Déviation mortelle

In ROAD GAMES, a long-haul trucker in Australia named Quid (Stacey Keach) is moving a load of pig carcasses. Along the way, he witnesses what could be a murder. The tension builds, as things start to add up to a serial killer on the loose scenario.

Enter Jamie Lee Curtis as a hitchhiker who turns out to be very helpful in tracking down the murderer. Together, the pair get too close for the killer's comfort.

ROAD GAMES is a cat and mouse film full of mystery and suspense. There are also heavy doses of dry humor. Mr. Keach and Ms. Curtis make a wonderful sleuthing team. Highly recommended for fans of both...

Truck driver Pat Quid (Stacy Keach), transporting meat across Australia, believes a suspicious van driver he continually sees on his trip may be responsible for a series of hitchhiker murders. Along the way Quid picks up a hitchhiker (Jamie Lee Curtis) and tells her his suspicions. The two try to track the van driver while Quid becomes the police's number one suspect for the murders.

I think Richard Franklin is one of the more under-appreciated directors from the '80s. He made several interesting films before fading into mediocrity in the '90s, a fate that befell many '80s directors. There's a strong Hitchcock influence throughout Franklin's work, including this film, which should come as no surprise for the man who would go on to direct Psycho II. For his part, Stacy Keach carries the movie with ease. He reminds me of some of the protagonists from great Hitchcock thrillers who were normal, easy-going guys that were thrust into dangerous plots. This is easily the best performance I've seen from Keach. Jamie Lee Curtis is likable in her small part as the hitchhiker, a role similar to the one she played in The Fog the year before.

I've always enjoyed this movie. It's a fun, suspenseful thriller with a good cast and some dark humor. One of the better "killer on the road" movies I've seen.

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.

Richard Franklin's potboiler "Road Games" is quite an accomplishment of Australian cinema. That's right Quentin. I know we agree. While transporting pork to Perth trough the whole Australia, American truck driver Pat Quid (Stacy Keach) traces a serial killer who tries to get rid of the body of the girl he's recently murdered. In the meantime, Pat meets Pamela (Jamie Lee Curtis) who decides to help him capture the dangerous psycho. Due to its tone, the movie feels like Hitchcock's "Rear Window" on the road. Screenwriter Everet De Roche presents travellers as some kind of integral community comprising of totally different people connected by accident. It's to director Franklin's credit though that the movie is so frantic and suspenseful throughout. There are moments of sheer genius when the movie gets almost unbearably tense in its crucial scenes including unique finale. All in all, "Road Games" is a cleverly scripted, refreshing thriller that just waits to be rediscovered and admired. 8/10 (B+)

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.