Review: Dead End Drive In (Australia, 1986)

Ozploytation legend Brian Trenchard-Smith turns his hand to the VHS crowd with this entertainingly flawed pseudo-punk tribute to the Grindhouse era. When young couple Crabs (Ned Manning) and his girlfriend (Natalie McCurry) accidently become trapped in a drive-in theatre that doubles as a maximum security youth prison they find they must find a way not only to escape, but to survive a no rules society fuelled by teen anarchy.

With a look and feel that sits somewhere between Mad Max and 1984 this great premise is somewhat wasted by a moral-laden script and lack of general action. The third act tries to introduce some tension by throwing in a racial theme, but the Asian bashing taunts of the prison population only distract from what is essentially a story about two straight-laced kids being wooed by the corruption of youth.

Despite some obvious flaws, there is plenty to like about this one as a lazy Sunday movie – including an incredibly spunky McCurry – and most will find this a surprisingly easy once watch.

Also on release in Trenchard-Smith’s fictional tribute to Aussie stunt man Grant Page entitled Stunt Rock. Shot in a barely-conceived doco style strung together by a fictional story about Page working on a film in the US while helping 70s metal band Sorcery to create their own stunts, this is really just an excuse intercut a series of new and old stunt work in a narrative form.

While a great insight into the work of a Hollywood stuntman in the 1970s, the film is at best bearable if you skip the fictional story line. Treat it like a period doco and you may survive, otherwise avoid this one completely.

Dead End Drive-In and Stunt Rock are released on DVD through Madman Entertainment.

Dead End Drive-In includes director’s commentary and trailers while Stunt Rock features commentaries, a stunt man doco, audio interviews and a Cannes promo reel.