Directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Richard Matheson.

David Mann

• Well, you never know...you just never know. You just go along figuring some things don't change ever, like being able to drive on a public highway without someone trying to murder you. And then one stupid thing happens. Twenty, twenty-five minutes out of your whole life, and all the ropes that kept you hanging in there get cut loose, and it's like, there you are, right back in the jungle again. All right boy, it was a nightmare, but it's over now. [pauses] It's all over.

• [In Chuck's Cafe] What if he followed me out, though? Started after me again? I'd be right back where I started; even if I got a lead, he'd overtake me soon enough. He's got some, some, some souped up diesel; my car's just not that powerful, I just can't break eighty and ninety miles an hour. As soon as I stop concentrating, I'd go back to sixty or seventy like I always do; it's a habit, I can't help it, he's just... [pauses] take it easy...just, take it easy.

Dialogue

Gas station attendant: Looks like you could use a new radiator hose.

Mann: Yeah, where have I heard that before. I'll get one later, thanks.

Gas station attendant: You're the boss.

Mann: Not in my house, I'm not.

Cafe owner: [as David Mann exits cafe restroom and enters dining area] Are you all right?

Mann: Yeah, I'm fine.

Cafe owner: What happened out there?

Mann: Oh, just a slight complication.

Cafe owner: Oh? Looked like a big complication to me. [Others laugh]

Mann: [mistakenly thinking that the man eating a sandwich in the cafe is the truck driver harassing him] Look, uh... I want you to cut it out.

Man in Cafe: [bites into sandwich, chewing] Wha?

Mann: Just... just cut it out, okay?

Man in Cafe: [bites into sandwich again, chewing] Cut what out?

Mann: Now come on, let's uh... let's not play games.

Man in Cafe: What the hell you talkin' about?

Mann: I can call the police.

Man in Cafe: [stops eating, looks surprised] Police?

Mann: You think that I won't? You're wrong, mister. I mean if you think you can just... just take that... that truck of yours and use it as a murder weapon and uh... killin' people on the highway... you're wrong! You got another thing comin'!

Man in Cafe: [shakes head, fed up] Man, you need help.

Mann: [Mann slaps the sandwich out of his hand] Don't you tell me I need help!

Man in Cafe: [punches Mann in the stomach]

Mann: That truck driver's crazy, he's been trying to kill me, I mean it!

Bus Driver: Well, mister, if I was to vote on who's crazy around here, it'd be you.

[The truck smashes into the Snake Lady's phone booth]

Mann: Call the police!

Snake Lady: With what? That's the only phone I got!

Taglines

• Fear is the driving force.

• The Killer's Weapon - A 40 Ton Truck

• Terror in your rear view mirror.

• When the headlights of a truck become the eyes of a psychopath.

• The most bizarre murder weapon ever used!

Cast

• Dennis Weaver - David Mann
• Jacqueline Scott - Mrs. Mann
• Eddie Firestone - Cafe Owner
• Lou Frizzell - Bus Driver
• Gene Dynarski - Man in Cafe
• Lucille Benson - Lady at Snakerama
• Tim Herbert - Gas Station Attendant
• Charles Seel - Old Man
• Shirley O'Hara - Waitress
• Alexander Lockwood - Old Man in Car
• Amy Douglass - Old Woman in Car
• Dick Whittington - Radio Interviewer (voice)
• Carey Loftin - The Truck Driver