Director Robert Harmon's criminally overlooked film THE HITCHER is a violent thrill-ride featuring strong performances from Rutger Hauer and C. Thomas Howell in a tense, cat-and-mouse gem that, "did for hitch-hiking what JAWS did for ocean swimmers." In other words, this newly restored slice of 80s-era "cinema obscura" is perfect for inclusion in the Rio Theatre's Friday Late Night Movies series.

While transporting a car from Chicago to San Diego, Jim Halsey (Thomas Howell) picks up a hitchhiker named John Ryder (Hauer), who claims to be a serial killer. After a daring escape, Jim hopes to never see Ryder again. But when he witnesses the hitchhiker murdering an entire family, Jim pursues Ryder with the help of truck-stop waitress Nash, pitting the rivals against each other in a deadly series of car chases and brutal murders. With Jennifer Jason Leigh.

"It's a highly competent sick-fright version of the evergreen chase formula." (Time Out)

"An odyssey of horror and suspense." (Newsweek)

Friday, April 11
Doors 11:15 pm | Movie 11:45 pm *Start time subject to change. Please arrive on time.

Late Night Date Night! Tickets are two-for-one admission.

THE HITCHER (Robert Harmon, 1986 / 98 mins / 18A) A young man who escapes the clutches of a murderous hitchhiker is subsequently stalked by the hitcher and framed for his crimes.