The Masters of Horror series promises to give us a refreshing mix of suspense and scares every weekend on Showtime, and, if the first episode is any indication, the series is well on its way to success.
Don Coscarelli doesn't bring images to the mind in the same way someone like John Carpenter or Wes Craven does. However, his offbeat genre contributions like Phantasm and Bubba Ho-Tep are welcome, as is his black humor. Going into Incident, I was expecting a similar mishmash of humor, horror, and subtle drama. Instead, the story is a straightforward slasher with two or three refreshing twists.
Bree Turner plays Ellen, an intelligent, beautiful girl with a Bruce (Ethan Embry), her survivalist boyfriend. It's a good thing, too, because her car crashes on the titular mountain road, and a creepy moon-faced killer named Moonface starts chasing her. You know he's trouble, because his clothes and face are ragged, but his knife is clean as a whistle. As he pursues her throughout the episode, she conveniently flashes back to her
relationship with Bruce.
Coscarelli cross-cuts between the two plots, giving us moments of black and lines of dialogue from Embry to ease the transitions. The cross-cutting also helps us to draw interesting parallels between her boyfriend and the current man in her life. It's fascinating to watch how she has encounters with two pale bald men, encounters that culminate in rustic cabins with wildly different results. Although the gore is refreshingly gruesome, there's more to this tale than eyes getting drilled.
The story, based on a work by Joe R. Lansdale, works hard to give us a realistic heroine. Bree Turner does a remarkable job projecting intelligence. She reminded me how a sympathetic hero can make all the difference in creating suspense. There are other choices that give the story moments of wit, including a booby-trap gone awry. Moonface's refusal to talk prevents his character from becoming a joke. And there's a genuine O. Henry twist that made me want to squirm and applaud at the same time.
Incident manages to start the Masters of Horror with a bang. It gives us a traditional horror set-up and allows it some fresh air. Not too much so credibility is strained, but enough so that it engaged and energized me. Also, thank God, there are some genuine moments where it's scary.
