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A Masterpiece!

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

Dead End Drive-In is one of those films that could only have hailed from the '80s, a neon-drenched dose of new-wave nonsense from down under, a cult oddity that dabbles in social commentary (junk culture and racism), but which works best as pure B-movie fodder, director Brian Trenchard-Smith delivering crazy characters, car crashes, shootouts, drugs, sex and rock 'n' roll aplenty.Ned Manning stars as Jimmy "Crabs" Rossinni, who takes his girlfriend Carmen (Natalie McCurry) to the Star drive-in, unaware that the place is being used as a detention centre for the nation's disaffected youth. Trapped by a tall wall topped with electrified wire, the prisoners are fed a diet of drugs, junk food and trashy movies (including a couple of Trenchard-Smith's earlier efforts), but unlike Carmen, Jimmy isn't about to sit back and accept his situation and plans to escape by whatever means necessary, with or without his girlfriend (personally, I would have stayed: McCurry, who would go on to be crowned Miss Australia 1989, is a total babe).With a neat set-up, the scene is set for lots of trashy fun, and for a while it all works very nicely, but Trenchard-Smith struggles to keep the momentum going, his script offering very little of interest once Jimmy realises the gravity of his predicament, the lad spending most of his time hunting for new wheels for his car (boring) when he could be seeing to his knockout girlfriend (not boring).Things eventually pick up for the entertaining finale, in which Jimmy makes a bid for freedom that results in lots of vehicular stunts and exchange of gunfire with the cops, although the ending does leave a rather awkward question unanswered: is Jimmy now a fugitive, wanted for the killing of a cop? If so, that's hardly the upbeat finish that Trenchard-Smith seems to be going for.

What can I say?This is a film that I saw one night on telly at about 2 AM... I was about 16 years old, and I LOVED it!!!! I never remembered it's name, and it took me until now, and an old copy of Halliwell's to track it down... WOO HOO! I love every single thing about this film... it's wonderful in the way that only B movies can be when they hit the right note. It doesn't take itself too seriously, but it is ENTERTAINMENT in large letters, with enough socio-political comment for you to get every single little dig at the establishment, without being arty-farty or self important. Of course... it's a Peter Carey story... that says it all. Chock full of fun. Class act!

I thank Toddy and Dr Gillard for referring this film to me. It is one of the best comments on Australian society in feature film format. not only does the film depict Australia for what it is--A RACIST CORRUPT PRISON ISLAND, represented by the drive in. I also found it to be a profound comment on the class structure and police/government corruption. I did however find it sad to see many old Falcons in states of disrepair, and what did they do to that charger in the beginning???, such a waste of car. I loved this movie, it also had one of the biggest explosions I've ever seen in an Australian feature film. all thou the film was made in 1986 it still has the same (if not more) potency now days under the Howard REGEME. this is another Peter Carey CLASSIC. rent it if you can find it!.

I'm a huge fan of sci-fi and horror movies and have built up quite a tolerance for movies in this genre that are below average. Just as long as they are funny, interesting and exciting to watch they are also worth your time to watch them. Many low-budget movie productions also have nice ideas but not always a budget that can realize them.Well, in Dead End's case it's pretty clear that the producer didn't know what to do with his idea, although he must have had a fair budget since it doesn't look especially cheap. The performances are also quite OK for a movie like this. These parts are good. The bad things are how ridiculous, almost embarrassing crappy à la TV-movie way, the story goes on. I don't know where to start actually. From the first statement by the supervisor that the youngsters are stuck in that place to the laughable car chase and racist inflammatory speech near the end and finally the 'exciting' car jump over the fences... Oh boy! That ramp was perfectly placed there wasn't it?. Why didn't he just drove through the fences at the right moment when he got his tyres and gasoline. Although the fences were electrified it shouldn't had made any difference. In normal cases these trashy peoples would have undoubtedly started a riot and crashed the place. Things like this just make me angry and annoyed, when the director thinks that the audience are dead-panned idiots who can't think for themselves.I know this movie is meant to be somewhat satirical and that these kind of movies shouldn't be taken too seriously, but honestly, it's not even so bad it's funny and that makes this movie a real bummer. That sequence with the 'foreigners' who were driven to this 'camp' is just a cheap excuse to make the movie a little bit longer and has nothing to do with the story. It's just so awkward and unnecessary. Even the picture on the DVD is strange because it makes you falsely believe that that is how the main actor in the movie looks like. This is not the case...Why this movie have got almost the same rating as the cult classic The Wraith, produced the same year, is beyond my belief. That movie was at least funny and had a great soundtrack. Sure, it was lame at parts, but it was exciting and funny. I also can't believe how some people who posted here have the nerve to even compare this piece of crap with Mad Max. They must have been first-time sci-fi viewers.I'm glad I got to view this movie without paying for it before I bought it on DVD. That would have been an even larger disappointment. For God's sake, even the horrendously bad Garbage Pail Kids: The Movie is more fun to watch than this stinker! My advise is, keep away from this piece of garbage and go see The Wraith instead or some other cult classics. Movies like this are meant to stay forgotten...