Michael Scott
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Richard Franklin’s Road Games is a singularly interesting anomaly in the world of 1980s thrillers. Right at the end of the 1970s noir genre, it straddles the burgeoning horror movies of the 1980s and it’s elder roots, being genuinely trippy and creepy at times, while simultaneously being rather Hitchcockian as well. The Australian production feels like a blend between an old family western, a noir thriller from the 70s, and a comedy at times. While the cover slathers Jamie Lee Curtis’s face on the cover (and is the draw of the movie for many, as they jumped on her popularity after Halloween), but this is really a Stacy Keach movie from beginning to end as she is just a side character (albeit an important one). The movie is weird, yet strangely entertaining as it navigates the currents jumping from trippy 70s thriller, to a few wry jokes and back up to creepy horror once again.
Stacy Keach is Pat Quid, an independent truck driver who is hauling a load of frozen pork across Australia to Perth during a nationwide meat strike. Exhausted from hauling for days, the veteran truckie stops off in front of a cheap sleazy motel where he can take a night’s sleep and get back on the road in the morning. Noticing a green van pick up a hitchhiker and pull into the hotel for the night, Pat immediately puts it out of his mind. However the next morning he notices the driver of the green van (Grant Page) looking out at him from a window, and his dingo Bosley nosing at some fresh trash bags across the street. Even though he feels something is off, Pat minds his own business and gets back on the road.
However, something is DEFINITELY not right. The radio announces that several murders have been found committed in the area, with the bodies chopped into bits and found at differing locations around the area. Getting a bit suspicious of what he saw, Pat’s flights of fancy seem to be confirmed when the same green van is seen on the side of the road with the driver digging a hole. Picking up a young hitchhiker, whom he nicknames “hitch” (Jamie Lee Curtis), Pat and Hitch make it a game to figure out if this guy really is a serial killer or not. But when Hitch gets kidnapped by the mysterious driver of the green van it’s no game anymore. Now it’s a race against time for the sleep deprived trucker to find this guy and hopefully save Hitch before it’s too late.
The biggest boon to the movie is Keach himself. Stacy makes a fantastic protagonist, as he seems off his rocker one moment, completely lucid the next, and strangely exciting to watch. I do wish Jamie Lee Curtis’ Hitch had been in more of the movie, as the two’s chemistry is certainly undeniable. However, Keach is the driving force of the film and makes this thing a near one man show most of the time. It’s a good little thriller that just sadly suffers from a case of a formulaic ending after an incredible buildup.
Rating:
Rated PG by the MPAA
Video:

Audio:

Extras:

• NEW audio commentary with cinematographer Vincent Monton, production coordinator Helen Watts and costume designer Aphrodite Kondos, moderated by filmmaker Mark Hartley
• NEW 1980 script read with producer/director Richard Franklin and actors Stacy Keach and Marion Edwards
• NEW composer Brian May music demos accompanied by stills and poster gallery
• Audio Commentary with producer/director Richard Franklin
• Kangaroo Hitchcock: The Making of ROAD GAMES – featuring interviews with director Richard Franklin and actor Stacey Keach
• Extended interviews from Mark Hartley's documentary Not Quite Hollywood featuring Jamie Lee Curtis, Stacy Keach, director Richard Franklin, Stunt Coordinator Grant Page, screenwriter Everett De Roche, cinematographer Vincent Monton and assistant director Tom Burstall
• Lecture on the making of Road Games with Richard Franklin, co-producer Barbi Taylor & composer Brian May, introduced by critic Tom Ryan.
• Profile on Richard Franklin (1981)
• Audio Interview with Richard Franklin (2001)
• Audio Interview with actor Stacy Keach (2016)
• Audio Interview with stunt coordinator & actor Grant Page (2016)
• Gallery of stills, Production Shots, Storyboards, Newspaper Reviews, Promotional & Artwork Materials
• Theatrical Trailer
Final Score:

Road Games is a singularly odd thriller from the 80s. So many times you think of gore, nudity, and heavy R ratings to the 80s thrillers and horror films, but Road Games plays out like a strange mix of a family western, a horror movie, and a light hearted comedy. The tone is all over the place, yet somehow director Richard Franklin makes it all work together at the end. Scream Factory has loaded the disc down with legacy and new extras, as well as crafting a double sided insert artwork that includes the new artwork AND the original cover art (which is might bit creepier I might add) on the reverse side. Audio is ok, but video is more than good, and along with the extras makes for a very worthwhile package for it’s first domestic release on Blu-ray. Definitely a fun watch.
Technical Specifications:
Starring: Stacy Keach, Jamie Lee Curtis, Marion Edward, Grant Page, Steve Millichamp, Robert Thompson
Directed by: Richard Franklin
Written by: Everett De Roche, Richard Franklin
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono
Subtitles: English SDH,
Studio: Scream Factory
Rated: PG
Runtime: 101 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: November 12th, 2019
Recommendation: Fun Watch