Roadgames Year: 1981 Director: Richard Franklin Written by: Everett De Roche Threat: Psychopath Weapon of Choice: Garotte Based upon: original IMDb page:

Other movies in this series:
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Rish's Reviews
Basically Rear Window in a truck, Road Games (or Roadgames, as they apparently call it) is an interesting little film shot in Australia, starring Stacy Keach as Quid, a friendly, lonely truck driver who plays games on the road to keep himself entertained. Along the way, he may or not have witnessed a murder, and may or may not be on the trail of the killer.
I saw this with two friends, one of whom only likes movies if nobody else likes them (for example, his favorite Time Travel movie? Something called The Grand Tour. His favourite Scorsese movie? Something called After Hours. His favourite Teen flick? Three O'Clock High. Need I go on?), and he not only liked this film, but owned it. Since he's my friend (and the guy's tastes don't suck, they're just odd), I gave Roadgames a try.
Directed by Richard Franklin, who made Link and Psycho II, this was very Hitchcockian, with red herrings, odd characters, black humor, and wry coincidences. There was an interesting development when the police began to suspect Quid is the very killer he's been following. Even so, this film may or may not be Horror.
One thing's for sure, it has Jamie Lee Curtis in it, playing a quirky, freespirited American hitchhiker, who is sort of the love interest, but sort of isn't. I guess I should've said "Who may or may not be the love interest of Keach's character."
The film was enjoyable. Keach is likeable. Also, he travels with a dingo, which he explains a lot of the story and exposition to. The Australian locations are interesting and sprawling, but it doesn't really show its inhabitants in a positive light. Odd that the two main characters (not counting the killer, I guess) would be American, don't you think?
Is it a horror movie, though? I won't use the T-word here, but maybe it could fall into a Suspense category. What was Duel? Or North By Northwest? Or Frantic? Well, this is what those were. At least there is a killer, somebody gets dismembered, and a scare or two. I guess that justifies me reviewing it.
Best Scare: Instead of your typical Cat Jumps Out, this one actually had a Kangaroo Jumps Out. And it worked.
I'd Recommend It To: Jamie Lee Curtis fanatics. They may or may not like it.

Total Skulls: 11

Sequel
Sequel setup
Rips off earlier film
Horror film showing on TV/in theater in movie
Future celebrity appears
Former celebrity appears
Bad title
Bad premise
Bad acting
Bad dialogue
Bad execution
MTV Editing
OTS
Girl unnecessarily gets naked
Wanton sex
Death associated with sex
Unfulfilled promise of nudity
Characters forget about threat
Secluded location
Power is cut
Phone lines are cut
Someone investigates a strange noise
Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door
Camera is the killer
Victims cower in front of a window/door
Victim locks self in with killer
Victim running from killer inexplicably falls
Toilet stall scene
Shower/bath scene
Car stalls or won't start
Cat jumps out
Fake scare
Laughable scare
Stupid discovery of corpse
Dream sequence
Hallucination/Vision
No one believes only witness
Crazy, drunk, old man knows the truth
Warning goes unheeded
Music detracts from scene
Death in first five minutes
x years before/later
Flashback sequence
Dark and stormy night
Killer doesn't stay dead
Killer wears a mask
Killer is in closet
Killer is in car with victim
Villain is more sympathetic than heroes
Unscary villain/monster
Beheading
Blood fountain
Blood spatters - camera, wall, etc.
Poor death effect
Excessive gore
No one dies at all
Virgin survives
Geek/Nerd survives
Little kid lamely survives
Dog/Pet miraculously survives
Unresolved subplots
"It was all a dream" ending
Unbelievably happy ending
Unbelievably crappy ending
What the hell?