"Masters of Horror" Right to Die (2007)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Rob Schmidt

Writer (WGA):

John Esposito (written by)

TV Series:

"Masters of Horror" (2005)

Original Air Date:

5 January 2007 (Season 2, Episode 9)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

When a grisly car accident put his wife into a coma, a man reluctantly pulls the plug only to realize her spirit has turned vengeful against the living.

Plot Keywords:

Adultery | Nightmare | Airbag | Revenge | Cell Phone

Cast

Martin Donovan	...	Cliff Addison
Julia Benson	...	Abbey Addison (as Julia Anderson)
Robin Sydney	...	Trish
Anna Galvin	...	Dr. Loring
Linda Sorenson	...	Pam (as Linda Sorensen)
Corbin Bernsen	...	Ira
Xantha Radley	...	Abbey Thing
Derek Green	...	Reporter
Norman Misura	...	Mr. Schoening
Yvonne Myers	...	Nurse
Bryan Elliot	...	Doctor
Walcott E. Morgan	...	Orderly

Runtime:

58 min

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:TV-MA | Australia:R (2007) | Italy:VM14 | Germany:18

Company:

Starz Productions

Movie Connections:

References "The Montel Williams Show" (1991)

To euthanasia or not to euthanasia?

I'm not entirely sure Rob Schmidt qualifies as a "Master" in the genre of horror, since he previously just directed one horror film called "Wrong Turn" and that one was actually just was slightly above mediocre, but fact is that he made with "Right to Die" one of the best and creepiest episodes of the entire second season of the "Masters of Horror" franchise. There was a similar underdog story in season one, when William Malone made on of the best episodes with "The Fair Haired Child" even though his other long feature films "Fear Dot Com" and "House on Haunted Hill" sucked pretty badly.

The story of "Right to Die" cleverly picks in on the nowadays piping hot social debate of euthanasia, but thankfully also features multiple old-fashioned horror themes like ghostly vengeance, murderous conspiracies, pitch black humor and comic book styled violence. Whilst driving home late one night and discussing the husband's continuous adultery, the Addison couple are involved in a terrible car accident. Cliff walks away from the wreck unharmed but his wife Abby is fully burned and needs to be kept alive artificially. Whilst Cliff and his sleazy attorney (Corbin Bernsen of "The Dentist") want to plug the plug on her and sue the car constructor, Abbey's mum sets up a giant media campaign to keep her daughter alive as a vegetable and blame everything on Cliff. Meanwhile Abbey's hateful spirit comes back for revenge and kills someone in Cliff's surrounding whenever she has a near fatal experience with the medical devices. After a few victims, Cliff realizes it might be safer for him to keep his wife alive if he wants to remain alive as well. "Right to Die" is a stupendous episode and exactly the type of stuff I always hoped to see from a TV-series concept like "Masters of Horror". It's violent and gory with a sick & twisted sense of humor and loads of sleaze sequences. The euthanasia theme and the whole obligatory media circus that surrounds it is processed into the script very well, yet without unnecessarily reverting to political standpoints or morality lessons. The atmosphere is suspenseful and the killing sequences are suitably nasty and unsettling. Actresses Julia Anderson and Robin Sydney both have pretty face and impressively voluptuous racks, which is always a welcome plus, and Corbin Bernsen is finally offered the chance again to depict a mean-spirited and egocentric bastard. Great "MoH" episode; definitely one of the highlights of both seasons.