Dead End Drive-In

Dead End Drive-In is a 1986 Australian dystopian action film about a teenage couple trapped in a drive-in theatre which is really a concentration camp for societal rejects. The inmates, many of whom sport punk fashion, are placated with a steady diet of junk food, new wave music, drugs, and exploitation films. The film was directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith and stars Ned Manning and Natalie McCurry as the captive couple, and Peter Whitford as the manager of the drive-in. Mad Max 2 stuntman Guy Norris did some of the stunts. The soundtrack includes contemporary popular music performed by such bands as Kids in the Kitchen and Hunters and Collectors. The song during the rolling credits is "Playing With Fire" by Lisa Edwards.

Plot

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