Road Games is a little known Australian gem from 1981 directed by Richard Franklin (Cloak and Dagger) and starring Stacy Keach and Jamie Lee Curtis. While this film seems like a Rear Window clone on the surface, there’s actually a lot to admire with this film and is simply a joy to watch.
Stacy Keach plays Pat Quid, a wisecracking yet intelligent truck driver who is tasked with transporting a trailer of meat across the desert highways of Australia. Along with his pet dingo Boswell, Pat reluctantly picks up a young hitchhiker (Jamie Lee Curtis) and agrees to take her with him. As the two pass the time by playing games in the truck, they uncover whom they believe to be a serial killer travelling the same route as them.
The parallels between this film and Hitchcock’s Rear Window are undeniable and director Richard Franklin even stated that he wanted to make Rear Window on the road. While there have been many movies and TV shows that adopt the same concept of this film, it feels unique in Road Games. Where Jimmy Stewart is confined to his apartment observing the lives of others in Rear Window, Keach is confined to his big rig and observes travellers passing him by.
While in theory this is an interesting concept, the execution could have been horrible, but fortunately that wasn’t the case. In addition to the plot being ripped from Rear Window, much of the style was also lifted. Rather than being just another 80s slasher film, this focuses more on the characters and their journey.
The film is rated PG and there’s little in the way of violence, however the tension and suspense was a bigger focal point than blood and guts. It was refreshing to see a film of this time not rely on cheap scares and opt for a more psychological approach.
Performance-wise Stacy Keach dominates the screen as the protagonist and though I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him as a lead, his character is extremely likable. Jamie Lee Curtis has very little to do in this movie and was not actually in it as much as one would expect. My theory is that during that time she was the ultimate scream queen and the producers probably thought it would help sales by getting her involved.
Road Games is one of those lost 80s treasures that I can’t recommend enough to fans of movies from this era. It’s nothing that will blow your mind, but there’s enough substance here to make it worth a watch. Here’s hoping that it gets a decent release on DVD or Blu Ray at some point in the future.
