Pick Me Up

Larry Cohen has been a 'Master of Horror' especially during the 70's and 80's (with sublime movies on his repertoire like "It's Alive", "God Told Me To" and "Q – The Winged Serpent"), but starting from the 1990's, he merely became the writer of popular mainstream thrillers like "Guilty as Sin" and the more recent "Phone Booth". It has actually been a while since Cohen delivered some genuine horror, so I didn't really know what to expect from his contribution to this series. His episode "Pick Me Up" certainly isn't the best entry in the series, but nevertheless a very entertaining little movie with an original plot and a fair share of gore. The plot revolves on a showdown between two sadistic serial killers and the stake is the last remaining passenger of a bus that broke down in the middle of nowhere. The oldest killer (deliciously played by Michael Moriarty) is a trucker whose victims are usually the hitch-hikers he picks up and the other one is a hitch-hiking drifter who kills the people that offer him a ride. A premise like this could have resulted in a very suspenseful cat-and-mouse game, but Larry Cohen and scriptwriter David Schow (creater of "The Crow") preferred to make it a sick black comedy with some grotesque plot twists and insane characters. Typical serial-killer situations and clichés seem to added on purpose and there are loads of subtle references towards classic horror films for the genre-specialist to discover. The deserted two-lane highway running through the backwoods forms a great setting. Sadly, the denouement goes ONE step beyond the acceptable.

Like John Landis' 'Deer Woman,' Larry Cohen's contribution to the "Masters of Horror" series coasts on the director's pitch-perfect dark humor. There are few scares in 'Pick Me Up,' but a strong satire of serial-killer clichés (in this case, the hitcher and the hitched) and a layered character study that is quite fun to watch unfold. Wheeler (Michael Moriarty) is a semi driver who picks up hitchhikers and slaughters them; Walker (Warren Kole) is a hitcher who murders his rides; and Independent Woman Fairuza Balk is the tough heroine who runs afoul of the duo. While Cohen may seem like a wild-card addition to the series, 'Pick Me Up' injects an intellectual angle into the proceedings that is refreshing (especially in light of the "gore = more" approach most of the episodes have taken). While this episode lacks Cohen's trademark 'guerrila' style, he hits the right notes of irony and absurd comedy in David J. Schow's script, as when the two killers (united in Wheeler's truck) stop as a rattlesnake crosses the road; or when Walker tortures a woman in a motel room, putting a quarter in the 'Magic Fingers' as porn plays on the TV; or a climactic fight between killers over their prey. The performances of Moriarty, Kole, and Balk are uniformly spectacular, possessing a true knowledge of character that adds much to the episode as a whole.

(Side Note: anyone collecting the MOH DVDs has come to expect the usual supplements, but 'Pick Me Up' contains a highly entertaining interview with Cohen, plus a surprising number of past collaborators offering insightful and often hilarious recollections.)

6.5 out of 10

Larry Cohen has accomplished some wonderful things, including "Q: The Winged Serpent" and "It's Alive." His horror films go beyond Indy B-movie to touch something innately human, somewhat like an early Stephen King novel. Unfortunately, all of this is missing from "Pick Me Up," the weakest Masters of Horror entry so far: a meandering mess of Moriarty and nonsense. Although there are a few short moments of satisfying splatter, the rest just serves as an attempt to give Michael Moriarty one last chance to resurrect his career.

Sad to say, if this is the best the Master can come up with now, perhaps Cohen should stick to writing scripts like "Cellular," and letting someone else direct.

Who would have thought serial killers would be territorial? The story starts out when a bus breaks down in the middle of nowhere (of course), when a seemingly friendly truck driver offers to take the passengers to the nearby trading post. Only two passengers take him up on the offer, while two more stay with the bus along with the bus driver. One passenger decides to start walking by her self. Meanwhlie a friendly cowboy walks up to the bus and asks for a ride. It turns out the cowboy and the truck driver are both serial killers! Walker who hitch hikes, and Wheeler who drives picking up hitch hikers. After they dispose of their victims the fight over who gets to kill the last survivor of the bus. And like a good western we have a show down to see who gets to finish the victim off.

This is definitely not scary but it is a good fun movie to watch. It's got some funny moments, some suspense, and a message: Don't hitch hike and don't pick up hitch hikers! Oh! The ending really makes believe in karma!

In PICK ME UP, a truck-driving serial killer (Michael Moriarty) meets his match in a deadly drifter (Warren Kole). Fairuza Balk plays the young woman caught between these two madmen and their battle for homicidal supremacy.

One of the better MASTERS OF HORROR offerings, it has a nice mix of terror and humor. It also has a ghoulish twist at the end.

Director Larry Cohen does some of the best work he's done in years. Re-teaming with Moriarty is a big plus. These guys always made great low-budget horror films together...