Roadgames
Encyclopedia
Roadgames is a 1981 Australia
n film directed by Richard Franklin
. The film stars Stacy Keach
as a truck driver, and Jamie Lee Curtis
as a hitchhiker.
) is a truck driver, assigned with delivering a shipment of meat across the Nullarbor Plain
to Perth
. He begins to notice the suspicious behavior of a green van, which he spots at various places along his journey. When he learns of a serial killer
at large in the area, he begins to suspect the driver of the van. Quid picks up a hitchhiker, Pamela Rushworth (Jamie Lee Curtis
), and the two discuss their theories on the killer. When they spot the van parked near the restrooms of a service station
, Quid investigates. Spotting a pair of feet beneath the cubicle door, he assumes the killer is inside. Meanwhile, Pamela investigates the van, only to discover the killer inside, who kidnaps her. The man in the restroom turns out to be an innocent traveller. Quid takes pursuit of the van, and notices that the driver and Pamela seem to have struck up a conversation. This leads Quid to believe the van driver was innocent all along, and that his speculations were false. His pursuit is soon stalled when he gets stuck behind a slow moving car.
Later that night, Quid notices the van parked off the side of the road and pulls over to investigate. He hears people giggling in the bushes nearby and assumes that Pamela and the van driver are engaging in intercourse. When he breaks into the van to investigate an esky
which he presumes contains body parts, and finds it actually contains food, he rests his suspicions.
Quid arrives at the outskirts of Perth, and whilst reporting to the weigh station
, spots the van watching his movements, whilst several police cars linger in the area. He follows the van through the streets of Perth, trailed by the police. Eventually the van reaches a dead end, and Quid's truck becomes stuck in the narrow alleys. The van driver approaches Quid's truck and smashes the headlights with a shovel, but the truck suddenly frees itself and collides with the van. The van driver tries strangling Quid with a garotte but Quid manages to disarm him. The police swoop in when he begins to strangle the van driver with the same implement. Initially Quid is presumed to be the killer, but when Pamela is retrieved from the van, bound and gagged, she informs the police that the van driver is actually the killer (whom the police capture as he tries to disappear into the crowd).
Later on, after the meat has been removed from Quid's trailer (including what is assumed to be a murder victim's torso), a cleaning woman is seen to be busy scrubbing the floor when a head of a woman suddenly drops from the ceiling. The killer had stored body parts in Quid's trailer, hence his keen interest in observing Quid's movements.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n film directed by Richard Franklin
Richard Franklin (director)
Richard Franklin was an Australian-born film director.-Early life and career:Franklin was born and grew up in Brighton, Melbourne and was educated at Haileybury College. In the 1960s, Franklin was the drummer in the Melbourne band The Pink Finks, which also featured Ross Wilson and Ross Hannaford,...
. The film stars Stacy Keach
Stacy Keach
Stacy Keach is an American actor and narrator. He is most famous for his dramatic roles; however, he has done narration work in educational programming on PBS and the Discovery Channel, as well as some comedy and musical...
as a truck driver, and Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis is an American actress and author. Although she was initially known as a "scream queen" because of her starring roles in several horror films early in her career, such as Halloween, The Fog, Prom Night and Terror Train, Curtis has since compiled a body of work that spans many...
as a hitchhiker.
Synopsis
Patrick Quid (Stacy KeachStacy Keach
Stacy Keach is an American actor and narrator. He is most famous for his dramatic roles; however, he has done narration work in educational programming on PBS and the Discovery Channel, as well as some comedy and musical...
) is a truck driver, assigned with delivering a shipment of meat across the Nullarbor Plain
Nullarbor Plain
The Nullarbor Plain is part of the area of flat, almost treeless, arid or semi-arid country of southern Australia, located on the Great Australian Bight coast with the Great Victoria Desert to its north. It is the world's largest single piece of limestone, and occupies an area of about...
to Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
. He begins to notice the suspicious behavior of a green van, which he spots at various places along his journey. When he learns of a serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
at large in the area, he begins to suspect the driver of the van. Quid picks up a hitchhiker, Pamela Rushworth (Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis is an American actress and author. Although she was initially known as a "scream queen" because of her starring roles in several horror films early in her career, such as Halloween, The Fog, Prom Night and Terror Train, Curtis has since compiled a body of work that spans many...
), and the two discuss their theories on the killer. When they spot the van parked near the restrooms of a service station
Filling station
A filling station, also known as a fueling station, garage, gasbar , gas station , petrol bunk , petrol pump , petrol garage, petrol kiosk , petrol station "'servo"' in Australia or service station, is a facility which sells fuel and lubricants...
, Quid investigates. Spotting a pair of feet beneath the cubicle door, he assumes the killer is inside. Meanwhile, Pamela investigates the van, only to discover the killer inside, who kidnaps her. The man in the restroom turns out to be an innocent traveller. Quid takes pursuit of the van, and notices that the driver and Pamela seem to have struck up a conversation. This leads Quid to believe the van driver was innocent all along, and that his speculations were false. His pursuit is soon stalled when he gets stuck behind a slow moving car.
Later that night, Quid notices the van parked off the side of the road and pulls over to investigate. He hears people giggling in the bushes nearby and assumes that Pamela and the van driver are engaging in intercourse. When he breaks into the van to investigate an esky
Esky
Esky is an Australian brand of coolers. Outdoor recreation company Coleman Australia bought the Esky brand from Nylex Ltd after the Company went into administration in February 2009.The name is a reference to the association of Eskimos with cold climates....
which he presumes contains body parts, and finds it actually contains food, he rests his suspicions.
Quid arrives at the outskirts of Perth, and whilst reporting to the weigh station
Weigh station
A weigh station is a checkpoint along a highway to inspect vehicular weights. Usually, trucks and commercial vehicles are subject to the inspection....
, spots the van watching his movements, whilst several police cars linger in the area. He follows the van through the streets of Perth, trailed by the police. Eventually the van reaches a dead end, and Quid's truck becomes stuck in the narrow alleys. The van driver approaches Quid's truck and smashes the headlights with a shovel, but the truck suddenly frees itself and collides with the van. The van driver tries strangling Quid with a garotte but Quid manages to disarm him. The police swoop in when he begins to strangle the van driver with the same implement. Initially Quid is presumed to be the killer, but when Pamela is retrieved from the van, bound and gagged, she informs the police that the van driver is actually the killer (whom the police capture as he tries to disappear into the crowd).
Later on, after the meat has been removed from Quid's trailer (including what is assumed to be a murder victim's torso), a cleaning woman is seen to be busy scrubbing the floor when a head of a woman suddenly drops from the ceiling. The killer had stored body parts in Quid's trailer, hence his keen interest in observing Quid's movements.
External links
- Roadgames at the National Film and Sound Archive
- http://www.1m1.com.au/detail.asp?p=210Roadgames - 1M1 Records1M1 Records1M1 Records is an Australian record label formed in 1988 as oneMone Records, to promote and archive Australian film soundtracks. It was the creation of Australian film music recording producers Philip Powers and James McCarthy, both of whom were previously Director of Music at the Australian...
: Track Listing]