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| A well-made sketch of the 'master of horror' alongside an eerie image from the film make up this poster for Larry Cohen's Pick Me Up |
Somewhere in North America a bus breaks down in the middle of no-man's land. Some passengers hitch a lift with a trucker psychopath, while others are murdered by a highway lunatic. The two meet in the end.
Pick Me Up is written by David J. Schow (Mob City (2013, TV-series)), based on his own short story, and directed by Larry Cohen (Bone (1972)). It is the 11th episode of the 1st season of the Masters of Horror TV movie series (2005-07).
Cohen's entry is somewhat entertaining and at times amusing, and at least he comes off as less creatively exhausted than others in the series (like Tobe Hooper for instance.) The visual elements are alright, - especially the great big red truck, - and Michael Moriarty (Neverwas (2005)) is creepy as the trucker killer, while Warren Kole (Stalker (2014-15)) is photogenic as the hitch-hiker psycho.
The cartoon-like nature of the premise goes a bit overboard with lines such as; "Ready or not, here I come!", but what the hell. Though far from credible, Pick Me Up is actually one of the better entries in mostly low-quality Masters of Horror.
Related posts:
Other Masters of Horror TV movies: 2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Fair Haired Child (2006, TV movie) - Malone turns out another weak Masters of Horror TV movie
Dance of the Dead (2005) - Hooper's ugly Masters of Horror nonsense
Chocolate (2005) - Flavors, visions and eroticism in Garris' TV movie thriller
Deer Woman (2005) - Landis and son's solid Masters of Horror entry
Cigarette Burns (2005) - Carpenter burns out in weird, tiresome TV movie
Haeckel's Tale (2006, TV movie) - Another bland Masters entry
Larry Cohen: Phone Booth (2002) or, Boxed In (writer)
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: Unknown
Box office: None - TV movie
= Uncertain
[Pick Me Up was first broadcast 20 January (North America) and runs 58 minutes. It was Cohen's last job as a director before he died in 2019. Fairuza Balk (Grindstone Road (2008)) returned in Wild Tigers I Have Known (2006); Moriarty in 12 Hours to Live (2006); and Kole in Medium (2007, TV-series) and theatrically in Cougar Club (2007). 3.5k+ IMDb users have given Pick Me Up a 6.3/10 average rating.]
What do you think of Pick Me Up?
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