The Hitcher (1986 Film) - Plot

Plot

Jim Halsey (C. Thomas Howell), a young man delivering a car from Chicago to San Diego, spots a man hitchhiking and gives him a ride. The man, John Ryder (Rutger Hauer), is brooding and soft-spoken; when Jim passes a stranded car, however, Ryder's personality suddenly shifts. Ryder calmly states that the reason the car is stranded is because he murdered and mutilated the driver, and he intends to do the same to Jim. Terrified, Jim asks what Ryder wants. He replies, "I want you to stop me." Ryder produces a switchblade knife and taunts Jim for several moments before Jim realizes Ryder had never put on his seat belt and that the car door was left ajar, so he knocks him out of the car's passenger door.

Relieved, Jim continues on his journey but sees Ryder in the back of a family car with a couple's girls. He tries to warn them but loses control of his car and spins off the road. He continues driving and after a while comes across the family's car, with blood oozing out the doors. He carries onwards and pulls into an abandoned gas station to use a phone. While there, Ryder corners him in the garage, but simply throws back the keys he took from Jim's car and leaves. Jim chases after him, rushing outside into a rising sandstorm, but Ryder has already hitched a ride with a man in a truck and leaves. Jim continues driving and eventually sees another gas station. While filling up his car, Ryder attempts to run him over, crashing into the pumps, causing gas to flood onto the concrete. As Jim attempts to flee Ryder drops a match, igniting the spilled gas. The ensuing explosion destroys the gas station. Jim's car bursts from the flames and speeds away. Jim eventually stops at a roadside diner, where he meets a pretty young waitress named Nash (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and calls the police. She then serves him a cheeseburger and French fries; he starts to relax. Upon discovering a severed finger among the fries, Jim realizes Ryder is present and attempts to flee. Two police officers arrive and, quickly finding Ryder's bloody switchblade in Jim's pocket, arrest him.

Jim wakes up in his cell and soon finds the door is unlocked. When he leaves he discovers all the officers at the station have had their throats slit. He steals a gun and flees. While attempting to use a payphone at another gas station, he sees a police car driving up. Holding the two officers in the car hostage, he orders them to get in and drive while he rides in the back. As they are driving, Jim speaks via radio to the officer in charge of Jim's case, Captain Esteridge (Jeffrey DeMunn). He and the two officers in the car convince Jim to trust them and surrender, but Ryder pulls up alongside the police car and kills the two officers. The car crashes by the side of the road and Ryder disappears once again. Jim contemplates suicide but resolves to keep going. At a cafe, Jim is sitting in the booth and suddenly Ryder appears in front of him. He holds Ryder at gunpoint who tells him the gun is unloaded. He leaves bullet in a serviette for Jim and departs. On seeing a stopped bus at the cafe, Jim sneaks on and hides in the bathroom. When Nash gets on and knocks on the door, he grabs her and tries to explain his situation. They sit down at the back of the bus and Jim tells his story. A police car then pulls the bus over. Knowing the police know he is on board, Jim gives himself up. The two officers are furious, believing Jim just killed two of their colleagues. One officer tells Jim to wipe his wrist. Knowing that once he does he will be shot in what will look like an act of self-defense, Jim refuses. This infuriates the officer further and he threatens to shoot Jim anyway. Suddenly Nash appears and holds the two officers hostage. Once they drop their weapons Nash and Jim flee. Ryder has been watching the entire event nearby. The two flee and are chased by two police cars; as they come level, Jim slams on the brakes and one police car shoots the tyres of the other, resulting in a carnage. Nash and Jim flee again only to be chased by a helicopter and new patrol cars. Ryder helps them by shooting down a police helicopter, which crashes and wrecks several police cruisers that had been coming after them.

In a motel, Nash is kidnapped by Ryder while Jim is in the bathroom. When Jim begins looking for Nash he is grabbed by Esteridge and another officer who, instead of arresting him, say they "Have a situation". Jim sees a large trailer and a truck with Nash tied up in-between. Esteridge informs Jim that Ryder asked for him specifically and that his men cannot shoot him as his foot will slip off the clutch, which would kill Nash. Once Jim gets in the truck, Ryder gives him a gun and tells him to shoot, but Jim is unable to do so. Ryder, disappointed, presses down the accelerator and rips Nash in half. Ryder is arrested, but the police are unsure of what to do with him, as they cannot find any information on him at all. As Ryder is being transferred to another facility, Jim cannot contain the urge to kill Ryder in revenge for the death of Nash, so he steals Esteridge's weapon and car, forces the police captain out of the vehicle, and goes after Ryder. As he is driving behind the police bus, the door swings open to reveal Ryder has killed all officers inside. He jumps onto the hood of Jim's car, but Jim hits the brakes and throws him off. Ryder stands up and begins firing at Jim's vehicle, until Jim runs him over and seizes his weapon. Ryder slowly gets up once again behind him and smiles. Jim finally shoots and kills him. The film ends with Jim in a similar silhouette to Ryder, cast against a blood red sky as he lights a cigarette.