Review by: I Am 138
Date: 22nd May 2008
Larry Cohen usually produces things of interest. I’ve always enjoyed the social commentary found
in his films like The Stuff, and others, like Q, are great entertainment. Hell, even his big budget
Hollywood gloss like Phone Booth at least had a unique, challenging concept.
I have only seen one other episode in the Masters of Horror series, Jenifer, and I have to admit I
wasn’t too impressed. But given I haven’t been impressed with much of Dario Argento’s output of
late, I thought I’d give the series another shot, and what better episode to take a look at next
than one from the often underrated Cohen?
Pick Me Up is an adaptation of David Schow’s short story, with Schow also turning in the
teleplay. Schow can be a bit hit and miss for me, but this story is one of his more interesting.
Two serial killers, one who hitchhikes to find his victims, the other who gives potential targets
lifts, cross paths in a very rural area. When a bus breaks down, each murderer has a go at the
passengers, then they both end up competing for the lone survivor.
At first, I was a bit worried about Schow’s script, because some dialogue felt really forced, but I
think that was just Schow trying to get stuff out in the limited time allotted. Pick Me Up would’ve
benefited from at least another 10 or 15 minutes to further flesh things out, and allow a bit more
development. Characters sometimes do things that seem a bit off, but necessary, to get the plot
going in the right direction.
Pick Me Up is still highly enjoyable, and Cohen does a good job bringing his unique spin to things.
Also on hand is the always entertaining Michael Moriarty. It was great fun seeing Moriarty again,
and it absolutely amazed me when I learned Cohen had to fight for Moriarty’s inclusion. How could
anyone working on a series called Masters of Horror not want Moriarty involved?.
The only thing I really wish had been included was a scene similar to the beginning of The
Hitcher, with both killers facing off without necessarily knowing it at first. Again, I think this
didn’t happen simply for run time reasons. Hell, maybe Masters of Horror should’ve commissioned
a feature length film on this one!
The DVD has quite a few special features. I started with the Script to Screen featurette, which
showed three scenes being filmed, compared to the shooting script. I am not big on these behind
the scenes things, and this bored me a bit. Then I watched the actual behind the scenes, which
was much shorter, but showed some of the same footage. Thankfully, from there, things picked
up for me. There’s a lengthy, very worthwhile interview with Cohen, giving a quick overview of his
career, and then focusing in depth on Pick Me Up. For the Working With A Master featurette,
people from Cohen’s past have been rounded up for interviews, including one of my favourite
people to listen to, Rick Baker. Baker amusingly recalls some of the trials of working with Cohen,
which was good because I was afraid this featurette was just going to be back patting, but it’s
REALLY well done. Moriarty gets an interview that runs about 10 minutes, which was great, as
well. Fairuza Balk also gets a roughly 10 minute interview, but Warren Kole gets the longest
interview of the stars at about 13 minutes. This was a bit of a shame, as I got the impression he
was a brat who had no real clue what he was on about. A second, archival, interview with Cohen
is included, hosted by Masters of Horror creator Mick Garris. If you haven’t had enough of
Cohen, he also provided an informative and engaging commentary track. Rounding out the disc
are trailers for the Masters of Horror series, as well as those of a few other Anchor Bay DVDs; a
still gallery; a bio on Cohen; a DVD-Rom script; and a screen saver.
All told, if you liked the episode, the disc is a must have with all the special features, and if you’re
just a fan of Larry Cohen, it’s certainly worth a gander as well.
Date: 22nd May 2008
Larry Cohen usually produces things of interest. I’ve always enjoyed the social commentary found
in his films like The Stuff, and others, like Q, are great entertainment. Hell, even his big budget
Hollywood gloss like Phone Booth at least had a unique, challenging concept.
I have only seen one other episode in the Masters of Horror series, Jenifer, and I have to admit I
wasn’t too impressed. But given I haven’t been impressed with much of Dario Argento’s output of
late, I thought I’d give the series another shot, and what better episode to take a look at next
than one from the often underrated Cohen?
Pick Me Up is an adaptation of David Schow’s short story, with Schow also turning in the
teleplay. Schow can be a bit hit and miss for me, but this story is one of his more interesting.
Two serial killers, one who hitchhikes to find his victims, the other who gives potential targets
lifts, cross paths in a very rural area. When a bus breaks down, each murderer has a go at the
passengers, then they both end up competing for the lone survivor.
At first, I was a bit worried about Schow’s script, because some dialogue felt really forced, but I
think that was just Schow trying to get stuff out in the limited time allotted. Pick Me Up would’ve
benefited from at least another 10 or 15 minutes to further flesh things out, and allow a bit more
development. Characters sometimes do things that seem a bit off, but necessary, to get the plot
going in the right direction.
Pick Me Up is still highly enjoyable, and Cohen does a good job bringing his unique spin to things.
Also on hand is the always entertaining Michael Moriarty. It was great fun seeing Moriarty again,
and it absolutely amazed me when I learned Cohen had to fight for Moriarty’s inclusion. How could
anyone working on a series called Masters of Horror not want Moriarty involved?.
The only thing I really wish had been included was a scene similar to the beginning of The
Hitcher, with both killers facing off without necessarily knowing it at first. Again, I think this
didn’t happen simply for run time reasons. Hell, maybe Masters of Horror should’ve commissioned
a feature length film on this one!
The DVD has quite a few special features. I started with the Script to Screen featurette, which
showed three scenes being filmed, compared to the shooting script. I am not big on these behind
the scenes things, and this bored me a bit. Then I watched the actual behind the scenes, which
was much shorter, but showed some of the same footage. Thankfully, from there, things picked
up for me. There’s a lengthy, very worthwhile interview with Cohen, giving a quick overview of his
career, and then focusing in depth on Pick Me Up. For the Working With A Master featurette,
people from Cohen’s past have been rounded up for interviews, including one of my favourite
people to listen to, Rick Baker. Baker amusingly recalls some of the trials of working with Cohen,
which was good because I was afraid this featurette was just going to be back patting, but it’s
REALLY well done. Moriarty gets an interview that runs about 10 minutes, which was great, as
well. Fairuza Balk also gets a roughly 10 minute interview, but Warren Kole gets the longest
interview of the stars at about 13 minutes. This was a bit of a shame, as I got the impression he
was a brat who had no real clue what he was on about. A second, archival, interview with Cohen
is included, hosted by Masters of Horror creator Mick Garris. If you haven’t had enough of
Cohen, he also provided an informative and engaging commentary track. Rounding out the disc
are trailers for the Masters of Horror series, as well as those of a few other Anchor Bay DVDs; a
still gallery; a bio on Cohen; a DVD-Rom script; and a screen saver.
All told, if you liked the episode, the disc is a must have with all the special features, and if you’re
just a fan of Larry Cohen, it’s certainly worth a gander as well.
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Masters Of Horror: Pick Me Up
DVD/APPROX. 58 MINS/2006/USA UNRATED
DVD/APPROX. 58 MINS/2006/USA UNRATED
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6.5
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