#halryder

At the end there is that moment where Rutger (John) is lying on the pavement and Tommy (Jim) walks up to him, and he certainly believes that he’s dead- that he isn’t as immaterial at that moment, and he kind of caresses his hair with the gun. It’s a sort of farewell. You know, he’s not walking over to him with the gun and putting five more bullets in him or turning the rifle around and bashing him—it’d just be completely wrong. There’s a certain gentleness. There’s almost… Controversial though this may be… almost a thank you, involved in it. That’s how I’ve always felt about it.

- Robert Harmon, Director (The Hitcher: How Do These Movies Get Made?)

It might be a slightly twisted view of it, but at the end of the movie, I certainly have felt Tommy (Jim) is left to wonder whether or not—if the Halsey character could turn back the clock—and choose, to have never met John Ryder… I’m not so sure that he would choose that; that he would change anything.

- Robert Harmon, Director (The Hitcher: How Do These Movies Get Made?)

In terms of the character, this is a guy who knows he’s very sick. But he doesn’t quite know where to go to have it fixed. Or, he doesn’t know how to end it. He’s a coward too. If he would have the guts to commit suicide, that would be fine, but he doesn’t have that. So, I guess somewhere in his mind, he comes up with an idea that if he can just find somebody who gives a little shit, that he can have some fun with—and then he’ll ask him to just take him out of the way.

- Rutger Hauer, John Ryder (The Hitcher: How Do These Movies Get Made?)

The second idea was the love story, which may sound a bit strange, but there’s a love story going on between the two guys, on a very strange level. And the director liked all these ideas, so he let me run with it.

- Rutger Hauer (Scene by Scene DVD commentary)

But I know he (Thomas Howell) was very excited when he shot that movie. It was the first big role for him and I loved him for who he was, because he was so gentle and so so easy to play with, and he just allowed me so- I could just kiss this guy (Jim) and he wouldn’t even budge, y’know. And he’d go ‘Well why you doing that?’ and uhh… so he was like in my hand.

- Rutger Hauer, John Ryder

I remember worrying that the censors would have some concerns about this shot, but luckily... they didn't get it I think, and left it alone.

that COMPLETELY changes the emotions behind the final confrontation and indeed whole vibe of the police interrogation scene is different.

in the movie they don't speak to each other at all like they do in the script, everything is said through facial expressions that are very loaded. in the movie, jim doesn't purposefully help ryder free himself but is absolutely confident that he will escape by himself to continue his reign of terror.

in the script, the exchange is more straightforward. it's merely a handshake compared to the movie where it's more of an intimate hand hold. the spitting is also a callback to earlier in the script's version of the car scene.

which he never does in the movie, making the spitting a total surprise.

I think I'll write more about it later after I've read the whole script, but Jim comes off as a subtly different character. he seems more... plucky? I guess more of a typical 80s protagonist. ryder is a somewhat different character too.

Ok so I was bored and for fun I made a 3 minute long supercut of every time Jim Halsey (C Thomas Howell) whimpers, moans, breathes heavily, exclaims in pain, etc in the gay sadomasochistic western horror classic The Hitcher (1986).