Road Games (1981)

A laid-back American truck driver in south Australia starts to suspect a man driving a green van of killing young women along his route, and proceeds to play a cat-and-mouse game in order to catch him red-handed.

Director:

Richard Franklin

Writers:

Everett De Roche (screenplay), Everett De Roche (original story)

Stars:

Stacy Keach, Jamie Lee Curtis, Marion Edward

6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Stacy Keach	...	Pat Quid
Jamie Lee Curtis	...	Hitch
Marion Edward	...	Frita
Grant Page	...	Smith or Jones
Thaddeus Smith	...	Police
Steve Millichamp	...	Police (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	...	Hitchhiker (as Angie La Bozzetta)
Colin Vancao	...	Fred Frugal
Paul Harris	...	Frugal Child
Rochelle Harris	...	Frugal Child

Storyline

Pat Quid is driving a semi across Australia. On the way he encounters various other travellers and the occasional hitchhikers repeatedly as they're traveling the same road. A favorite pastime of Pat is to play games to pass the time on the journey (such as to make up backgrounds of the other people on the road). Pamela is one hitchhiker he picks up. But when she disappears, he suspects that the driver of a van who has been acting a little strange (Smith or Jones), may be the serial killer mentioned on the radio. But his pursuit of the van driver brings him to the attention of the police, who begin to suspect him.

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Plot Keywords:

female victim | male victim | gore | suspense | fear | 

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Taglines:

Animal . . . . . . Vegetable . . .?

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The speedometer in Quid's truck is calibrated in miles per hour. All vehicles sold in Australia after 1972 had speedometers calibrated in kilometers per hour.

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Goofs

Pamela begins writing "TOMORROW'S BACON" on the door of the truck in close-up, the camera then cuts to a longer distance shot of her completing the word "bacon" but the way the letters are styled do not match the close-up.

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Quotes

Patrick 'Pat' Quid: Aren't you kind of young to be hitchhiking out here all by yourself?
Pamela 'Hitch' Rushworth: Aren't you kind of old to be picking me up?

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Crazy Credits

The closing credits roll over the image of the words 'tomorrow's bacon' written on the back of Quid's trailer.

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Connections

Referenced in The Bazura Project: Episode #3.4 (2008)

User Reviews

Quality movie

Stacy Keach plays a truck driver, he and his best friend, a dingo, are taking meat to Perth, along the way he wonders about other drivers and their life, a way to keep himself distracted. A suspicious green van catches his attention, later on when he finds out that murders have been taking place, he immediately associates them with the van. After watching the van's driver bury a couple of bags in the middle of the desert he has no more doubts about the relation of it to the murders. Braking "truckers" rules he picks up a hitchhiker, Pam (Jamie Lee Curtis), they'll complement each other perfectly, sharing murder theories among other things. The police ends up suspecting Pat (Stacy Keach) so Pam believes that the only way for him to prove is innocence is to find the real killer but he finds them first and kidnaps her, or is it that she went by her own free will?

Nice thriller, the acting as you can expect is pretty good. Keach and Curtis create a believable bond, a mutual crush develops but the age difference is a problem. The script is fairly intelligent and certainly effective. Keach's character is full of theories and anecdotes, which keeps the movie interesting at moments where all you see is the Australian outback. Well worth watching.

Details

Official Sites:

Umbrella Entertainment - Blu Ray Umbrella Entertainment - DVD

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 February 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

Road Games

Filming Locations:

Nullabor Plain, South Australia, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

AUD1,800,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Essaness Pictures, The Australian Film Commission, Film Victoria

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1