Don Coscarelli takes what would be the final 10 minutes or so of any slasher movie, the final chase, and turns it into a 55 minute short film. I actually really like the way it was structured as flashbacks are used to flesh out the main character more so you sympathize and understand them throughout their ordeal. Bree Turner plays one of the tougher woman characters I've ever seen in a slasher movie. She is shown to be anything but a helpless victim, capable of setting traps and outwitting the killer at times. This is more minimal on the makeup effects that Nicotero and Burger did so well for the Masters of Horror episodes. It is better on story, structure, pace, and character than some of the others though.
The story starts with Ellen (Turner) losing control of her her car an colliding with someone else while driving on a mountain road. Ellen sees a blood trail in the woods and runs into the deformed killer, later called Moonface (John DeSantis). Ellen sets various traps with knives and sharp things she finds in the woods to hold off the killer. I like that the movie shows she isn't infallible though by having her trap the woman she ran into who was in the other car. It is one of those classic bait and switch moments where she falls through the spike trap she set in the ground when you think the killer has all ready killed her.
As this is going on we flash back and forth between her and her boyfriend's (later husband) relationship. Their relationship is actually quite cute at first with her actually making the move and asking him if he wants to get out of the restaurant. Their relationship gets more serious and he eventually asks her to marry him. He starts to take his his survivalist hobby to seriously and she ends their relationship when he tells her to try to kill him with a knife to test her.
Spoiler Section
Eventually Ellen is captured by Moonface. He kills the other woman whom Ellen had crashed into with a drill press. In Moonface's basement she meets the hysterical and quite quirky Buddy (Angus Scrimm). Buddy who has some sort of dependence with Moonface keeps getting loud when Ellen tries to escape. Eventually Ellen breaks free and in an intense fight she manages to push Moonface out the window to his death. The two storylines eventually merge. In a twist ending, which might make or break your opinion on this, Ellen is revealed to have killed her husband after he showed up to her place and raped her. She removes his eyes and strings him up in the same manner of his other victims.
While I still like this film the twist ending feels unnecessary. The reason why is because that relationship didn't need to go that way to me. I actually liked how the relationship ended before the twist because I thought it showed, realistically how after a honeymoon period a couple can either grow together or they can fracture.It also showed to me how relationships can end bad but there are always good memories and things you learn from each other. That ending undid all of that. While I liked the fight with Moonface and Ellen I thought Moonface exited the film to early. He realistically died while falling off a cliff but I still wanted more. Like I said though I like the characters, story, and pacing. Ethan Embry was great at turning between charming and despicable as Bruce, the husband.
Rating: 8/10
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