The Hitcher (1986)

The Hitcher summary of box office results, charts and release information and related links.

A young man who escaped the clutches of a murderous hitch-hiker is subsequently stalked, framed for the hitcher's crimes, and has his life made into hell by the same man he escaped.

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The Hitcher, 1986. Directed by Robert Harmon. Starring Rutger Hauer, C Thomas Howell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Jeffrey DeMunn. SYNOPSIS: Jim is delivering a car from Chicago to San Diego when he stops to pick up a hitchhiker named John Ryder who quickly reveals himself as a serial killer who kills anyone foolish enough to …

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Movie review by Charles Cassady Jr., Common Sense Media

Rutger Hauer in The Hitcher (1986)

This routine slasher film is greatly enhanced by the ethereal quality of its evocative cinematography and a haunting score that foretells pending doom. Otherwise, the pendulum swings between car crashes and slasher killings all the way through until the predictable end. Jim Halsey (C. Thomas Howell) stops to pick up serial murderer John Ryder (Rutger Hauer) on a long haul through Texas while driving a Cadillac to its destination. Before he gets the car back up to 65 again, Jim realizes he has a wacko for a passenger and throws him out. Revenge is in store as the crazed Ryder starts killing off anyone Jim meets along his way. Desperate for help, Jim's flight from the killer becomes a flight from the police as well, since they think he is responsible for the trail of deaths that follow in his wake.

The Hitcher is a 1986 American road action horror film directed by Robert Harmon and written by Eric Red. It stars Rutger Hauer, C. Thomas Howell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Jeffrey DeMunn.

Directed by Robert Harmon. With Rutger Hauer, C. Thomas Howell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jeffrey DeMunn. A young man who escapes the clutches of a murderous hitch-hiker is subsequently stalked by the hitcher and framed for his crimes.

The second film selection for Blake & Ian’s four-part series comes from Blake’s selection of favorite horror films, the 1986 version of The Hitcher, starring Rutger Hauer, C. Thomas Howell and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Blake: Jim Halsey: Why are you doing this to me? John Ryder: You’re a smart kid…figure it out. Whether it’s the rise […]

"The Hitcher" begins and ends with the same sound: a match being struck, flaring into flame. At the beginning of the film, the sound is made by the villain, a hitchhiker who is a mass murderer. At the end of the film, the sound is made by the hero, a young man whose life has been spared so that he can become the special victim of the hitchhiker.