This sometimes sloppy, but effectively shot thriller has been mischaracterized as a slasher film for decades thanks to the presence of iconic scream queen Curtis.
Quid (a very likable Stacy Keach) is an independent truck driver cruising around Australia. His traveling mate is a nonbarking dingo named Boswell, and the pair scrounge for jobs and places to sleep, with Quid doing a running monologue to his pet. During one trip, he notices something happening with a hitchhiker and a mysterious stranger in a green van, who always seems to be either following Quid or being in close enough proximity to turn Quid paranoid. After Quid picks up "Hitch" (Jamie Lee Curtis), a hitchhiker, he begins a cat-and-mouse game with the green van's "Smith or Jones" (Grant Page), who he suspects may not be showing up at all the right times because of coincidence.
Although second billed, Curtis has just a few scenes. This is Keach's vehicle (so to speak) and he rises to the occasion, although the two leads have a great onscreen chemistry. The Australian setting provides some wide open spaces, and quickly recalls other highway suspensers like "Duel," "Joy Ride," "Breakdown," and so on. Director Franklin succeeds mostly through his point-of-view camera placement. If something is happening further up the road, we don't get a front row seat to the happenings, we see what Quid sees. Smith or Jones is not a superhuman killing machine, the film's success lies in the build-up of the suspense- as one online reviewer quipped: "Rear Windshield." The tension does approach Hitchcockian heights at times, and this could have been almost perfect as "Rear Window" is, but toward the middle of the film screenwriter De Roche has a couple of "wha?" sequences and terrible character decisions that frustrate. There seems to be a lazy attempt to incorporate the "Games" part of the title into the film through some of Quid's dialogue, but nothing comes from that, either. Curtis did this film in 1981, and would appear with Stacy's brother James Keach in the sexually charged drama "Love Letters" two years later, in case you ever need that piece of Hollywood trivia.
This film was released before the MPAA introduced the "PG-13" rating, so it is a very hard "PG," and would probably earn that "-13" if released today. Also known as "Roadgames," this is a very good road thriller.
Stats:
-(1981) 101 min. (8/10)
-Directed by Richard Franklin
-Screenplay by Everett De Roche, Story by Everett De Roche and Richard Franklin
-Cast: Stacy Keach, Jamie Lee Curtis, Grant Page, Marion Edward, Robert Thompson, Thaddeus Smith, Steve Millichamp, Alan Hopgood, John Murphy, Bill Stacey, Ed Turley, Angelica La Bozzetta, Colin Vancao
-(US: PG)-(UK:15)-(Au:M)- Physical violence, brief gore, some profanity, sexual content, sexual references, adult situations, alcohol use
