''Dead End Drive-In'' is a 1986 Australian dystopian

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include l ...

about a teenage couple trapped in a

drive-in theatre A drive-in theater or drive-in cinema is a form of cinema structure consisting of a large outdoor movie screen, a projection booth, a concession stand, and a large parking area for automobiles. Within this enclosed area, customers can view movi ...

which is really a

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

for societal rejects. The inmates, many of whom sport

punk fashion Punk fashion is the clothing, hairstyles, cosmetics, jewellery, and body modifications of the punk counterculture. Punk fashion varies widely, ranging from Vivienne Westwood designs to styles modeled on bands like The Exploited to the dressed ...

, are placated with a steady diet of

junk food "Junk food" is a term used to describe food that is high in calories from sugar and/or fat, and possibly also sodium, but with little dietary fiber, protein, vitamins, minerals, or other important forms of nutritional value. It is also known as ...

new wave music New wave is a loosely defined music genre that encompasses pop-oriented styles from the late 1970s and the 1980s. It was originally used as a catch-all for the various styles of music that emerged after punk rock, including punk itself. La ...

, drugs, and

exploitation films An exploitation film is a film that tries to succeed financially by exploiting current trends, niche genres, or lurid content. Exploitation films are generally low-quality "B movies", though some set trends, attract critical attention, become hi ...

. The film was directed by

Brian Trenchard-Smith Brian Medwin Trenchard-Smith (born 1946) is an English-Australian filmmaker and author, known for his idiosyncratic and satirical low-budget genre films. His filmography covers action, science fiction, martial arts, dystopian fiction, comedy, ...

and stars

Ned Manning Ned Manning is an Australian playwright, actor and teacher. His film credits include the lead role in '' Dead End Drive-In'' (1986), and television credits include '' The Shiralee'' and ''Prisoner'', and ''Brides of Christ''. His plays include ' ...

and Natalie McCurry as the captive couple, and

Peter Whitford Peter Whitford (born 1939) is an Australian former radio, theatre, television and film character actor known for numerous roles particularly as wealthy businessmen and members of the aristocracy. Peter Whitford was born in Adelaide, South Austr ...

as the manager of the drive-in. ''

Mad Max 2 ''Mad Max 2'' (released as ''The Road Warrior'' in the United States) is a 1981 Australian post-apocalyptic action film directed by George Miller. It is the second installment in the ''Mad Max'' franchise, with Mel Gibson reprising his role a ...

'' stuntman Guy Norris did some of the stunts. The soundtrack includes contemporary popular music performed by such bands as

Kids in the Kitchen Kids in the Kitchen are an Australian pop, funk and new wave band which formed in 1983. They enjoyed chart success with four top-20 hits on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart, "Change in Mood" (1983), "Bitter Desire" (1984), "Someth ...

and Hunters and Collectors. The song during the rolling credits is "Playing With Fire" by

Lisa Edwards Lisa Anne Edwards (born 25 September 1958) is an Australian solo and session singer and musician. In July 1992 she had a top 5 hit on the ARIA Singles Chart with her cover version of Godley and Creme's "Cry". Edwards is primarily a backin ...

Plot

In the near future, the economy has collapsed and massive crime waves sweep the

inner cities The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists someti ...

. The manufacturing industry has shrunk to the point where cars are a commodity and parts are fought over between salvage companies and roving gangs. In an attempt to control these crime-waves, a chain of drive-in theatres is turned into concentration camps for the undesirables and unemployed youth. The dirty, graffiti-laden drive-ins are surrounded by high fences, and the roads leading to them (called Security Roads or "S-Roads") are not allowed to be walked on under any circumstance. Police collaborate with the drive-in owners to sabotage cars of unsuspecting visitors; however, some who know the true nature of the drive-ins come voluntarily for the shelter and food. Broken cars are continually collected at these facilities. The prisoners are allowed easy access to a wide variety of drugs, alcohol, junk food, exploitation films, and new wave music. This, coupled with the awful conditions on the outside, engineer an atmosphere of complacency and hopelessness so that the inmates will accept their fate and not attempt escape. Jimmy "Crabs" Rossini, a young fitness enthusiast, sneaks off in his brother's vintage 1956 Chevy to take his girlfriend, Carmen, to the local Star Drive-In. He tells the owner they are unemployed to get a discounted rate. While Crabs is intimate with Carmen, the rear wheels of his car are stolen, and Crabs soon discovers the police are responsible. Crabs complains to the owner, but he refuses to help until morning. The next morning, Crabs and Carmen are amazed at the number of cars still there, many of which have been turned into hovels. The owner, Thompson, pretends to fill out a report and enters them both into the system. He lets them know they will be there for a while, as there are no buses or cabs, and gives them a stack of meal tickets to use at the run-down café. Time drags on, and Crabs makes several attempts at escape that are all thwarted. Preparing for an attempt to climb a fence, Crabs soon discovers that it is electrified. He locates the wheels he needs but learns his fuel tank has been drained. He steals fuel from a police vehicle, but then finds his engine stripped. Suspecting that Thompson, who receives a stipend for each prisoner, is behind the sabotage, Crabs warns him not to interfere again. Further complicating matters are the verbal and physical fights Crabs continues to have with one of the racist gangs. During this time, Carmen makes no attempt to avoid the unhealthy eating and drug culture at the camp. She becomes friends with several of the female inmates, who are successful at indoctrinating her to the encampment's bizarre racist mentality that non-white Australians are somehow to blame for society's problems; a situation exacerbated by the arrival of foreigners trucked into the camp. All attempts to talk sense into her fail, and Crabs soon realizes that she has succumbed to the hopelessness that pervades the encampment, as have many of the other trapped kids that Jimmy tries to talk sense into. Crabs makes one more spectacular effort at escape: while the majority of the encampment, including Carmen, attend a racist meeting, he hijacks a tow truck. He attempts to sneak out peacefully, but is recognized by Thompson. This leads to a car chase inside the encampment; the police fire automatic weapons at the tow truck, which frightens the prisoners who are hiding in the café. Eventually, Crabs crashes but manages to elude the police on foot. He finds Carmen and unsuccessfully attempts to reason with her; he kisses her and wishes her well. Crabs disarms Thompson and forces him to delete his profile, but his escape attempt ends in a violent confrontation with the police; Thompson is accidentally killed, and the remaining policeman hunts down Crabs. Using the lowered ramp of a police tow truck that is parked near the main entrance, Crabs launches a stolen police tow truck over the fence and lands on the S-Road, successfully driving away to freedom.

Cast

as Jimmy "Crabs" Rossini * Natalie McCurry as Carmen *

as Thompson *

Wilbur Wilde Wilbur Wilde (born Nicholas Robert Aitken on 5 October 1955) is an Australian saxophonist, television personality and radio presenter. He is best known for his work on '' Hey Hey It's Saturday''. He rose to prominence with the bands Ol' 55 and ...

as Hazza * Dave Gibson as Dave * Sandie Lillingston as Beth * Ollie Hall as Frank Rossini *

Lyn Collingwood Lyn Collingwood (born 6 September 1936, Sydney), credited also as Lynn Collingwood, is an Australian actress. Biography Collingwood was born IN Sydney, New South Wales in 1936, and did not start a career in the arts until later in life, she ...

as Fay * Nikki McWaters as Shirl * Melissa Davis as Narelle * Margi di Ferranti as Jill * Desirée Smith as Tracey * Murray Fahey as Mickey * Jeremy Shadlow as Jeff *

Brett Climo Brett Leonard Climo (born 26 September 1964) is an Australian actor and comedian best known for his television soap opera roles, but has also appeared in films (feature-length and made-for-TV features). He is best known roles include in product ...

as Don * Alan McQueen as Accident Cop * Ken Snodgrass as Accident Cop * Bill Lyle as Drive-In Cop *

Garry Who Garry Who (born Garry Weston, 1 May 1954) is an Australian actor and comedian, best known for his role as Doug Stevens in the Australian sitcom '' All Together Now''. Career Beginning his working life as a signwriter, Who began his career in th ...

as Drive-In Cop * Bernadette Foster as Momma Rossini * Ron Sinclair as Roger McManus * Gandhi MacIntyre as Indian * David Jones as TV Newsreader

Production

The movie was based on a short story by Peter Carey although Brian Trenchard-Smith says he had not read it when he came on board the project. A previous director had been attached but had pulled out. "I came in, took a week, and welded the best elements from the first three drafts together, boosting the social comment," says Trenchard-Smith.'Interview: Director Brian Trenchard-Smith (Night of the Demons 2)', ''Joblo'' 5 Aug. 2011
Retrieved 21 October 2012 The film was shot over 35 days at a drive-in theatre in Matraville starting on 9 September 1985. Funding came from the New South Wales Film Corporation.Brian Trenchard-Smith, 'No Film for Chickens', ''ACMI'', 23 June 2009
Retrieved 28 September 2012 The director said of the film that:

The Drive-In is, of course, an allegory for the junk values of the eighties, which our hero sees as a prison. The last 20 minutes of the film - the escape - is the desperate blazing climax, but the whole film has a feeling of high style, of heightened or enhanced reality - a little bit over the top, but retaining a reality that the public will accept.Brian Jones, 'A Horse for all courses', ''Cinema Papers'', March 1986 p 28

The final stunt by Guy Norris cost around $75,000, more than any previous single stunt in Australia, and set a world record for a jump by a truck: .

Release

''Dead End Drive-In'' grossed $68,000 at the box office in Australia. It was released on DVD in the US by

Image Entertainment RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 34 ...

on 20 September 2011, and in the UK by

Arrow Video An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers ca ...

in April 2013.

Reception

Michael Wilmington of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' called it an "exciting and offbeat" clone of ''

'' that is "worth looking for." Ian Berriman of '' SFX'' rated it 3.5/5 stars and wrote that the film's premise is unconvincing, but the production design is impressive. Chris Holt of '' Starburst'' rated it 6/10 and cited the atmosphere and style as saving graces in a film where "not all that much happens" and the performances are poor. Bill Gibron of DVD Verdict wrote that the film's themes are "cliché and lame" and the film tries too hard without going far enough. Luke Buckmaster of '' Senses of Cinema'' called it Trenchard-Smith's "magnum opus" and "a perfectly gloomy fusion of physical objects juxtaposed with the story’s otherworldly elements and creepy dystopian undercurrents."

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, dark humor, non-linear storylines, cameos, ensembl ...

has cited ''Dead End Drive-In'' as his favorite film from Trenchard-Smith.

Accolades

Production designer Lawrence Eastwood was nominated for Best Production Design at the 1986 AFI Awards.

Legacy

''Dead End Drive-In'' was included in '' Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!'', a documentary about

Ozploitation Ozploitation films are exploitation films – a category of low-budget horror, comedy, sexploitation and action films – made in Australia after the introduction of the R rating in 1971. The year also marked the beginnings of the Australian ...

films. Canadian punk band from

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, Dead End Drive-In, takes their name from this film.

References

External links

*
''Dead End Drive-In''
at

Australian Screen Online The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national c ...

{{Brian Trenchard-Smith 1986 films 1986 independent films 1980s science fiction action films 1980s dystopian films Australian independent films Australian science fiction action films Dystopian films Punk films Australian post-apocalyptic films Films based on science fiction short stories Films set in 1995 Films set in the future Films set in a movie theatre Films set in Australia Films shot in Sydney Films directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith 1980s English-language films