Roadgames

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.

Roadgames is a pretty good thriller about truck driver Quid (Stacey Keach) follows what he suspects to be a serial killer along the Southern Australia interstates. Having only the circumstantial clues and never actually witnessing any of the murders, Quid isn't sure whether this guy really is the serial killer that police reports on the radio indicate, or whether it is Quid's psychological games about guessing what people on the road could be like when he passes a noisy family in a station wagon and guesses the occupation of the driver. Quid is pushed nearly to the brink of insanity as he tries to distinguish between fact and fiction as he and the green van play cat and mouse all over the outback.

It's a really good thriller and better than say, The Hitcher, another movie involving a serial killer along deserted highways that torments a driver. But the difference is that Quid has limited interaction with his suspect, because the whole time you're left guessing whether the guy in the green van is really a killer at all, or whether it was just another one of Quid's games meant to entertain himself, but gone totally out of control. The movie has very Hitchcock-esque traits such as building Quid up from a normal man to one that starts to develop something almost like a split personality as he drives himself crazy trying to figure out the deal his adversary. Or the way that everyone in town seems to turn against Quid even though he is supposed to be the innocent person here. It's also good with some of that good Stacey Keach sarcasm and delivery. I think he fit the part of Quid quite nicely. Despite the fact that the story starts to lose momentum towards the end (but not the conclusion), it is nonetheless, a pretty good thriller.

While driving alone through the Australia outback with his dingo, the truck driver Patrick Quid (Stacy Keach) becomes aware that a serial killer is attacking women and he suspects that the driver of a green van is the murderer and is getting rid of the bodies in pieces in plastic bags burying them in the desert. On his way to Perth with a load of pork meat, he gives a ride to the hitchhiker Pamela Rushworth (Jamie Lee Curtis) and tells his theory about the killer to her. When they park in a gas station, they see the van and Pamela decides to break in the car to investigate. When Pamela disappears, Pat pursuits the van while he becomes the prime suspect of the police.

"Roadgames" is a suspenseful black humor road movie, with a good and very tense story, great lines and excellent acting of Stacey Keach and Jamie Lee Curtis. The lead couple shows a fantastic chemistry in a plot that is a sort of combination of "Duel" and "The Hitchhiker". The sexy Jamie Lee Curtis is in the top of her beauty and Stacey Keach has one of his best performances in this attractive film. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Enigma na Estrada" ("Enigma on the Road")

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.

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.