96 Fun Facts About Road House

Who plays the bouncer Dalton in the 1989 film Road House?

Patrick Swayze did many of his own stunts as Dalton and paid for it: a log his opponent swung in their big fight scene cracked his ribs.

What is the name of the bar Dalton is hired to clean up in the 1989 Road House?

The Double Deuce is so unruly that Dalton starts by firing staff: a bouncer who loves a brawl, a waitress dealing drugs and a bartender skimming the till.

In which state is the town of Jasper, where Dalton's new bar sits?

Jasper is in Missouri, though the film was shot in California, mostly around Newhall, Valencia and Canyon Country.

Where is Dalton working when the 1989 Road House opens?

A club in New York City is where a small-town bar owner tracks Dalton down and hires him away to run security at his own troubled place.

Who owns the bar in Jasper and hires Dalton?

Frank Tilghman owns the bar; he tells Dalton to clean the place up and gives him full authority over the staff.

Who plays the crime lord Brad Wesley?

Ben Gazzara had been Broadway's original Brick in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, the part Paul Newman played on film; his Brad Wesley brought a Razzie nomination for Worst Supporting Actor.

Where does Dalton live while he is working in Jasper?

A loft in a farmer's barn is his choice, rented from old Emmet; it faces the mansion across the water, which turns out to belong to Brad Wesley.

Who plays Dr. Elizabeth "Doc" Clay?

Kelly Lynch plays Dr. Elizabeth Clay, the Jasper doctor who stitches up Dalton's knife wound and becomes his love interest.

Which Tony-nominated newcomer from the stage was first cast as Doc in Road House and then replaced?

Annette Bening, fresh from a Tony nomination for Coastal Disturbances, was cast as Doc and let go early on; her replacement later said the leading man felt no chemistry with her.

Who plays Dalton's mentor, the ageing bouncer Wade Garrett?

Sam Elliott plays Wade Garrett, Dalton's grizzled mentor, who comes to Jasper to back him up against Wesley's crew.

In the 1989 Road House, the bouncer Dalton surprises Doc by holding a degree in which subject?

Philosophy is his answer when Doc reads it in his file; asked whether studying man's search for faith gave him any answers, he admits it gave him not too many.

What is written on the note pinned to the knife in Wade Garrett's body?

"It was Tails" is Wesley's taunt: he had phoned Dalton to say a coin flip would decide whether Wade Garrett or Elizabeth died.

How does Dalton kill Wesley's henchman Jimmy Reno?

He rips out his throat with a bare hand when Jimmy pulls a gun, the move that has haunted Dalton since he first killed a man with it; Elizabeth sees the body and walks away.

Who finally shoots Brad Wesley dead at the end of the 1989 Road House?

The townsmen do it: business owners Wesley had been squeezing gun him down as he reaches for a pistol, then hide the weapons and play innocent when the police arrive.

Which Canadian blues guitarist leads the house band in the 1989 film Road House?

Jeff Healey leads the house band as Cody; self-taught from the age of three, he worked out his own way of playing, with the guitar laid flat across his lap.

How did the guitarist who leads the house band in Road House lose his sight?

Retinoblastoma as a baby: the rare eye cancer cost him both eyes before his first birthday, yet he had picked up a guitar by the age of three.

Who composed the score for the 1989 Road House?

Michael Kamen also worked in rock, arranging the orchestra on Pink Floyd's The Wall; by Road House he had scored Lethal Weapon and Die Hard for the same producer.

Which monster truck was built specially for the 1989 film Road House?

Bigfoot #7 was built for the shoot; on Wesley's orders it ploughs through a car dealer's showroom, crushing the stock to remind Jasper who runs the town.

Who directed the 1989 film Road House?

Rowdy Herrington had worked as a lighting gaffer and directed just one feature, the thriller Jack's Back, before making Road House for producer Joel Silver.

How many Golden Raspberry nominations did Road House receive?

It won none, but Razzie founder John Wilson later listed it among the 100 most enjoyably bad movies ever made.

How much did Road House gross worldwide on its 1989 release?

Road House grossed about $61 million worldwide, roughly half of it from its North American theatrical run.

Which comedian phones the husband of Road House's leading lady whenever her love scene airs on TV?

Bill Murray, or one of his brothers, rings screenwriter Mitch Glazer to report what his wife is up to on screen; Glazer, who co-wrote Scrooged, once took the call from Russia.

Which critic wrote that Road House sits on the edge between the good-bad movie and the merely bad?

Roger Ebert gave it two and a half stars and hesitated to recommend it, yet granted that, seen in the right frame of mind, it is not a boring film either.

What is the first name of Dalton, the hero of the 1989 Road House?

James is the name the sequel Road House 2 uses for him, though the 1989 credits bill him only as Dalton; the 2024 remake renamed him Elwood.

Who is the hero of the 2006 direct-to-video sequel Road House 2?

Dalton's son, Shane Tanner, is a DEA agent who steps in to run his uncle's Louisiana bar after the uncle is beaten up; Dalton himself is said to have been murdered years earlier.

Which cult show's Crow T. Robot was obsessed with Road House and wrote a carol about its star?

Mystery Science Theater 3000's Crow calls Road House his favourite movie; he unveils the carol in the 1991 Christmas episode, while the crew mock Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.

Which police force used a Road House scene in retraining on staying nice under pressure?

The NYPD used Dalton's "be nice" speech while retraining about 22,000 officers after the 2014 death of Eric Garner.

Which animated sitcom has its dad buy Road House on DVD and start roundhouse-kicking everyone in sight?

Family Guy's Peter picks up the DVD for a dollar at a closing video store and decides kicking solves everything; the 2009 episode is dedicated to the film's lead, who had died weeks earlier.

Which martial artist from The Last Dragon starred in the 2003 off-Broadway musical spoof of Road House?

Taimak, the star of The Last Dragon, led the 2003 spoof, whose sprawling title promises him "wearing a blonde mullet wig".

Which MMA star was announced to lead a Road House remake in 2015 that was quietly cancelled?

Ronda Rousey asked the original star's widow for her blessing and got it; the shoot was planned for straight after her November 2015 title fight with Holly Holm, but the project was dropped in 2016.

Who plays Dalton in the 2024 remake of Road House?

Jake Gyllenhaal plays Elwood Dalton, a fallen UFC fighter scraping a living on the underground circuit, where opponents back out as soon as they see who he is.

Where is the 2024 remake of Road House set?

The Florida Keys hold the fictional town of Glass Key, where owner Frankie hires Dalton to tame the thugs wrecking her beach bar, which is simply called the Road House.

Which UFC champion plays the enforcer Knox in the 2024 Road House?

Conor McGregor makes his film debut as Knox, the brute-force fixer a crime boss sends in from prison once Dalton has seen off the local biker gang.

Who directed the 2024 remake of Road House?

Doug Liman directed, then announced in a Deadline column that he would boycott his own premiere in protest at the studio's plans for the film; on the night he slipped into the SXSW audience anyway.

What did the makers of the 2024 Road House reportedly get in return for skipping cinemas?

A bigger budget was the trade: the studio reportedly offered $60 million with theatres or $85 million straight to streaming, and the filmmakers took the extra $25 million.

On which streaming service was the 2024 Road House released?

Prime Video carried it from March 21, 2024, after an opening-night premiere at SXSW that its own director had vowed to boycott over the lack of a cinema run.

Which rapper appears in the 2024 Road House under his real first name, Austin?

Post Malone, billed as Austin Post, plays Carter, the underground brawler who backs out of a bout the moment he sees that Dalton is his opponent.

In the 2024 Road House, what happens to Dell after Dalton throws him off the houseboat?

He is eaten by a crocodile: Dell had come aboard with a shotgun to kill Dalton, who throws him over the side and then cannot pull him out in time.

Where did the 2024 Road House film a scene before a live crowd?

The UFC 285 weigh-ins in Las Vegas lent the film a real arena crowd: the lead squared off with former fighter Jay Hieron on stage, and more was shot during a break in the fight card.

In which city was the star of the 1989 film Road House born?

Houston was home until he left to dance with the Harkness and Joffrey companies in New York; knee surgery then pushed him out of ballet and into acting.

For which film did the actor who plays Wade Garrett receive his first Academy Award nomination?

A Star Is Born brought the nomination when he was 74, for playing Bobby, older brother and manager to Bradley Cooper's fading singer; his own comment was that it was about time.

Which of these is one of the three rules Dalton gives his bouncers in the 1989 Road House?

Take it outside is rule two, so that fights stop wrecking the bar; rule one is never to underestimate an opponent, and rule three is simply to be nice.

Which two filmmakers recorded an audio commentary for the 2006 Deluxe Edition DVD of Road House?

Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier got the job after talking up Road House on the tenth-anniversary DVD of their own film Clerks; the 1989 film's director recorded a separate track.

In which country did filming of the 2024 Road House begin in August 2022?

Filming began in the Dominican Republic in August 2022, the same month the project was greenlit, with its beaches standing in for the film's island setting.

In the 1989 Road House, which make of car does Dalton really own, while driving old wrecks to work?

Mercedes: he keeps it out of sight and buys a cheap wreck and a stack of spare tyres on reaching Jasper, and sure enough finds them slashed after his first night.

Who sued in February 2024 hoping to block the release of the Road House remake?

The original film's screenwriter, R. Lance Hill, said the rights to his 1986 script had reverted to him, and accused the studio of using AI to recreate actors' voices during the 2023 strike.

Red West, Doc's uncle in the 1989 Road House, was a bodyguard and close confidant of which singer?

Elvis Presley met him at high school in Tennessee and kept him close for years; after being fired, he co-wrote a tell-all book about the star.

Terry Funk, the bouncer Morgan in the 1989 Road House, spent five decades in which profession?

Pro wrestling was his trade for more than 50 years, a career that included several short-lived retirements and a world heavyweight title.

Which injury did the star of the 1989 Road House suffer while filming the fight with Jimmy Reno?

Broken ribs came courtesy of the actor playing Reno, on a film where the leading man performed many of his own stunts.

How does the blind guitarist leading the house band in the 1989 Road House hold his guitar?

Flat on his lap was the unique style he developed after first picking up the instrument at the age of three.

Which Coen brothers comedy features the Road House actors behind both Wade Garrett and Brad Wesley?

The Big Lebowski arrived nine years after the bar-room brawler and cast one of the pair as The Stranger, who narrates the story.

Which dance romance made the star of the 1989 Road House famous two years before he played Dalton?

Dirty Dancing was his breakthrough and brought a Golden Globe nomination, though its studio first expected the low-budget film to go quickly to home video.

What was Dalton's profession before he became a bouncer in the 2024 Road House remake?

UFC fighter is the remake's twist on the character: he left the sport after killing a friend in a title bout.

What does Dalton do with the bikers he has just beaten up at the bar in the 2024 Road House?

Drives them to hospital himself, which is how he meets Ellie, the doctor who ends up tending his own injuries.

What does the monster truck flatten in the 1989 Road House, in a stunt filmed in a single take?

A car dealership showroom and four new cars were crushed in a scene that cost $500,000 to shoot.

Which sitcom gave the mother Mary Cooper a secret love of action films such as Road House?

Young Sheldon used her guilty pleasure to create an unexpected bond with her teenage son Georgie, in an episode from November 2020.

Who fires the shots that finally kill crime lord Brad Wesley at the end of the 1989 Road House?

Several townspeople shoot him as he takes aim at Dalton, and when the police arrive everyone present claims to have seen nothing.

Which injury brings Dalton to Doc for treatment when they first meet in the 1989 Road House?

A knife wound from a brawl with a sacked employee and his accomplices sends him to her, and the town's crime lord is attracted to her too.

What job title does Road House give Dalton, the head bouncer hired to tame a violent bar?

Cooler is the word for the man who runs a bar's security, and the 2006 sequel describes Dalton as a legendary one.

Dean Cundey, cinematographer of the 1989 Road House, went on to shoot which 1993 blockbuster?

Jurassic Park followed four years later for a cameraman who had already shot Halloween and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Which film beat Road House to Worst Picture at the 10th Golden Raspberry Awards?

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier took the prize, leaving the bar-room brawler empty-handed in every category it was up for.

Why does crime boss Ben Brandt want the bar's land in the 2024 Road House?

To build a resort, he has been buying up the property around it, and bar owner Frankie is the lone holdout.

What kind of shop do teenager Charlie and her father Stephen run in the 2024 Road House?

A bookstore, which the villain's men later burn down, an attack that stops Dalton from walking away from the town.

The director of the 2024 Road House made which 2002 spy thriller?

The Bourne Identity earned over $200 million and began a film series, but after a chaotic shoot he directed only the first entry.

Which Daily Show correspondent plays Frankie, the bar owner who hires Dalton in the 2024 Road House?

Jessica Williams joined The Daily Show at 22 as its youngest correspondent to that time, and only revealed her part in the remake in June 2023.

What does the mid-credits scene of the 2024 Road House reveal about the enforcer Knox?

He survived being stabbed by Dalton, and is last seen walking out in his patient's gown after assaulting the medical staff.

How is Pat McGurn, a bartender Dalton fires in Road House, related to crime lord Brad Wesley?

His nephew tries to bully his way back into the job, then attacks Dalton with accomplices and comes off badly injured.

Which business beside the bar, owned by Doc's uncle, is burned down in the 1989 Road House?

An auto parts store goes up in flames, and Brad Wesley is waiting inside the bar when the crowd returns from the fire.

How does Brad Wesley punish the bar after Dalton refuses to work for him in the 1989 Road House?

Cuts off its liquor supply by leaning on every distributor, so Dalton calls on his own contacts to bring in stock.

Which member of the Los Angeles punk band X plays bartender Pat McGurn in the 1989 Road House?

John Doe co-founded the band in Los Angeles after meeting its guitarist through an ad in a free weekly paper.

Which actor, TV's paramedic Roy DeSoto in the 1970s, plays the bar owner in the 1989 Road House?

Kevin Tighe said in 2013 that he gets more comments about this film than any other he has made, and credited its music for the broad appeal.

Which Die Hard and Lethal Weapon producer made both the 1989 Road House and its 2024 remake?

Joel Silver founded Silver Pictures in 1985, and as a schoolboy he helped draw up the rules of Ultimate Frisbee.

What first name does the 2024 Road House remake give Dalton, the bouncer hired by bar owner Frankie?

Elwood Dalton befriends a teenager named Charlie soon after his bus pulls into town.

In the 2024 Road House, the doctor Ellie turns out to be the daughter of which character?

The local sheriff, who is in league with the villain, is ordering Dalton out of town at gunpoint when she steps in.

What destroys Dalton's car just before he accepts the bouncer job in the 2024 Road House?

A freight train wrecks it in the film's bleak opening stretch, so he turns up for his new job by bus.

At which festival did the 2024 Road House have its premiere as the opening-night film?

South by Southwest opened with it on March 8, 2024, and its director attended despite having vowed to stay away.

Which memory torments the cool-headed bouncer Dalton throughout the 1989 Road House?

Killing a man in self-defense still haunts him, and both his mentor and Doc try to ease his guilt over it.

What does Dalton demand before agreeing to run security at the Jasper bar in the 1989 Road House?

Full control of the club is his price, and he uses it at once to sack several employees for theft and drug dealing.

How does the 1989 Road House end for Dalton and Doc once the bar has been cleaned up?

Swimming in a lake together, the couple are shown at peace while the modernised bar bustles with customers.

The star of the 1989 Road House earned a joint Worst Actor Razzie nomination for which other film?

Next of Kin came out the same year, and the two performances earned him a single joint nomination that he did not go on to 'win'.

Road House co-writer Hilary Henkin later earned an Oscar nomination for which political satire?

Wag the Dog brought her Oscar and Golden Globe nominations, after the Writers Guild stepped in to secure her shared screenplay credit.

According to its full title, what did the star of the 2003 off-Broadway Road House stage spoof wear?

A blonde mullet wig is promised in the show's sprawling full title, and its creator billed the fight-filled comedy as a 'brawlsical'.

Who plays Ben Brandt, the crime boss trying to seize the bar in the 2024 Road House?

Billy Magnussen is a Tony-nominated stage actor whose father was a professional bodybuilder and kickboxer.

What does Dalton leave behind for Charlie and her father at the end of the 2024 Road House?

A trunk of cash, seized from a deputy delivering the villain's illicit money, turns up as his bus pulls away.

A 2024 lawsuit accused the makers of the Road House remake of using what during the actors' strike?

AI-generated voices of the cast were allegedly used to finish the film, and the studios answered with a countersuit that May.

Which decision made the director of the 2024 Road House vow to boycott its premiere?

A streaming-only release angered him enough to attack the studio in a Deadline editorial, though he attended the premiere in the end.

Which actor from The Thing and They Live appears in the 1989 Road House as Ernie Bass?

Keith David later became an Emmy-winning narrator of Ken Burns documentaries and the voice of Dr. Facilier in The Princess and the Frog.

Which director of The Notebook signed on in 2015 to make a Road House remake that never happened?

Nick Cassavetes was due to write and direct it, but the plans fell through and the project was quietly cancelled in 2016.

The 1989 Road House's Doc actress also starred that year in which Gus Van Sant crime drama?

Drugstore Cowboy earned her an Independent Spirit nomination for Best Female Lead, and she later turned down the lead in Basic Instinct.

Which city had a music club named after the 1989 Road House and its blind house-band guitarist?

Toronto was his home town, and although the club carried his name and he often played there, he never owned or managed it.

Which Portuguese actress from The Suicide Squad plays the doctor Ellie in the 2024 Road House?

Daniela Melchior began in Portuguese telenovelas, and her character's father in the film is played by a fellow Portuguese actor.

Which venues gave the 2024 Road House a limited big-screen run days before its streaming debut?

Military base cinemas run by the Army & Air Force Exchange Service showed it, on just 17 screens in all.

Before the 2024 Road House, its lead actor starred in which Antoine Fuqua sports drama?

Southpaw drew praise for the emotional vulnerability of his performance, even from a critic who found the plot unoriginal.

Which actress, later Liz Danes on Gilmore Girls, plays Carrie Ann in the 1989 Road House?

Kathleen Wilhoite is also a singer-songwriter who has released two albums of her own, Pitch Like a Girl and Shiva.

Who sends the enforcer Knox to hunt down Dalton in the 2024 Road House?

Brandt's jailed father built the drug empire his son inherited, and the hired man eventually turns on the son and kills him.

What is the name of the blind guitarist character who leads the house band in the 1989 Road House?

Cody is played by a real blues musician whose own band was recording its debut album while the film was being shot.