Roadgames (1981)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Expected more

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Traveling on the road can be a rewarding and taxing experience, because despite the intended destination ahead, it requires lots of driving time. It's a lot of time between stops and a lot of time for something to go wrong.This is one of my favorite suspense thrillers that has driven under the radar. I really like the premise itself which I think is plausible, whose to say the next guy that passes you by on the road isn't a serial killer. This film is another road thriller but I actually really like that subgenere because the road is a perfect arena for thrillers. The thing about being on the road is that you never really know what is ahead or what's going to happen driving in between destinations.It's pretty much Rear Window but on the road, and that's cool, this film was obviously inspired by Hichcock; there's even one moment when we see Pat has a book which is based on one of the films Hichcock made. It makes perfect sense utilizing this format on the road since when your driving you always observe your surroundings.The music is solid, it's got a pretty good theme song. The pacing is solid as well, it goes at the right speed and the fact this film's not to long helps with the pace. The pace is much like with the road trips it's in constant motion giving you very few opportunities to think and act which makes it all the more suspenseful because the protagonist needs every mile journeyed to count.There are some very good cinematography shots. I really like the use of the Australian backdrop, which in a way is a character of it's own as you just feel the endless openness of the barren country which is all the more unsettling because it really gives the feeling of isolation. Knowing you really are all alone and that help is miles away. And there is of course one memorable shot which is of this hot musician girl whom is playing the guitar in the nude, I so wished she put that guitar away.Ahem anyway to me what really makes the film is really the protagonist character played by two really solid actors.Jamie Lee Curtis whom of course is no stranger to the horror/thriller generes this is another great one under her belt. It's true she's not in the film that long she's more of a supporting role in the film. But from the amount of time she's in she's a likable character. Hitch (how ironic) she's simply somebody that is just simply looking for adventure or just something in life, anything; you can say she gets one hell of an adventure.Stacy Ketch whom I think is an underrated actor is great in this film as Pat Quid and he's of course the main protagonist. His character is likable he's got this charisma and depth, his soicalable where he picks up hitchhikers just to pass the time.I like his back and forth with Jamie's character it's a platonic interaction which I'm fine with, both joke around and help each other on the case. Even his back and forth with his pet dingo is solid and kinda humorous. But what I like about him is despite blue collar occupation he's highly intelligent, we see he listens and has knowledge of some orchastratic scores, even as a few books with him so he reads sometimes; of course his intellect is his best and only weapon against the killer. He's also a guy that is one of those people just looking for something/anything in life; you can say he's finally found it or it found him.He's a sympathetic character because he wasn't a person really looking for trouble like most thriller protagonists do but trouble has unfortunately found him from the killer as well as the cops whom as usual stupidly finger our hero. Like all protagonists in suspense thrillers he has to do the right thing because no one else can or will and has no choice in the matter because the killer is hunting him also. These things just all the more make us want Pat to win the game, hoping some how he's thought or entrap the killer somehow.This is one game worth playing and one you shouldn't dare lose.Rating: 4 stars

His name is Quid. Patrick Anthony Quid. As in, British Sterling. He's an Aussie truckie, who whiles away long hours on the road by quoting poetry, talking to Boswell, and obsessively people-watching, which leads to the trail of a Jack The Ripper-like killer carving his way across the Nullarbor Plain. For such a verbose screenplay, Keach's sometimes lengthy monologues are quite witty and serve to move the plot forward without being overly self explanatory, while the addition of hitchhiker Sunny Day does also. JLC (basically in an extended cameo) turns up midway as Quid's next hitchhiker and potential target for Mr. Smith Or Jones.Film's plot is secondary to the characters, the majority of the screenplay is really an excuse for Keach to have fun with his philosophical, overly poetic character, and interact with JLC's likeminded character about the killer and his motives, while the actual killer is basically just a background player, only in a few minutes of the film, and his character has no lines of dialogue. Well photographed, largely in the confines of the truck's cab, and in the Australian Outback, with a dynamite 360-degree shot in a roadhouse bar; it, among other elements, give this the atmosphere and the feeling of a latter day noir/ Hitchcock film.

Roadgames is a wonderful Australian thriller, directed by Richard Franklin (who also made Psycho II - my personal favorite Psycho movie), written by Everett De Roche (whose credits include Long Weekend and Razorback) and starring Stacy Keach (Fat City and the Mike Hammer TV series) and Jamie Lee Curtis. I first saw this movie on TV in the 1980s and then again a few years later, which was when I really became impressed with it's cult movie qualities and I recently saw it again on DVD.Stacy Keach is wonderful as a man who drives a truck (but doesn't consider himself "a truck driver") and passes his time on his long haul road trips with various games. He talks both to himself and his "dingo", passing the time with attributing his own names, identities and even dialog to the other motorists on the road (he also likes to quote poetry). Like other fans of the film, I think this is part of what makes the movie so likable and I loved his little nicknames for people like "Sneezy Rider". Early on, Stacy Keach notices a driver in a green van offer a lift to a hitchhiker and observes the same man intently watching the garbage bags being picked up the following morning while Stacy's dingo seems very interested in what's inside one of them. Later Stacy sees the same driver digging a hole in the desert, presumably for the picnic box he has beside him, stops when he sees that he is being watched. Stacy has heard talk on the radio and from a fellow road traveler about the Jack The Ripper style killer who is responsible for bits of bodies popping up in different locations. As the film goes on, Stacy becomes more and more absorbed with the idea that the green van driver is probably the killer, but has to decide whether and how to follow this train of thought. Along the way, Stacy picks up a young female hitchhiker (Jamie Lee Curtis) that he dubs "Hitch" (for hitchhiker, but Stacy himself is shown to own a Hitchcock book and the film itself is often cited as being Hitchcock influenced). Hitch disappears while investigating the green van, adding to Stacy Keach's troubles as he becomes unsure if Hitch is in mortal danger or if she was a willing accomplice of the killer all along.This film is a fine example of Australian made cult thrillers and horrors and stands very well alongside other classics like Mad Max (except without a Nuremberg dodger in the title role), Long Weekend and Razorback. It also stands well alongside other road movie horrors like Duel and personally I much prefer it to The Hitcher. It has wonderful performances, some nice humor and a quietly absorbing storyline. It's not a film to look for gore or big action scenes in, but it is a great thriller and road movie with a great script. Stacy Keach later played a truck driver after a killer in the 1992 TV movie Revenge On The Highway. Much better than the rubbish that Goebbels churned out! More films like this please!

I would not recommend you wait on this if you are a fan of suspense. There is also an early role for Jamie Lee Curtis, as well. There are decent performances all around, save for the horrible police officers. They must have been the real thing.Pros: High suspense, well-written characters, great use of a low budget, good plot twist, keeps you guessing, fine ending.Cons: Drags in spots, dialogue can be pretentious and unrealistic, a few continuity issues, with respect to sequencing.For a PG rated movie, this is rather adult themed and creepy, if not scary. I recommend this film to all.