I found this episode to be deeply unpleasant and somewhat mean-spirited. All the women are portrayed as weak, dumb, or annoying. The only independent-minded woman is eventually reduced to just another screaming damsel in distress. This seems to be the "in thing" these days. I really hate this trend of showing naked women being tortured. It does nothing to move the story forward and seems like it's meant only to appeal to sexual sadists. To be honest I can't believe this even aired on television. I guess people have become so desensitized that sexually sadistic violence is just considered entertainment. The two stars are for Michael Moriarty who gives an excellent performance in an otherwise trashy waste of 55 minutes.

Indeed,this episode in "Masters of Horror" goes a good job. he makes a bit fun of himself,same way "Scream" made to herself,and we all remember "Scream",don't we?anyway- the acting was very convincing, and so was the horror. a young girl founds herself in a battle of two crazy men who will do anything to add her to their list of victims. Indeed,kinda like "Freddy vs. Jason".of curse,to add a bit more gore and horror, we found more Victims that must be killed. each one by a different killer,which makes the all thing very interesting."I drive,and he gets picked up" - thats how one of the killer's see himself and his little work buddy. they are both killers,but they are so very different.this one is a bit funny just like scream, a bit gory just like Freddy vs. Jason, but in the end- he brings something i and I'm sure none of you ever seen before. one killer against another one, and that-my dear friends-is something that worth an hour of your time.

Affable, eccentric twisted trucker Wheeler (a marvelously quirky portrayal by the always excellent Michael Moriarty) and vicious drawling hillbilly homicidal hitchhiker Walker (robustly essayed with lip-smacking fiendish relish by Warren Kole) engage in a ferocious territorial dispute on a remote stretch of backroads highway. Brassy, fiercely self-reliant Stacia (a fabulously fiery'n'feisty performance by Fairuza Balk) gets caught in the middle of this lethal battle of wit and wills between two radically different, yet equally deadly itinerant psychos. Ace B-horror flick director Larry Cohen, working from a wickedly clever and witty script by acclaimed splatterpunk author David J. Schow (pitting two major scary icons of the "danger on the road" fright film sub-genre against each other is an inspired stroke of pure deranged genius), ably sustains a steady snappy pace throughout and effectively creates a creepily unnerving atmosphere that's punctuated by occasional outbursts of startling savage violence and culminates in one doozy of a surprise twist ending. Brian Pearson's crisp, handsome cinematography (the overhead camera shots are especially breathtaking), Jay Chattaway's brooding, ominous, but harmonic country score, a pitch-black sense of morbidly funny macabre humor, and a welcome appearance by Laurene Landon as a friendly lady who gets bumped off by Wheeler add substantially to the overall warped fun of this nicely sick and perverse little treat.

Larry Cohen has long been a favourite filmmaker of mine. I first discovered him at an early age watching the creature flick Q. That film, along with the Maniac Cop series and Uncle Sam solidified him as a great filmmaker in my mind. It wasn't until years later that I finally got to see the It's Alive series and God Told Me To and add them to his hit list. So its rather funny that of all the episodes from season one of Masters Of Horror that this one would take me so long to get around to watching. I missed the original airing of the episode on TV so I had to wait until it came out on DVD. When it did, I bought it immediately. Then, life got in the way and I never got around to it. Finally, after watching the episode, I can say it was worth the wait. Cohen is a master, there is no doubt. There are some classic Cohenisms on line here, even though he didn't write the script. And just seeing Michael Moriarty play the piano again was worth it. I've never read any of David Schow's work so I wasn't familiar with the story on which the episode is based. Really, it is rather simplistic in its narrative and allusions, but it gets the job done. Wheeler is a trucker who kills anyone who he picks up on the road. Walker is a hitchhiker who kills anyone who picks him up. The two meet one night on a lonely mountain road and a young woman is caught in the middle of their macabre game. This may not be my absolute favourite episode of the season, but it certainly ranks up there in my top 3. Well worth a look.