The Hitchhiker (TV Series) True Believer (1986) User Reviews

Religious and soul spirits from your past can come to haunt you if you haven't faced them!

[blanbrn · 6/10 · 29 April 2007]

This "Hitchhiker" episode titled "True Believer" is religious themed and spooky in it's own way and it proves that demons from your past can haunt you. Veteran actor Tom Skerritt stars as a tough and by the book homicide detective who's on a murder case in a house of worship. And he will soon find that when dealing with a murder of this kind that took place around a higher power it's a different story. Upon his investigation the flashbacks start to occur from years ago when he lost his daughter in a freak accident something that's haunted him for years. Religion then has a funny way to bring out the guilt and fear in him by the form of a nun in a very shocking and wicked manner. This episode certainly shows the moral lesson that your past can haunt you especially when you haven't faced it and still feel guilt, and with the help of higher power it can make you a true believer and take away a person's arrogance.

The Hitchhiker--True Believer

[Scarecrow-88 · 7/10 · 3 April 2013]

A fine showcase for lead, Tom Skerritt, as he stars as a hardened detective, assigned the case of a suicide resulting from a priest putting a gun in his mouth, pulling the trigger. The location of the suicide was in a convent that had been shut down for about 70 years; this convent had the notorious history of a nun selling her soul to Satan and committing suicide there. Skerritt is Frank Sheen, in trench coat, cigarette hanging from the side of his lips, eye lids dark, his attitude foul. He is the classic divorced cop, grizzled and bitter, hanging at the bar late at night, drowning his anger and sorrow in liquor, still haunted by the accidental death of his teenage daughter after a nasty spat and later divorce from his wife (who has now moved on to a second, rich husband). He's a non-believer who just wants to get this new case over with and head back to streets where he's accustomed. This case is a nuisance because Frank doesn't believe the convent is a demonically possessed haven for Satan, but because his superiors heed the concern of the local priesthood to investigate, he is sent to determine if there was anything sinister that might explain the reasoning behind why a priest would take his own life. When he enters that particular room—the suicide room—he experiences a loud noise that has such a high frequency it causes agony and the walls and ceiling shake and quake (and crack). He also meets a young nun (the stunning Ornella Muti of Flash Gordon fame) in the convent which raises the suspicions of the local priest in the area (Walter Learning) considering it has been shut down for such a long period of time her presence is disconcerting and could be a demon trying to trick Sheen. Because he finds the claims nonsensical, and he has such contempt for the use of religion for what he feels is to create fear by priests and ministers, Sheen approaches the case with a cynical, eye-rolling, snarky attitude. He will encounter experiences right out of The Exorcist.

The visual style of this episode, True Believer, is right out of a demon-possession movie, and it follows the mould of atheist encountering the supernatural rather closely. Skerritt imbues his character with the rough edges and scarring that comes with being a cop that has seen what crime does to lives on a daily basis: the routine is hell on earth, bodies and victims are commonplace. The loss of his daughter to a tragedy that resulted in his slapping her for something that was probably trivial had he been of a sound mind and the resulting divorce that left him alone and yearning for her company only add weight to his outlook on life. The finale should never be in doubt; you could just see he's headed for such a grim conclusion. I'm not sure I can understand why he'd return to that suicide room at night; maybe he was so drunk it seemed as good a place as any to fall into your stupor. The run-down convent is nicely atmospheric and carries that look of being long-time unoccupied and abandoned, with the fish-eye lens perspective put to good use even if it seems to be the go-to style in demon-possession movies where an entity makes its way through a room or building. Because Frank Sheen is a man with a temper and attitude that can be considered toxic, the "personal demons can return to haunt you" angle makes sense: it was bound to come to this, especially in a place where demons can manipulate and prey on your emotions (especially if they are fragile and wound still fresh).

Superior episode

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 27 January 2011]

Skeptical and cynical homicide detective Frank Sheen (superbly played by Tom Skerritt) is forced to confront his own personal demons while investigating the suicide of a priest at an old abandoned convent that's rumored to be haunted by malign spirits. Director Carl Schenkel, working from an extremely grim and absorbing script by William Kelly, does an expert job of creating and sustaining a powerfully unsettling gloom-doom atmosphere which becomes more progressively bleak and upsetting as the story unfolds towards its startling and disturbing downbeat conclusion. Moreover, Schenkel makes excellent use both of the dismal snow-covered wintry rural landscape and the dingy and claustrophobic convent setting. Skerritt impresses as a convincingly troubled and world-weary protagonist; he receives sound support from Ornella Muti as alluring and mysterious nun Sister Theresa and Walter Learning as Father Dowling, a wannabe helpful priest whose dire warnings about the convent are ignored by Sheen. Both Michel Rubini's shuddery score and Thomas Burstyn's slick'n'shadowy cinematography further enhance the overall profoundly spooky mood. A snippet of Gary Busey as Reverend Nolan Powers from the terrific episode "W.G.O.D." can be briefly heard on a car radio. One of this show's darkest, most chilling, and hence strongest half hours.