The Incident On And Off A Mountain Road Review Country : USA Year: 2005 Genre: Horror Format: Broadcast Running Time: 60 minutes Network: Showtime The auteur of Phantasm has a riveting new tale to tell in this first edition of the Masters Of Horror cycle.... Credits Written and Directed by Don Coscarelli. Starring Bree Turner, John De Santis, Ethan Embry and Angus Scrimm. There isn't a single new idea in Don Coscarelli's short, but relentless new slasher – 'The Incident On And Off A Mountain Road' and that is exactly how it should be. The first in the Masters of Horror anthology kicked off tonight with a bang! Coscarelli isn't looking to reinvent the genre but to celebrate it. After all, why tinker with a successful formula? The result is a distilled version of what a good horror flick is supposed to be, and at 51 short minutes, 'Incident' packs a sharply focused punch – like the quick stab of a razor blade to the jugular. In the short, a young woman named Ellen (Bree Turner) gets into a car accident late one night on a lonely highway in the middle of a forest. Out of nowhere comes a tall and scary creature, referred to as Moonface (John De Santis), who chases her through the woods and ultimately to his cabin. Flashbacks inter-cut as she struggles to keep herself alive, setting booby traps for Moonface. The flashbacks are about her relationship with a young man (Ethan Embry) who is a survivalist. The purpose of this is to show exactly how she comes up with all these crazy contraptions, Macgyver style and it works very well. I don't think I have seen that before in a horror film, or action for that matter. We are also treated to a cameo by the Tall Man himself, Mr. Angus Scrimm. With shameless glee, Coscarelli plunders every horror flick cliché. But unlike Wes Craven, he doesn't play the knowingness for jokes: he means every slash and blood-dripping knife. Bree Turner's contorts with anguish, and does her part in selling the terror without any of the winking meta-humor so common to Hollywood horror. 'Incident' is purely a work greatness, and the first true horror film from Coscarelli. (I would call Phantasm 'Sci-Fright' so don't start throwing fruit at me just yet) And while Bree Turner will be noticed for her presence in the short, more impressive is, John De Santis as the killer 'Moonface'. The actor who fascinated us as the Lurch character in the 'Adams Family' remake proves he is the most menacing presence in horror cinema that I have seen in a while, and the real epicenter of tension in this film. I am dying for next week in which Stuart (Re-Animator) Gordon takes on none other than H.P. Lovecraft's 'Dreams In The Witch-House'... an adaption I have wanted to see for years! Masters of Horror plays every Friday and will have multi-plays Saturday and Sunday nights. OFFICIAL SITE 'DREAMS IN THE WITCH-HOUSE' & 'DANCE OF THE DEAD' REVIEW 'CHOCOLATE' REVIEW 'JENIFER' REVIEW 'HOMECOMING' REVIEW SOUNDTRACK REVIEW Review by John Gray, for Pitofhorror.com