Panic

An atmospheric short told with economy and style, Panic follows a young couple who have an argument over the course of one evening. The young woman is upset by some irrational comments her boyfriend makes; the man, for his part, is instantly unlikeable. He seems jealous and controlling and makes silly demands, and does it in a reserved tone that characterizes him as being that much more effete. So right away, we don't really care what happens to him. The young girl, who is starting away--I think she is traveling to a photo shoot--happens to pick up a hitchhiker on this dark, rainy night. Except the old woman she picks up creeps her out by not saying much and having a menacing way about her. So the girl tricks her into getting out of the car. The woman's purse is still in the car, so she takes it to the police. While there, she calls her boyfriend and makes up with him. He agrees to come pick her up. Then, the police open the purse to see if there is any i.d. to help return the bag to its owner. It has a large knife inside. At the same moment, we see the boyfriend picking up the hither. Except that he doesn't get her out of the car in time...

The movie was remade as "Left Turn," which was almost identical, but while Panic was all atmosphere, Left Turn makes the horror explicit. I liked them both.