Roadgames (1981)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Richard Franklin

Writers:

Everett De Roche (screenplay)
Everett De Roche (story)
(more)

Release Date:

26 June 1981 (Australia)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

The truck driver plays games... The hitchhiker plays games. And the killer is playing the deadliest game of all!

Plot:

A truck driver plays a cat-and-mouse game with a mysterious serial killer who uses a young female hitchhiker as bait to lure victims on a desolate Australian highway.

Plot Keywords:

Serial Killer | Australia | Truck Driver | Road | Truck

Awards:

6 nominations

Cast

Stacy Keach	...	Patrick 'Pat' Quid
Jamie Lee Curtis	...	Pamela 'Hitch' Rushworth
Marion Edward	...	Madeleine 'Frita' Day
Grant Page	...	Smith or Jones
Thaddeus Smith	...	Policeman 'Abbott'
Steve Millichamp	...	Policeman 'Costello' (as Stephen Millichamp)
Alan Hopgood	...	Lester
John Murphy	...	Benny Balls
Bill Stacey	...	Captain Careful
Robert Thompson	...	Sneezy Rider
Ed Turley	...	Roadhouse Proprietor
Angelica La Bozzetta	...	Young Hitchhiker (as Angie La Bozzetta)
Colin Vancao	...	Fred Frugal
Paul Harris	...	Frugal Son
Rochelle Harris	...	Frugal Daughter
Tony Bishop	...	Honeymoon Man
Abbe Holmes	...	Honeymoon Woman (as Abby Holmes)
Carole-Ann Aylett	...	Cleaning Lady (as Carol Ann Aylett)
Killer	...	Boswell

Directed by
Richard Franklin

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Everett De Roche		screenplay
Everett De Roche		story
Richard Franklin		story

Produced by
Richard Franklin	....	producer
Bernard Schwartz	....	executive producer
Barbi Taylor	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Brian May

Cinematography by
Vincent Monton

Film Editing by
Edward McQueen-Mason

Production Design by
Jon Dowding

Costume Design by
Aphrodite Kondos

Production Management
Barbara Gibbs	....	production manager
Greg Ricketson	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Tom Burstall	....	first assistant director

Sound Department
Lon Bender	....	sound editor
Paul Clark	....	production sound mixer
Andrew London	....	supervising sound editor

Visual Effects by
Richard Wilmot	....	optical effects printer

Camera and Electrical Department
Karel Akkerman	....	grip
Louis Irving	....	camera operator
Jamie Leckie	....	grip assistant

Music Department
Ross Cockle	....	music score engineer

Production Companies

• Essaness Pictures
• Quest

Distributors

• AVCO Embassy Pictures (1981) (USA) (theatrical)
• Svensk Filmindustri (SF) (1982) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Magna-Filmi (1983) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Charter Entertainment (1987) (USA) (VHS)
• Nordic Video (1989) (Finland) (VHS)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (1991) (Finland) (TV)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2004) (Australia) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution (2008) (Finland) (DVD)
• Australian Video
• Globo Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• Greater Union Organisation (GUO)
• New World-Mutual (Canada)

Also Known As:

Road Games (USA)

Runtime:

101 min | Sweden:93 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:16 (original rating) | Iceland:16 | West Germany:12 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:PG | UK:AA

Filming Locations:

Diggers Rest, Victoria, Australia

Company:

Essaness Pictures

Trivia:

In the original script the name of Quid's dog was suppose to be Bosco. However when Stacy Keach told Richard Franklin that Bosco was actually a chocolate drink in America the name of the dog was changed to Boswell.

Quotes:

Patrick 'Pat' Quid: [offering a treat to his dog Boswell] Hors d'ouevre, Boswell?

Movie Connections:

References Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Under rated road movie thriller with Hitchcockian trappings

Road Games is an Ok suspense film by Hitchcock disciple Richard Franklin (see also Psycho II, Link, FX II:The Deadly Art of Illusion). It features a good performance by Stacy Keach as a lone truck driver transporting bacon across the Australian outback during a butcher's strike. Every now and then, Keach comes across other travellers on the road, one of whom is the driver of a mysterious green van. Keach, having heard about a serial killer on the loose on his radio, convinces himself that the driver of the green van is also the murderer the police are looking for. However, Keach takes such ludicrous and unorthodox actions to prove his theory that he ends up making himself look like the culprit.

The main theme here of an innocent man being mistaken for a murderer is as old as the hills. The freshness of this film is provided principally by the unconventional locale (Aussie outback) and the outlandish set of supporting characters introduced during the course of the film. The suspense is good during the main scenes, but in between the film loses momentum. Hardly surprising, since Keach spends much of the film alone, chatting away to himself and his pet dingo in the cab of his truck. Listening to a man talkking to himself is hardly the best way to build excitement. However, you can feel a prickle of terror in your heart during one particularly hair raising sequence in which Keach investigates a peculiar sound in the back of his lorry.

I like this film, but it's no classic. Just one of those quiet, forgotten gems that film buffs ought to seek out for a rainy day.