By Geno McGahee
The Masters of Horror was a great series, featuring one hour horror movies by some of the best filmmakers in the world. INCIDENT ON AND OFF A MOUNTAIN ROAD is written and directed by Don Coscarelli, the writer of the PHANTASM series, and he does an outstanding job telling this story of survival.
Ellen (Bree Turner) falls in love with Bruce (Ethan Embry), and they get married, but the true colors of her hubby begin to show. He is a survivalist, a racist, and abusive. Although he does treat her poorly, she does start picking up tips on how to survive, which will help her as she encounters evil in the woods.
As she drives on a dark night, she takes her eyes off the road for a second and that was long enough for her to plow into a parked car on the side of the road. She gets out and sees blood in the car and a trail of blood leading off the road. She follows the trail and sees a huge guy dragging a body and he sees her. The monster (John DeSantis) is very imposing. He is huge and he looks strange.
The chase is on, but Ellen gets her wits together and starts setting traps for the monster, but she eventually gets caught and awakens in his home where dead bodies are used for decorations. In the darkness is Buddy (Angus Scrimm) and he was incredibly amusing. He was so funny in this role. He was likable and crazy.
The final battle is on between Ellen and the monster and it’s pretty intense, leading to one final twist at the end. INCIDENT ON AND OFF A MOUNTAIN ROAD is a great short film with an interesting monster. Bree Turner really plays the role well. She is believable and so too is Embry. He was more of a villain than the monster was. This is just a great tale. I highly recommend it!
Rating: 7.5/10
This was an excellent adaptation of Joe Lansdale’s short story. Very well done. I wish all the episodes in the series could have been this good.