(1986)

Submitted by Evan B

Pooper:
Although Carmen elects to live in the drive-in, Crabs successfully escapes in spectacular fashion.

Long Ending:
One of Quentin Tarantino’s favorite films, this movie once held the World Record for the longest vehicle jump.

In the future of the 1990s, the world economy has utterly collapsed. In Australia, cars are a valuable commodity. Frank (Ollie Hall) is a tall, brawny young man who works for a tow company. He races to car crashes to claim any salvage. In his line of work, he must bribe cops, fend off other tow truck workers, and fight off roving gangs. His younger brother Jimmy, nicknamed Crabs (Ned Manning), idolizes him. Crabs works out in an attempt to bulk up like Frank, but is mainly a slacker.

Crabs convinces Frank to let him borrow Frank’s fancy Chevy in order to take his girlfriend Carmen (Natalie McCurry) on a date. Without telling his brother, he takes Carmen to a drive-in movie theater. These theaters are known to be dangerous places. While Carmen and Crabs are having sex during the film, some thieves steal the tires off the car. Carmen and Crabs are stuck at the drive-in and forced to spend the night there.

The next morning, Crabs and Carmen visit Thompson (Peter Whitford), the manager of the drive-in. Thompson explains that they can’t leave as the road outside the drive-in is a no-pedestrian zone and no other means of egress exist. The pair realize that many people have suffered similar fates and are living permanently at the drive-in. Carmen (a runaway) makes friends with those residents of the drive-in and easily adapts to life there, thinking of the drive-in like a home. Crabs remains desperate to escape and often fights with the other residents of the drive-in. Thompson takes a liking to Crabs and takes him under his wing, noting that he is different than the others living there.

Crabs soon realizes that things are more sinister than they first appeared. He learns the police stole his tires and disabled the other cars at the drive-in. The fence surrounding the property is electrified to keep people trapped inside. The government ships in a bunch of Asian prisoners to the drive-in, which causes the primarily Caucasian residents of the drive-in to ban together to defend their “home” from these invaders. Crabs also learns that Thompson is working with the police and that this same scheme is occurring at other drive-ins across Australia. Essentially, the government is using the drive-ins to covertly imprison the youth to get what they consider to be a dangerous element off the streets permanently. 

One night, Crabs manages to knock out some government employees and steal their truck. He asks Carmen to leave with him, but she wants to stay at the drive-in, even if it is a prison. Crabs attempts to sneak out, but Thompson recognizes him behind the wheel of the stolen truck and alerts the police of his escape attempt. A long car chase ensues with most of the police and Thompson being killed. Though Crabs is injured in the chase, he is ultimately the last one standing. He drives up a ramp, jumps the truck over the electrified fence, crashes through the drive-in neon sign, and lands on the road on the other side. He makes a get-away and smiles at his success.