If you want anything to inspire your story, go back and read up on the urban legends. There are enough to give you the creeps for many nights to come, but also inspiration for all your stories if you're having a hard time coming up with any yourself. Some of the scarier ones are the hitchhiking legends about people vanishing or haunting the roads at night when people are driving. Seeing someone at the side of the road in the middle of the night would surely scare the sense out of my, so here's hoping that I'll never experience one of those phenomenons. However, they make for good stories and there are a lot of horror flicks that have taken inspiration from those legends, so it would only make sense that there's already been something based on this specific one. And while "The Hitch-Hiker" is not based on any of those legends, Lucille Fletcher's original radio play was most certainly inspired by these events, and it gave birth to one of the creepiest episodes of the famous horror show that I've ever seen. It's about a young woman travelling across the country who is haunted by the visions of a hitchhiker who shows up everywhere. This episode is full of that lovely tension that Rod Serling is so good at, and his intense vision can be too much for some, but I think it's the greatest form of storytelling for this story, with a creepy screenplay and a fabulous lead performance from actress Inger Stevens.
It's such a simple premise and I admire how Serling settles for simplicity over the large spectacle that has been some of the previous episodes. The only thing that's really happening here is the constant fear that Stevens' character feels, and us with it because we like her. She gains our sympathy as she is stuck in this unwilling scenario that leaves a lot of questions to be asked. But it's not important for us to see these questions being answered, as long as we'll get a capper to the story that ends with some sort of clarity of the situation.
The feel of the episode is full of dreary clearness. In some ways, Serling tries to prepare us for the big twist, which we know is coming. There's something more going on here and it's something that will make the whole episode feel different in retrospect. The atmosphere is already very spooky and confined, but what the twist adds here is an epiphany that everything here happens for a reason and that there's nothing we should ever have been afraid of since the story is not what we think it is. That was a little confusing, but it'll make sense.
In fact, it changes the narrative in such a way that the ending of this story is not scary, but satisfyingly meaningful. The big twist happens and changes not only the mood of the story, but the genre and the feel of it as well. I'm exciting to see how the episode holds up on a rewatch and all the details that I'll be able to spot out the next time. There are probably also some things that won't make a lot of sense, but that's something that I'll deal with when that happens. It's not an issue right now.
The performances provided by Inger Stevens and Leonard Strong as the hitchhiker are brilliant. Steven completely sells the feeling of agony that she's finding herself in, growing ever more explosive throughout the episode, while Strong's calm demeanor and facial expressions add to the spook of his character in such a rough way. It's a lovely chase and you like to follow these characters on it, despite the fact that you feel terrible for Nan. It discloses itself in such a fine way that I'm not sure any other actors could have pulled it off as brilliantly as they did.
"The Hitch-Hiker" is a brilliant and tenseful episode that takes the show in a different direction, really diving into the horror element of it all. It has a great storyline that's taken from the root of those urban legends that scared kids, not scaring adults through great writing and incredible performances from its lead cast.
It's such a simple premise and I admire how Serling settles for simplicity over the large spectacle that has been some of the previous episodes. The only thing that's really happening here is the constant fear that Stevens' character feels, and us with it because we like her. She gains our sympathy as she is stuck in this unwilling scenario that leaves a lot of questions to be asked. But it's not important for us to see these questions being answered, as long as we'll get a capper to the story that ends with some sort of clarity of the situation.
The feel of the episode is full of dreary clearness. In some ways, Serling tries to prepare us for the big twist, which we know is coming. There's something more going on here and it's something that will make the whole episode feel different in retrospect. The atmosphere is already very spooky and confined, but what the twist adds here is an epiphany that everything here happens for a reason and that there's nothing we should ever have been afraid of since the story is not what we think it is. That was a little confusing, but it'll make sense.
In fact, it changes the narrative in such a way that the ending of this story is not scary, but satisfyingly meaningful. The big twist happens and changes not only the mood of the story, but the genre and the feel of it as well. I'm exciting to see how the episode holds up on a rewatch and all the details that I'll be able to spot out the next time. There are probably also some things that won't make a lot of sense, but that's something that I'll deal with when that happens. It's not an issue right now.
The performances provided by Inger Stevens and Leonard Strong as the hitchhiker are brilliant. Steven completely sells the feeling of agony that she's finding herself in, growing ever more explosive throughout the episode, while Strong's calm demeanor and facial expressions add to the spook of his character in such a rough way. It's a lovely chase and you like to follow these characters on it, despite the fact that you feel terrible for Nan. It discloses itself in such a fine way that I'm not sure any other actors could have pulled it off as brilliantly as they did.
"The Hitch-Hiker" is a brilliant and tenseful episode that takes the show in a different direction, really diving into the horror element of it all. It has a great storyline that's taken from the root of those urban legends that scared kids, not scaring adults through great writing and incredible performances from its lead cast.