Robert Harmon’s The Hitcher (1986) is a nerve-shredding road thriller where C. Thomas Howell’s young driver picks up a mysterious hitchhiker, played with chilling menace by Rutger Hauer. What begins as a chance encounter spirals into a relentless cat-and-mouse game of murder, pursuit, and psychological terror across desolate highways. Blending road-movie atmosphere with Hitchcockian suspense, the film stands as one of the era’s most disturbing thrillers.

A would-be samaritan picks up a hitchhiker and soon discovers the man is a relentless serial killer. Framed by the cold-blooded murderer for a string of slayings, his only help comes from a caring waitress as they attempt to flee from both the law and the hitcher.

Från IMDB:
A young man who escapes the clutches of a murderous hitchhiker is subsequently stalked by the hitcher and framed for his crimes.