Dead End Drive-In

George Miller's 1981 cult classic The Road Warrior clearly serves as inspiration for Australian genre filmmaker Brian Trenchard-Smith's 1986 film Dead End Drive-In, a film that mixes sci-fi, gearhead action, and social commentary, set in a near future in which economic collapse has driven the rich into isolated gated communities while everyone else scrambles to survive in a culture of crime and unemployment. With society on the verge of collapsing (or worse, rising up in rebellion), the authorities hit upon a brilliant solution to contain the frustrations of the young and aimless: turn the local drive-in into a concentration camp. Jimmy (Ned Manning) takes his girl (Natalie McCurry) on a drive-in date but finds the gates locked when he tries to leave. This popular teen destination becomes a witty metaphor for society, with the cars turned into homes and the inmates seduced into compliance with a steady diet of junk food from the snack bar and nightly movies, with only Jimmy actively plotting an escape. When the residents grow restless, the authorities bus in Asian immigrants and stir racial tensions among the white youth, who protest the invasion of their community. The sociopolitical messages and exploitation movie metaphors aren't subtle but they are witty and effective, although the film can also be enjoyed simply as a colorful sci-fi drive-in movie with terrific car action and stunt work. Based on a story by Booker Prize-winning Australian novelist and screenwriter Peter Carey, this is a stand-out example of "Ozploitation" low-budget genre films from Australia in the 1970s and ‘80s. Extras include audio commentary by Trenchard-Smith, and bonus short films by the director. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)