an excellent vampire flick with Kathryn Bigelow, called Near Dark. It stars three actors who were fresh off appearing in Aliens, and is underrated. Not many reactions to it on RU-vid so you could get in before your peers! Eric Red also wrote and directed Cohen & Tate, which I’ve loved since I was a kid. It’s a tense film largely set inside a car, and is great!

Masterpiece. A perfectly shot and staged piece of existential cinema, combined with the thriller/horror genre. The command of formal language is so good, without being flashy, the simple combinations of visual and music, the pacing and editing. Top ten film of my youth, and an example of what's missing from a lot of recent films with similar ambitions.

Absolute classic. Criminal more people don't react to it.

To me, John Ryder is right up there with Jason, Freddy, and the rest of the 80s villains. RIP, Rutger Hauer.

I always thought the Hitcher actually wanted to die. He finally found someone who could do it.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for watching this!! I've loved this movie from the day it came out when I first watched it. Such a psychological punch in the brain and the gut. Rutger Hauer was the best and continued to be an amazing actor. RIP Rutger OH, did I say THANK YOU for this reaction...THANK YOU!! ~Dawne

My friend and I, when we were 15, snuck into this movie after watching some other movie. The semi truck scene scarred me so thoroughly that I can't even remember what the first movie was anymore.

DAMN the stunts in this movie were pretty sick your grandfather made a good choice older movies when it comes to car stunts were brutal

I remember seeing this in the movie theatre…the first R-rated movie I was able to buy as an adult (…we used to sneak in). It remains one of my favorite thrillers. Rutger Hauer is a terrific villain. It’s fun to watch old school Hollywood stunts rather than CGI. The remake is pretty good too. Thanks for the trip down memory lane…

Thank you for this! I LOVE this movie! I have always interpreted it the way Shaun does: the Hitcher wants to die because he can’t stop himself from killing and he can’t kill himself. He’s looking for someone to fight back and stop him for good.

I'm convinced Rutger played this sincerely, if highly inappropriate, obsessive romance and didn't tell anyone.

I love this movie. Rutger Hauer is terrifying! The thing about Nash's death is that by using the truck, Rider is directly involving Jim in her death. He's making him an active participant. If Jim shoots Rider; his foot comes off the brake & Nash dies. If Jim DOESN'T shoot RIder, he takes his foot off the brake on purpose & Nash dies. Either way, she's going to die. He's giving Jim the option of (possibly) making her death mean something by taking out Rider at the same time. Maybe. IDK. It's just super tense. The stunts were fantastic, as was the scenery & the music. Poor Jim. He's gonna need a ton of therapy.

The anamorphic cinematography in this flick is nearly as iconic as that of another R Hauer classic, BLADE RUNNER. The smoky backlight and blaring sunlight. It does for desert highways what BR did for rainy city nights. And it has Hong Kong action classic levels of absurdly balletic carnage. Also, Nike ballcap reactor's psychological reading was very interesting.

Great review! The Hitcher is just like The Thing (1982) in that it was reviled by critics upon release, but 10, 20 years later it became cult classic and people love it for the reasons you guys stated. It's so in demand, in fact, that in April, 2024, it's coming out in 4K Blu-Ray (remastered from the original negative) with extras. RIP Rutger Hauer!

One of my favourite films. Hugely underrated thriller. Excellent film.

This movie is underrated

Hi folks , the hitcher is a great film. What you see is what you get and as you both mentioned all the stunts were real and not with CGI you get these days. I was pleased that you both rated this film highly as I also think it’s well deserved.

I give this movie an 8.7 Especially for the performance of Rutger Hauer 😬😬😬

The Hitcher is probably my favourite psychological thriller of all time. If I could describe it in one word it would be “Relentless”. Rutger Hauer is terrifying, the stunts are insane, the cinematography is stunning, the music is appropriately atmospheric and C.Thomas Howell and Jennifer Jason Leigh are excellent together. I also like Jeffrey Demunn as the Captain at the end, he always seems to play those man of the law roles so well because he adds a humanity and compassion to them.

"-Where are you from? -Disneyland." :)

A cult classic. Glad you finally got to it. I think I've been requesting it nearly as long as your grandfather ;) For me it's one of the classic thrillers of all time. Beautifully shot, beautifully acted, beautiful editing, beautiful soundtrack. I love that they don't explain a single thing. It could be a dream, it could be that the Hitcher is the devil, a ghost, it could be that there is no Hitcher and that the boy was actually doing all the bad things himself, we never know. We are being toyed with just as much as the Hitcher is toying with the protagonist, like a fly caught in the web. Rutger Hauer's performance is delectable, the wry smile, the smirking, the playful flirtations (glad that Tom picked up on that notion!), we can wonder if he always planned to target him, if he initially was going to kill him but then realized he liked him/was fascinated/impressed by him/attracted to him etc.

If you look up what happened to Jennifer Jason Leigh's (the girl that gets ripped in half by the truck) father Vic Morrow on the set of the Twilight Zone movie, it's pretty crazy. He tragically got decapitated by a helicopter blade during a scene. One of the biggest on set disasters caught on film.

The remake isn't anything special, but casting Sean Bean as the hitcher was just a great idea either way.

You hit the nail on the coffin he was like the villin in Far Cry 3 he wanted to die but he also wanted to turn the wimpy boy into a man and he also wants to drive him crazy so he will take his place once he's gone

Rutger Hauer is the best at this stuff. Hitch hiking was pretty common in these days, at least before this movie. Not so much since lol

This was written by Eric Red who wrote some brilliant films including 100 Feet, Cohen & Tate, Near Dark, Bad Moon and Body Parts. All very good films and well recommended.

It’s like No Country for Old Men in a 1980s style. Only getting much brutality in 1980s style R-rated films. Great job, Cinema Rules. 🎥📽️🎞️

Them not showing Nash being torn apart made it worse.

This film is a must watch. So good. I first saw this when I was a kid in the 80s. So memorable.

I put this on randomly one night because I'm a big Rutger Hauer fan. Expected a schlocky, direct to VHS 80s movie, but what I got was an absolutely beautiful looking horror-thriller with a great, moody atmosphere and some shocking scenes that I'll never forget. Really happy you guys gave it a shot, and I definitely understand what Shaun means when he talks about the "father/son dynamic". There's definitely a "mentor/mentee" thing going on between the two characters.

I love how Tom can commentate and, at the same time, keep his eyes on the movie 99% of the time. Good job Tom!

I loved this as a kid in the 80s

Jim Halsey: Why are you doing this to me? Ryder licks two coins and places them on Jim's closed eyes. John Ryder: You're a smart kid... figure it out.

From what i hear, hitchhiking was very common in the US in the 60s/70s. Thru the 80s in rural areas. Even in the 90s my friend used to put out a thumb when he was late for work and would get a ride like 2x a year.

19:50 Shaun’s face is that of an engaged and enthralled moviegoer.

Way to go grandpa. I've been begging for a reaction to this. He's got great taste in movies.

This film was a classic thriller that turned out to be a cult classic as the studio really was not behind promoting it much. In the remake, it's a guy who is tied to the truck and you see his body ripped in half.

To address your comments on hitchhiking, it's really not a thing anymore here in the United States either. In the 60s and 70s, it was fairly common, but increasing paranoia around stranger danger, kidnappings, and serial killings more or less put an end to the trend during the 80s and 90s. In two decades of driving, I've seen a hitchhiker on the side of the road maybe...once?

I am so glad you guys watched this because it’s one of my favorite movies that for some reason no one talks about. This video has made my day and I hope you have a good day as well👍

Saw this in the cinema it was epic at the time 🎉

Great film I'm glad you both enjoyed it. Rutger Hauer is such a fantastic actor you really should have a look at his filmography , he was destined to be a big star after Night Hawks and Blade Runner but never reached the heights of his Co stars and became a B movie king elevating nearly every film he is in. Except Dracula 3D no amount of acting skill could save that turd

Near Dark has a very similar vibe, action-horror-drama with chill music background music. Same writer

A solid follow up would be Breakdown (1997) with Kurt Russell! Another awesome road killer movie! Anyway, thanks for another fun reaction! Could Saltburn be soon?

one of my fav thrillers , rutger is great in this

This is one of my favorite movies. I'm glad you guys are checking it out

This movie was shot in Cinemascope / Anamorphic... That super wide screen I think adds to the atmosphere of the movie. Only when I started buying vintage projection Cinemascope lenses did I realise most of my favorite films were shot in cinemascope. I first saw The Hitcher on VHS in a 4x3 ratio, I watched it many times... Later I bought the dvd and enjoyed it all over again but in widescreen😍.. The atmosphere just pulls you into this world.

Even though the hitcher character is not the protagonist, the movie does revolve around him. It only stops after he is killed. And the protagonist is left, literally stranded, alone with his own thoughts in the desert.

Requested for 2 years? Damn. At least we finally got it. Stoked at your guys true love of it. From the get-go, this thing doesn't let up. The Stranger Things guys loved it so much they actually lifted some of the music and had it featured in season 4.

Excellent choice! So underappreciated. I first saw it in High School at a movie party in '87 or '88. It was such a refreshing change from all those teen slasher movies of the time.

All these references to "granddad" fuels my feel of ageing! I was 15 when I watched this at the cinema. Incidentally, that's the moment I got my lifelong infatuation with Jennifer-Jason Leigh!

My thought was Rutger Hauer’s character was a serial killer who was bored of just killing and wanted more so he was looking to create a rival after C Thomas Howell showed him he could fight back after kicking him out of the car. I think Rutger Hauer wanted to see if he could drive C Thomas Howell to kill another person, even if it was him

You guys are certified g.o.a.t.s for reacting to this!

Seeing a reaction for the hitcher was enough of a reason for me to subscribe. Thanks for checking it out!

There seems to me a very, very subtle supernatural angle to the connection between Jim and the Hitcher. If you noticed in one scene he whispers John Rider's name and he looks right at Jim through the one way glass, on top of how he always seems to know where Jim is without being seen. This moment didn't need to be in the film, it's almost out of place. It almost seems to lack any kind of purpose, but the fact they did include it raises so many questions about what's really happening. Most films would fully run with the idea of the Hitcher being a ghost, or Jim's in purgatory after falling asleep and crashing at the beginning, etc, but this movie deliberately leaves this clue and let's the audience interpret it.

10:49 BRILLIANT reaction 😂☝🏽🍟 Definitely a hidden gem of the 80’s & still one of my favorite thrillers ever!

The truck scene with nash is classic and it should never be considered to be left out. How could one remove a beautifully shocking death scene like that. It's so well executed. The last shot with the sounds you can hear as it fades to black is perfection

Im so glad yee watched this. This is one of my favourite movies. I love the atmosphere; while it is full of thrilling suspense, it also has a calming, peaceful vibe about it with its vast desolate environment and quite moments when we are focused in on the protagonist all alone - espeachialy I think, when he is in the cell and the warmth of the sun is coming in on him through the window and the police station is so quiet when he wakes up. I always imagine in his moment of sleep and rest that he forgot about everything, until he slowly begins to wake and regains again to the horible reality of what's awaits him outside - a pure nightmare. And your scores for this are spot on, too. I myself would give this an 8.8 out of 10.

Your grandad is a fucking legend. This movie is top. Get goosebumps every time I see it.

I had to stop bc I haven’t seen this I’m gonna watch it tonight at work

One of my favourite "B-"movies. And Rutger Hauer was always so underrated, he should have played in more tripple A movies. RIP

Still my favorite road rage horror movie of all time

Great reaction guy's, I remember renting this from the video store in my teens & it freaked me out. Hauers performance is a terrifying masterclass in how to play a charismatic psychopath, his line delivery about cutting off his arms, legs, head still gives me chills. Ignore the sequel & remake there inferior to this cult classic.

He's looking for someone to kill him. Yeah he tells Jim to say "I want to die" but I think he's doing that because he's looking for someone with the strength and will to fight back.

Lol, I hadn't seen this for many years until I bought the DVD last week. Such a great movie and still stands up well today. It was a must see at the height of the video rental era.

Kudos to grand dad. Its funny seeing all these "young kids" watching the movies I grew up watching in the theaters. RIP Rutger.

11:20 I saw this movie 30 years ago and that actor accidentally kicking the other guy in the back of the head is still f*ckin hilarious lol

the soundtrack is so good

I loved this movie when it came out on HBO. It scared me away from ever hitching a ride. 35 miles? I'll just walk, thanks though. Lol

also recommend Nighthawks (1981) another great thriller with rutger hauer and silvester stallone

A movie in a similar vein is a 1971 Spielberg made for TV movie called "Duel." (one of his first).. It also takes place in the desert..For a TV movie it's a good one. I believe it aged well, too..And yet another is a really good one with Kurt Russell (also in the same vein, that takes place in the desert) is the 1997 film "Breakdown." Really suspenseful!..Both are..I think you'll really enjoy them...Both will keep you on the edge of your seat..Really no slow spots.

I love the decisions made in regards to what isn't shown. They were so smart to let your mind go crazy imagining how things played out. No effects can make the truck kill as horrible as your imagination being haunted even after watching, just the faces of other characters and sounds just out of shot... 10 Cloverfield Lane did similar things with making you desperate to know what's happening behind you. Wiping out an entire police station is a way to raise tension in the moment like The Terminator or Assault on Precinct 13, but to wake up surrounded by the aftermath and find the cell unlocked to know it wasn't just going unnoticed but all done just for you? It turns just another thriller into an absolute nightmare.

I love this movie so much. It reminds me of the movie "Duel", which is the first movie Steven Speilberg directed. If you haven't watched it, you need to check it out. They did a reboot of this movie and it was terrible.

This one's a classic. The remake is solid as well...with one gruesome scene (can probably guess which) that's kind of a switcharoo from the original. Kind of wish I could unsee that part. But the premise of this is so simple, and perfect for a thriller. RIP Rutger.

Underrated 80s masterpiece! Cant wait to import the SecondSight 4K bluray in the UK

Rutger Hauer again. Brilliant bad guy. Under rated actor.

The director, Robert Harmon, had a background as a still photographer, and I think this really comes through in the cinematography and composition. This and the acting really elevate the film from a typical b-movie slasher.

A great film. The writer of the screenplay went on to write the script for Near Dark which was directed by Kathryn Bigelow.

Great film, great reaction, great banter! Tis' why I'm a subscriber. Good job guys!

Definitely some intimacy between the hitchhiker and the kid! I agree with you at the end that it does have that undertone, I actually had to look it up and there are articles about the homoerotic subtext so others have definitely picked up on it as well!

“Finger Foods” Lol

Thanks to Shaun and Tom! 👍 Cheers to director Robert Harmon. ෴ You've seen C. Thomas Howell in E.T.: THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982); have you seen him in OBLITERATED (2023)?

This movie is so good and underrated. That Semi-Truck scene though...iconic imo. I even enjoy the remake, although I get why people don't. I'm just a big fan of Sean Bean and Zachary Knighton and I think the score to that movie was badass.

I remember back in 2016, I was 13, and my mom suggested I should watch this movie, and I was like, "Okay, we got Ponyboy Curtis picking up a hitchhiker." This movie is underrated, C. Thomas Howell is an underrated actor, and the scene when he got the girl and tried her arms to truck and her legs to another, I honestly didn't expect him to kill her that soon or at all.

There was a love scene written with Nash, but Jennifer Jason Leigh decided against it as she didn't think of Nash as a disposable female love object or just another bodycount that women were so commonly reduced to in 1980s films. Nash had courage and substance as a young woman in her own right, which is why it is all the more harrowing when she is killed. It's unthinkable. Her murder is seminal to Jim's transition. Leigh is the daughter of actor Vic Morrow who was killed on the set of Twilight Zone The Movie. A tragic helicopter stunt went horrifically wrong leaving him and 2 children dead in 1982. Leigh and her sister filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Warner Bros, the director John Landis, and Steven Spielberg. They settled out of court. Leigh is a very good actress and hugely underrated in Hollywood.

I have a movie recommendation for you to react to: REC 2 (2009), an even more sinister and insane sequence, which even espands this universe further, you'll like it

This movie ranked at #34 in the 100 scariest movie moments on Bravo, cool reaction as always fellas, take care

12:11 if he got back in the cell, they would've found him with the cell door unlocked. He would be way more suspicious. He did the right thing making a run for it

First double flip and roll of two cars in any film.

The guy whos being chased is C Thomas Howel , he was in The Outsiders

This is an amazing film that is underrated as other commenters said. There was a remake done with Sean Bean as the killer, it's pretty good as well.

A great underrated Rutger Hauer film is Nighthawks. With Sylvester Stallone and Billy Dee Williams. Made about 1980. He's terrifying.

I don't recommend watching a sequel, but there's a great movie called Crash with Kurt Russel, that is a sort of a spiritual successor to this movie, which I highly recommend.

A film that begins and ends on the strike of a match.

I have always loved The Hitcher. I understand about C. Thomas Howell. He's not the best actor but has been in some great movies.

Based on your review of Casablanca, I think you would love David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia. Probably the best cinematography ever. A true classic.

Rutger Hauer is DUTCH!! ha ha he also played in Blade Runner.