Trailer
Plot summary
Jim Halsey has a car to deliver, all the way from Chicago to San Diego. The drive leaves him tired, and in the West Texas desert he offers a ride to a man at the roadside. The man says his name is John Ryder. When they pass a stranded car, Ryder forces Jim's foot down on the accelerator and says he killed that driver and cut the body apart. He pulls out a switchblade. Jim asks what he wants, and Ryder answers that he wants Jim to stop him.
Cast
Show all 13 cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Hitcher (1986)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Writer Eric Red got the idea for The Hitcher while driving cross-country, inspired by The Doors song "Riders on the Storm"; he then spent seven months in Austin, Texas, driving a taxi cab while writing the screenplay.
- Early drafts described killer John Ryder as skeletal, and David Bowie, Sting, Sam Shepard, Harry Dean Stanton and Terence Stamp were considered; director Robert Harmon carried Stamp's picture to pitch meetings, but Stamp turned it down and salary talks with Sam Elliott failed.
SPOILER
The studio wanted the girl's death softened and even suggested a funeral for her, but the filmmakers refused to back down and Silver Screen executives finally relented at the last minute.- At least two studios were willing to make the film only if director Robert Harmon was replaced, but the producers stuck by him.
SPOILER
The filmmakers negotiated two key scenes with the studio, the girl getting ripped apart and the eyeball in the hamburger, and director Robert Harmon changed the body part to a finger.- Matthew Modine, Tom Cruise and Emilio Estevez were all mentioned for the role of Jim Halsey before the producers agreed on C. Thomas Howell.
