Cult classic 1986 horror film The Hitcher is a white-knuckle ride full of suspense, but the original script was angled as a slasher movie. It's not hard to imagine why any aspiring screenwriter would try and craft a slasher script in the mid-1980s. After all, the decade's horror movie output was utterly dominated by the sub-genre, most notably the unholy trinity of A Nightmare on Elm Street's Freddy Krueger, Friday the 13th's Jason Voorhees, and Halloween's Michael Myers.
Slashers indisputably ruled the 1980s, with hundreds and hundreds of them released, especially once the burgeoning home video market really started to pick up steam. Yet, despite the slasher craze, the fact that The Hitcher's original script was a gore-filled murder-fest actually worked against it for a time. It seems counterintuitive, but such are the odd ways of Hollywood, which loved the mountains of money slashers earned on low budgets, but were still kind of ashamed of actually making them.
The Hitcher, as directed by Robert Harmon and starring Rutger Hauer, is definitely not of the slasher ilk. Here's why that change occurred, and why it was the right move to make, leading to the terrific film horror fans know and love.
The Hitcher's Original Script Was A Slasher Movie: Why The Change Was Good
As detailed in a vintage article in the LA Times, Eric Red's original script for The Hitcher, as submitted to multiple producers, was absolutely blood-soaked. Every opportunity was taken for John Ryder to massacre people, in graphic detail. There were multiple slashed throats, and an eyeball was even served inside a hamburger. Script development executive David Bombyk saw potential in the script, but doubted that his bosses would make it in its current state. So the script was re-worked into a Hitchockian suspense piece that also happened to have a lot of violence. Oddly enough, Red says his original script wasn't any bloodier than what was ultimately shot, although everyone else seems to remember it differently.
Either way, the essence of the story didn't change, but the gore level and kill count was toned down substantially, with the hamburger eyeball becoming a french fry finger, the station wagon family Ryder murders being shown only in aftermath, and Nash (Jennifer Jason Leigh) getting ripped in half happening off-screen. Taking The Hitcher away from its original, more slasher-oriented direction was the best thing that could've been done. By 1986, slashers were a dime a dozen, with more being terrible than great. They were being churned out to make a quick buck, and fans were growing weary.
Instead, The Hitcher's suspense-focused brand of horror offered audiences something entirely different than they were getting elsewhere, causing the film to stand out. Sadly, The Hitcher was a flop in theaters, but later found its audience on home video and cable, and quickly became a cult favorite. Today, many regard The Hitcher as one of the best horror movies of the 1980s. If The Hitcher had been just another gory slasher effort, it would've gotten lost in the shuffle, and probably wouldn't be remembered nearly as well.