Incident On and Off a Mountain Road is the first episode of Masters of Horror, and is directed by Don Coscareli (he of Phantasm/The Beastmaster fame). The film follows Bree Turner as Ellen, a woman driving down a long highway to some truly emolicious early 2000s alternative when she is run off the road. Also on (and off) the highway tonight is a serial killer named Moonface (played by John DeSantis), who is pursuing her. Through flashbacks, we see that Ellen was trained by her survivalist husband.
The look of the film really bugged me, it wasn't terrible, but it did plant me firmly in 2005. There's a certain level of cheapness that comes with the episode that they try to disguise as best they can. It is an interesting time capsule of a show that was made in the mid 2000s. I mean, this was when Wolf Creek and Hostel were the new hotness, and torture porn was the way the horror genre was working for a time. As such, there's a lot of shaky cam chase scenes, dramatic music, and flashes of light in the dark to hide the restraints of the budget. You could put this side by side with something like Wrong Turn, and be very confused as to which is which.
With that said, this film has some good things going for it. The film doesn't really have time to waste, so it goes right into the chase pretty much as soon as the film begins, but it makes time for us to get to know our main victim pretty effectively. Bree Turner is incredibly charming, and likable, as Ellen. She's a great final girl because you get to watch her learn how to get out of each situation. The best types of cat and mouse chases are the ones where the mouse gets one up on the cat. Which happens a couple times here, in ways that are creative and exciting. She even sets up Home Alone style traps in the woods, I mean come on that's just fun.
The makeup on John DeSantis is really good, I mean yeah you can tell it's a latex mask, but it's still really well done. The flashbacks are interspersed in a way that help build the tension of the main story rather than detract from it. Ethan Embry is pretty hammy as Bruce, but in an enjoyable way. Angus Scrimm has a part as Buddy, and he is ham right off the bone, but brings some much needed humor to the proceedings.
The film's climax is kind of a "gotcha" ending with a cruel twist and a dark resolution, but hey, that's horror for you. It's one of those endings, though, where it initially makes so much sense that I couldn't believe I didn't see it coming, but as it went on longer got into "ok, enough" territory.
Still, as an opener to a horror series that is really trying hard to push the envelope of what was seen on TV at the time, it's a good effort.
The look of the film really bugged me, it wasn't terrible, but it did plant me firmly in 2005. There's a certain level of cheapness that comes with the episode that they try to disguise as best they can. It is an interesting time capsule of a show that was made in the mid 2000s. I mean, this was when Wolf Creek and Hostel were the new hotness, and torture porn was the way the horror genre was working for a time. As such, there's a lot of shaky cam chase scenes, dramatic music, and flashes of light in the dark to hide the restraints of the budget. You could put this side by side with something like Wrong Turn, and be very confused as to which is which.
With that said, this film has some good things going for it. The film doesn't really have time to waste, so it goes right into the chase pretty much as soon as the film begins, but it makes time for us to get to know our main victim pretty effectively. Bree Turner is incredibly charming, and likable, as Ellen. She's a great final girl because you get to watch her learn how to get out of each situation. The best types of cat and mouse chases are the ones where the mouse gets one up on the cat. Which happens a couple times here, in ways that are creative and exciting. She even sets up Home Alone style traps in the woods, I mean come on that's just fun.
The makeup on John DeSantis is really good, I mean yeah you can tell it's a latex mask, but it's still really well done. The flashbacks are interspersed in a way that help build the tension of the main story rather than detract from it. Ethan Embry is pretty hammy as Bruce, but in an enjoyable way. Angus Scrimm has a part as Buddy, and he is ham right off the bone, but brings some much needed humor to the proceedings.
The film's climax is kind of a "gotcha" ending with a cruel twist and a dark resolution, but hey, that's horror for you. It's one of those endings, though, where it initially makes so much sense that I couldn't believe I didn't see it coming, but as it went on longer got into "ok, enough" territory.
Still, as an opener to a horror series that is really trying hard to push the envelope of what was seen on TV at the time, it's a good effort.