It remained on the index in Germany for a long time, but now it has been released uncut with an FSK 18 rating as a 4K edition: “Hitcher, the Highwaykiller” with “Blade Runner” star Rutger Hauer is receiving a home cinema upgrade shortly before Halloween .
For many film fans, along with “Blade Runner,” it is one of the big highlights of Rutger Hauer’s career – and it occupies a good 16th place in our FILMSTARTS ranking of the best serial killer films of all time: “Hitcher, the Highway Killer” is a really nasty 1980s film. Cinema that burns into your memory. Because anyone who has seen the film will feel pretty uncomfortable on their next few road trips as soon as it gets dark and wet.
This horrifying mood of the film ensured that the horror thriller was indexed in Germany for 25 years and was only available in retail stores with a heavily edited version. But that is now a thing of the past – and the popular 80s shocker will soon get a long-awaited upgrade by fans: This week “Hitcher, the Highwaykiller” was released in 4K for the first time in German home cinemas!
“Hitcher, the Highway Killer” on Amazon*
The 4K premiere of “Hitcher, the Highway Killer” takes place in the form of a limited 2-disc media book edition. In addition to a 4K disc, the set includes a Blu-ray with the film in HD and numerous extras. Announced are an audio commentary by director Robert Harmon and screenwriter Eric Red, the documentary “The Hitcher: How Do These Movies Get Made?” and the short films “China Lake” and “The Room” (not to be confused with the feature film of the same name by Tommy Wiseau ).
Car rides are rarely so much fun: “Hitcher, the highway killer”
Jim Halsey (C. Thomas Howell) listens to his inner Samaritan on an uncomfortable rainy night: he picks up a hitchhiker on a highway. The good deed becomes the beginning of a true horror trip: The stranger turns out to be John Ryder (Rutger Hauer), a wanted serial killer who is now clearly planning to kill his helper in the rainy emergency.
Luckily, Jim manages to throw the psychopath out of the car at full speed. But Ryder doesn’t let anything like that stop him: he begins a bloody cat-and-mouse game with Jim, who is only helped by the stubborn waitress Nash (Jennifer Jason Leigh)…
“Hitcher, the Highwaykiller” is remembered, among other things, for music composed by Mark Isham: The threatening sound wallpaper in the style of Ennio Morricone’s more cool, menacing scores (think “The Thing from Another World”) repeatedly makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Leigh’s multi-faceted character by genre standards may also have contributed to the cult factor of the film, as did the kinetic imagery in the powerful action sprinkles.
Nevertheless, it is clear who the real star of the show is: Hauer, whose frightening charisma alone is able to raise the question of whether Ryder is “just” a serial killer or even a supernatural force. Would the alternative casting ideas for Ryder have been able to do this as well? Harmon, for example, wanted to get Terence Stamp, aka General Zod from “Superman,” for the part.
Cowboy character Sam Elliott was all but cast after an impressive audition (but left the project because the fee wasn’t enough for him) and Eric Red envisioned Keith Richards embodying the character! In the little-noticed remake from 2007, Sean Bean ultimately played the menacing hitchhiker. But before you catch up with Bean in “The Hitcher”, you should consider the following streaming tip with him:
Stream tonight: This bloody adventure with the “Lord of the Rings” star is a must for fans of dark medieval films
This is a revised republication of an article that previously appeared on FILMSTARTS.
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