“The Hitcher” A bizarre road thriller created in the 1980s

Rutger Hauer's performance embodies the role of "a murderer on the street"

The biggest point in the production of "The Hitcher" was, of course, "who should play the unidentified killer John Ryder?" In the initial draft, the character was set as a "skinny man", and the list included sickly actors such as David Bowie, Sting, Sam Shepard, Harry Dean Stanton, and Terence Stamp. Among them, Robert Harmon was adamant about Terence Stamp. He was known for his mad acting, having played a sadistic kidnapper in director William Wyler's " The Collector " (1965) and an extreme alcoholic in the third episode of the anthology film "The Devil's Necklace" (1968). However, due to opposition from those around him, this casting did not come to fruition.

The Hitcher© Filmverlag Fernsehjuwelen. All rights reserved.

The next person the production team had their eye on was Sam Elliott. In recent years, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in A Star Is Born (2018), but at the time he was a mid-career actor who mainly worked on television. His performance at the audition was so amazing that producer Edward S. Feldman was so scared that he couldn't get in the car to go out. However, due to scheduling conflicts, he also had to drop out.

After many twists and turns, it was Rutger Hauer who landed the role of John Ryder. Born in the Netherlands, he worked with fellow Dutchman director Paul Verhoeven in a number of controversial films, such as Dangerous Love (1973), Ketty (1975), On Her Majesty's Warriors (1977), Spetters (1980), and The Great Warriors (1985), all of which were perverse, and he gleefully played amoral, deviant characters.

The Hitcher© Filmverlag Fernsehjuwelen. All rights reserved.

Now, I can't imagine anyone else playing John Ryder. C. Thomas Howell, who played Jim Halsey, was said to have been genuinely scared during filming, so he must have been extremely immersed in the role. The "street killer" that Eric Red dreamed up was brought to life by the extraordinary actor Rutger Hauer.

The brutal murders are repeated randomly. But there is no rational explanation for them. It is not clear who John Ryder is or where he comes from. He just ridicules his enemies, mercilessly tortures and kills them, and immerses himself in dark pleasure. He shows no interest in money and takes supreme pleasure in seeing people fall into the abyss of evil. He is a character similar to the Joker from " The Dark Knight " (2008). It was no coincidence that Christopher Nolan cast Rutger Hauer in the first film of the series, " Batman Begins " (2005).

"The holy" and "the evil." Who is John Ryder?