Little known 'Ozploitation' film from 1981 that I stumbled upon when looking at the filmography of actress Jamie Lee Curtis!
Australian road movie from 1981 about a trucker transporting meat from Melbourne, Victoria to Perth, Western Australia. Quite a distance over several time zones. Why meat? A butchers strike is the reason.
Stacy Keach plays the trucker 'Kit Quid' who we see come across several strange characters on their journey including a mystery green van over and over. All while a mystery serial killer is on the loose across Australia.
The film has all the usual road movie genre tropes and some that have been used since in movies like No Country For Old Men and Road Kill/Joy Ride.
Australia with its thousands of miles of outback wilderness makes for a good location that sets it apart from the usual U.S. locations of such films.
The film reminded me of the early Mad Max films not only because of some desolate outback locations but because of the period the film was produced and the soundtrack from composer Brian May.
Jamie Lee Curtis actually didn't appear until about 35 minutes in. She plays a young 'hitch' (hitchhiker) who joins Kit in his suspicions of the green van.
The film has been compared to an Alfred Hitchcock thriller and indeed director Richard Franklin followed up this film with Psycho II, a sequel to one of Hitchcock's most famous films.
A film that has slipped under the radar somewhat. A line I have used on a few films over the years but surprisingly I have never heard or seen this film over the years despite an interest in Australian cinema and television.
I would definitely put this in my top ten Australian films having seen it.
Australian road movie from 1981 about a trucker transporting meat from Melbourne, Victoria to Perth, Western Australia. Quite a distance over several time zones. Why meat? A butchers strike is the reason.
Stacy Keach plays the trucker 'Kit Quid' who we see come across several strange characters on their journey including a mystery green van over and over. All while a mystery serial killer is on the loose across Australia.
The film has all the usual road movie genre tropes and some that have been used since in movies like No Country For Old Men and Road Kill/Joy Ride.
Australia with its thousands of miles of outback wilderness makes for a good location that sets it apart from the usual U.S. locations of such films.
The film reminded me of the early Mad Max films not only because of some desolate outback locations but because of the period the film was produced and the soundtrack from composer Brian May.
Jamie Lee Curtis actually didn't appear until about 35 minutes in. She plays a young 'hitch' (hitchhiker) who joins Kit in his suspicions of the green van.
The film has been compared to an Alfred Hitchcock thriller and indeed director Richard Franklin followed up this film with Psycho II, a sequel to one of Hitchcock's most famous films.
A film that has slipped under the radar somewhat. A line I have used on a few films over the years but surprisingly I have never heard or seen this film over the years despite an interest in Australian cinema and television.
I would definitely put this in my top ten Australian films having seen it.