The Masters of Horror is an amazing looking project that grew out of dinners that a number of horror directors would get together and have. Mick Garris is spearheading the project as the showrunner for the 13 one hour films that will be airing Fridays on Showtime.

Despite not having Showtime, I am excited for this project, and the presumed DVD release once it has completed. What we have are 13 directors, each using their unique abilities to bring a tale of horror to the small screen.

To give you an idea of the caliber of talent involved, take a look at the list of directors:
Don Coscarelli
John Carpenter
Larry Cohen
John McNaughton
William Malone
John Landis
Joe Dante
Dario Argento
Takashi Miike
Tobe Hooper
Stuart Gordon
Lucky McKee
Mick Garris

If that is not an impressive array of talent, you must be terribly hard to impress! How about some of the actors involved?

Jeffrey Combs
Robert Englund
Udo Kier
Angus Scrimm

Anyway, for you horror lovers out there, the first episode doesn't air until tonight. You don't have to wait to get a taste of what is in store. You see, I have had the opportunity to view the first episode, and I am here to give you a report on what to expect.

Read on, fearless ones!

Episode 1: "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road"
The first episode of the series was directed by Don Coscarelli (Phantasm, Bubba Ho-Tep). The first thing that really struck me, while watching the movie was that it was fun. It was quite clear that Don was having fun with the material. You can tell that it was crafted by someone with the love of the genre. Not to say this is the best horror ever made, but it is definitely first rate television.

As the opening credits rolled, two names jumped out at me. The first was Angus Scrimm, he appeared in the Phantasm films as the mysterious Tall Man and more recently as an agent on Alias, the other was Gregory Nicotero, a special effects guy who has worked on a number of horror films. In addition to Coscarelli, we were already off to a good start.

We open on a young woman, Ellen, driving down a deserted road, it's dark, the roads are wet, mellow acoustic music is playing, then it happens. It could happen to anybody, perhaps even you. You take your attention away from the road, even for just a second to fiddle with the radio. Then, BANG, you're in an accident. But in this instance, that is merely the beginning.