Was all of this in the mind of the lead character?
Played by C. Thomas Howell?
shareNo, it all played out for real for him. That would have been an interesting twist though 😊
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MovieChat Forums > The Hitcher (1986) Discussion > Was all of this in the mind of the lead ...
Nah, everything really happened. I love this movie.
shareNo that never occurred to me.
sharegod no .
those movies are stupid
"... oh and it was all a dream ... "
Maybe not so much a DREAM but a REFLECTION of one's own psychological state of mind moviechatterer.
Films like "Lost Highway" (1997) and "Fight Club" (1999) had most of the stuff in the characters' minds but they were no less compelling and in former case especially brilliant for that.
And some films portray certain situations as metaphors etc, look at films like "Possession" (1981) and "Antichrist" (2009) and maybe even "Blue Steel" (1991) - otherwise, beyond the supernatural explanations of which there is little to no evidence, how else do you explain all the downright bizarre events that happen there.
Films like Gaspar Noe's "I Stand Alone" (1998) ("Seul Contre Tous") also had stuff happening inside its lead character's mind on top of things happening for real and many found it compelling and brilliant BECAUSE of it, movies like even Lynch's other greatest masterpiece "Blue Velvet" (1986) questioned if ALL events really WERE for real or if it was in the lead character's subconsciousness, as did some other works like Abel Ferrara's "Ms .45" (aka "Angel of Vengeance") (1981).
So yeah, it isn't anywhere near as simple as "oh it makes a movie stupid" and on a simple level of it "being a dream".
Yeah , I get the distinction , and maybe those films have a little more to them than "it was all a dream" , I'm still not keen on them
wasnt "Secret window" with j depp one of those?
I'll need to re-watch that one to decide.
shareAnd thing is, MAYBE it wasn't all in his mind or at least not all of it, but I kind of gotten the impression and felt that a lot of the events that happen in "The Hitcher", especially how Rutger Hauer's almost supernatural serial killer constantly keeps appearing out of nowhere to chase the lead character no matter where he goes, and stays very cleverly ahead of the game all the time etc, sort of gives the impression that its all either in his head or subconsciousness or that it is a metaphor for something.
That doesn't make this movie any LESS great and entertaining though but it does raise a couple of questions.
Even some films like "The Devil's Advocate" (1997) make us question if all of the (albeit supernatural) events really happened in that movie or if it was all in Keanu Reeves' twisted imagination and even if all of it was real, a lot of the events that happen in that film seem like a metaphor for the dark sides of the American lawyer profession.
I was convinced John Ryder was in his mind and he was the one doing all the killing. But that stopped as soon as Nash saw him too.
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