The Hitcher
Jim Halsey (Zachary Knighton) and Grace Andrews (Sophia Bush) are tormented by a mysterious hitchhiker named John Ryder (Sean Bean).
The young couple hit the road en route to spring break in a 1970 Oldsmobile 442. Ryder dangerously stands on the road, near his car, which apparently has broken down. After passing they worry that they might have hit him. When they see that he is unharmed, Grace insists that they do not give him a ride as he could be dangerous.
At a gas station, Jim sees Ryder climb out of a tractor-trailer cab while gassing up. Ryder introduces himself and asks for a ride. Reluctantly Jim agrees. While on the road, Ryder becomes violent and holds a knife to Grace's throat. Ryder tells him the only way to save himself and Grace is to say four little words, "I want to die." Instead, Jim screams out "I don't wanna die!". He then brakes violently, causing Ryder to hit his head on the windshield. Halsey then speeds up, kicking Ryder repeatedly until Grace opens the passenger door and he is ejected.
Later Jim and Grace drive down the road and see an Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser station wagon with a couple of kids playing in the back seat. We then see Ryder appear in the back of the car, apparently hitchhiking. Grace and Jim try to warn the family of Ryder, but they get run off the road by an oncoming tractor-trailer. In the crash, Jim's car is totaled, forcing the couple to continue on foot. They eventually find the station wagon on the side of the road. Both the children and the mother are dead. The father has a knife embedded in his stomach and is slowly dying.
Hoping to find help for the dying man, the couple take the station wagon and head towards town. Ryder appears in an earlier seen Dodge Ram and attempts to run them off the road in a stolen truck. They stop at a cafe, where the father dies. Suspected of committing the murders, Jim and Grace became victims of police brutality when they are arrested and brought to the police station. Grace is interrogated while Jim is held in a cell. Ryder shows up and kills everyone at the station except for Jim and Grace who flee on foot.
They come to a wrecking yard. Grace attempts to negotiate with the lone surviving cop from the station. When this fails Jim and Grace order him at gunpoint to get into his car to allow them to escape and prove their innocence. However, before he can enter the car he is shot in the head by Ryder. Another officer just arriving witnesses this and begins shooting at the couple as they attempt to escape.
Despite suspecting that there might be a third suspect, Lieutenant Estheridge (Neal McDonough) sends several cruisers and a helicopter after the couple. Ryder shows up in a 1979 Trans Am and manages to single-handedly take out all of the cruisers and the police helicopter. He pulls up alongside Grace and Jim's cruiser and gives them a long, fixed stare before driving off.
Grace and Jim walk to a motel after their cruiser breaks down. After sharing a shower, Jim steps out of the room to make a phone call. He's gone for several hours and Grace falls asleep watching Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. She is awakened by someone in the bed who is feeling her up. Ryder tries to rape her, but Grace manages to fight him off and hide in the bathroom with a revolver.
Ryder disappears as Grace searches for Jim. The motel manager sees her with a gun and calls the cops. Grace finds Jim and sees that he is tied between a truck and a trailer. Ryder looks in the side-view mirror and revs the engine, moving the truck a few inches. This hurts Jim and Grace runs to the cab to find Ryder sitting in the driver's seat. Grace points the gun at him and tells him to stop the truck. Ryder keeps hitting the gas, brutally hurting Jim. Ryder tells Grace that if she shoots him, his foot will come off the clutch, and the truck will move forward, killing Jim. Ryder then tells her to point the gun between his eyes. Grace can't do it so Ryder does it for her. Ryder then tells her to shoot him, but she can't. The cops, who still thinks Grace and Jim are the killers, then show up and see Grace with Ryder at gunpoint. They tell her to drop the gun, but Ryder tells Grace not to listen to them. Ryder then gets impatient and snatches the gun out of her hands. He then mutters under his breath, "useless waste." He then punches the gas and tears Jim in half. Ryder and Grace are then apprehended by the cops.
The next morning, Estheridge talks to Ryder and tells him he will be transported across the state. He also tells Grace, whose innocence has been proven, that he'll be taking her for psychiatric care. Ryder is bound in handcuffs with a bulletproof vest and placed in the back of a police van, with Grace and Estheridge driving behind them in an SUV. During the ride, Ryder breaks or dislocates his own thumb, and, scraping off the skin, slowly squeezes his hand through the handcuff. The accompanying policeman sees the loose handcuff lock and goes for his gun. Ryder whips the lock at his throat, taking out a large chunk of it. Ryder then gets the policeman's gun and shoots the policeman in the front passenger seat. The driver loses control and rolls the van, taking out an oncoming Chevrolet El Camino, which crashes into Estheridge's SUV.
Lieutenant Estheridge's leg has been trapped in the accident. Grace takes Estheridge's gun, leaving him unarmed and helpless, and slowly makes her way to the van in which Ryder is caught. Estheridge radios in for backup. Grace opens the back door, whereupon Ryder takes her gun and locks her in the back. Ryder sees a pool of gasoline near the van, shoots it and walks away, igniting the van. Grace manages to get a shotgun from the front seat of the van right before the gasoline explodes. Ryder walks up to Estheridge and shoots him in the head. The van door is unhinged in the explosion and Grace knocks it out. As Ryder walks away Grace shoots him twice with the shotgun. His vest catches the shots until he is on his knees. He smiles weakly and says to Grace, "Feels good, doesn't it?", to which Grace replies, "I don't feel a thing". Ryder's smile then turns into a grimace as Grace points the gun to his face and pulls the trigger. Grace then drops the gun and walks away.
