Long before they did PSAs about Texting and Driving, before calling and driving, even before the genuine term 'road rage' had become common, you had the film with Philip McKeon (yeah, the son from 'Alice') and Peter Barton called 'Leadfoot.'

Before I get into the plot and reasons themselves, I want to tell you something funny about safety films of the Eighties. Apparently after producers got fed up with their films being glossed over in schools, they decided to not only produce these shows to be broadcast on television, but to simultaneously cram these films down upcoming students' throats by showing them in schools as well. As if having to endure it on local broadcasting wasn't enough.

And the problem was most of the time the films made you more confused at what the lessons were about than teaching us about the wrong-doing.

In short, Leadfoot was more or less an updated version of 'Joyride,' but with a more action-packed scene than just having some kids steal a car, go to an area where an abandoned car is, and then get pursued by the cops to run into a mountain.

But let's start with the film itself: Basically Leadfoot starts us right into the accident itself with McKeon's character, Tommy Russell witnessing the typical scene at night with ambulances and policemen on the scene. Suddenly we see Tommy waking up screaming as he is comforted by what we presume is his mother, as he is crying about his girlfriend, Pam, being gone, and how everything is all his fault.

Now we flashback to several months before, where we see Tommy purchasing his first car because he has just gotten his driver's license. Here we see how Tommy loves his new vehicle by washing it and taking absolute good care of it, with his girlfriend Pam.

Yet, ironically, Tommy has no problems speeding fast with it, ignoring the speed limit, almost causing road accidents and despite several warnings, as well as getting a speeding ticket, he keeps going on his wild riding ways (the Fast and the Furious guys would've loved him).

Making matters worse, his friend, Murph (played by Peter Barton), encourages this behavior rather than discourage him (because, you know, this is supposed to be a safety film.). And you wonder how in world has Murph survived as well.

Anyway, after awhile we draw near the event which leads to Tommy's never-ending nightmares. During a typical college party (or teenage, I forget), Murph and his buddies are miffed that Tommy's car is blocking the way, because they're running out of booze and they want to make a beer run. So rather than politely ask Tommy to get off his butt and move his vehicle, Murph and the guys move Tommy's car in an unorthodox manner (which I'll tell you about later).

And before you can say, 'Instant Road Rage,' Tommy and Pam come racing out of the house. Angered by what they did to his car, he's not liking it more when they accidentally sideswipe his vehicle (yeah, I suppose things like that can enrage you to no end, eh?).

Although Pam attempts to be the somewhat voice of reason, Tommy's unrelenting rage gets the better of him, and he convinces her to come with him. (This scenario reminds me of classic 60s car-wrecking ballads, no seriously.) So we embark on a night road rage scene where Tommy angrily goes after Murph, but instead of going on the wrong side of the road, bumping his car, and watching it lose a wheel and fly off the edge, then explode like Speed Racer, Tommy nearly has a collision with an oncoming vehicle, but swerves and hits the curve, flipping his car, pinning Pam inside.

Naturally the authorities are called, and Pam is taken to the hospital with the mother screaming at Tommy for endangering her daughter's life. As you'd expect the film ends where we find out Pam dies and now Tommy is tormented by this event. However, he now becomes a safe driver and goes to schools warning others about the evils of speeding and road rage.

Despite this supposedly being a serious film, here's why RiffTrax should take the lead out of Leadfoot.

(1) The inexplicably cliche--if not contradictory--- script. Not since Disney did a driving episode on their Wonderful World was this pretty much predictable. Basically Tommy claims to want to take care of his new car, but also wants to be a reckless speed demon in the process. Which I found unreal, since most people who purchase vehicles out of their own pocket tend to want to be extremely careful with their cars, you know, because insurance rates and all.

What's even more amazing is where does Tommy get the cash to get an awesome car? Seriously, since they never determine if Tommy's in high school or in college.

The other is sort of a staple with most safety films of the time: the character's never realize the true error of their ways until somebody gets fatally wounded or killed. Not I'm not attempting to take away from the film itself, but the way this happens is rather like the kids in 'Joyride.' Logically it makes sense in a way, but the execution is rather dubious, especially upon what makes Tommy rages for this accident, which leads to the next reason...

(2) Tommy's Road Rage over his car being 'Pumped,' then Sideswiped by Murph and company. In many driving films I've seen people lose it over many things, having their vehicle stolen, being cut-off or even attempting to not be late somewhere. But never the reason Tommy has: remember how I told you about Murph being impatient because Tommy's car was blocking him and his friends from going on a beer run? Well, rather than hotwiring the vehicle and simply--you know-- MOVING it, Murph puts the car into gear and his friends start pumping on the hood, in order to get the car to move down the slight incline and out of the way. Not I'm not as sure why Tommy is so mad at this, because it's not like they keyed his car, or just take it out of park and let it roll down a steep hill and into a building. But then as Murph and his buddies are laughing as they drive away, they hit, or 'sideswipe' Tommy's vehicle.

Yet, the damage is hardly noticeable, but Tommy acts as if they line-drived into a wall. So angry he wants to go after them with Pam in tow, even though Pam does attempt to tell Tommy the entire thing isn't worth it. But the director obviously thought they had to do something to get the plot moving along.

(3) The unintentionally hilarious commercial breaks for the film itself. Because this was, in fact, a TV-Movie, the director made these odd scene breaks: basically the instrumentals would be something reflecting the atmosphere of the scene we just saw, with a scene of the country road where we presume the accident had taken place, with the title shown, just in case we forgot what we were watching.

One time I recall watching when the tragic incident hit, they play a melancholy tune (like something you'd hear on those light radio stations) with them showing the commercial break scene.

In fact, what was funny was the entire campaign for this film itself. Leadfoot was shown to look like an action film of sorts, and the description was a bit misleading, since many thought when Tommy is sideswiped, that it would happen on the road, and not at some house giving a party. And many who did tune in, though it was supposed to educate the evils of speeding, were ultimately disappointed in discovering they were duped into watching a safety film in general.

And if that wasn't bad enough, the Safety Commission made it mandatory for schools and churches to show this film. So if you got burned once by the ad, you were going to get burned again, whether you liked it or not.

Overall, Leadfoot wasn't a bad film for what it was set out to do, but about the time the 80s rolled around, many got rather weary of these films very quickly. And so did the actors, because Philip and Peter once commented they had never felt more foolish in the film, though it was meant to convey a serious message. Mainly because the characters were too predictable and the entire production seemed a bit contrived to be even believable.

Though I couldn't locate the film itself, here is an image still from the film itself.