Out on the desert highway the rule of thumb has a different meaning... Young Jim Halsey (Howell) discovers that when he slows down in the middle of the Texan wilderness to offer a ride to a gaunt figure by the roadside. How was Jim to know that this small kindness would change his life irreparably? When Jim let the hitcher (Hauer) into his car death destruction and bloody mayhem came along for the ride. His mother warned him about giving rides to strangers; tonight Jim is going to learn that mum can sometimes be right...