The Drifter (1988)

User Rating:

4.9/10   

Director:

Larry Brand

Writer (WGA):

Larry Brand (written by)

Release Date:

February 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller

Tagline:

A dark, tightly focused thriller.

Plot:

A suspensefilled thriller about a successful single woman who, on a deserted road, picks up a mysterious hitchhiker...

Plot Keywords:

Hitchhiker | Psycho Thriller | Stalking | Shot In The Head | Tense

Cast

Kim Delaney	...	Julia Robbins
Timothy Bottoms	...	Arthur
Al Shannon	...	Kriger
Miles O'Keeffe	...	Trey
Anna Garduno	...	Matty (as Anna Gray Garduno)
Loren Haynes	...	Willie Munroe (as Loren Haines)
Larry Brand	...	Morrison
Thomas Wagner	...	Captain Edwards
Ernest Alexander	...	Eugene
JoAnn Willette	...	Carrie (as Joanne Willette)
Gil Christner	...	Gas Attendant
Al Guarino	...	Joe Santini
George Derby	...	Jawbone
Bodacious Bob McVickery	...	Bodacious
Rebecca Reynolds	...	Biker Chick

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Finland:(Banned) (1988) | Finland:K-16 (1989) | USA:R

Company:

Concorde Pictures

Goofs:

Continuity: Julia tears the filter off her cigarette, but a moment later it's back on.

Quotes:

Julia: Look, I better get going. I have a presentation tomorrow.
Trey: Well, I'll see you later.
Julia: I don't think that would be a very good idea.
Trey: Why?
Julia: I lead a very simple life.
Trey: So do I.
Julia: For me right now you would be a major complication.
Trey: I'm not very complicated.
Julia: I think I liked this better when there was no words.

Wonderful story idea, implausible conclusion

This is a movie that had great possibilities - a woman on a road trip who has a one-night fling with a hitchhiker she picks up on the road. But the man refuses to let go, and tracks her down in her Southern California apartment, making unwanted phone calls and trying persistently to have some kind of relationship with her.

It's a fine start. But, without giving away too much of the ending, the screenwriters inexplicably decided to turn him into a good guy, attempting to create another classic "surprise ending." But it's awkward, often confusing, and ultimately entirely unbelievable. Had they story evolved differently, they could have turned this "obsessed" young man into a more sympathetic figure without all the implausible plot twists.

And a scene at the end, in which the woman is trapped with a knife-wielding killer, stretches on for minutes as the would-be-killer misses and hesitates. Real suspense doesn't have to be so clumsy or contrived.