Right To Die, a movie not so subtly inspired by the recent Terry Schiavo media frenzy, is another one of those odd directorial choices for a series called Masters Of Horror. Director Rob Schmidt, who does a very good job here, has really only directed one horror movie - Wrong Turn, which starred Eliza Dushku. Calling him a 'Master Of Horror' is pretty presumptuous in the same way that calling Lucky McKee, a talented young director, as 'Master Of Horror' is. That being said, if Schmidt can keep up the pace, he may earn that title sooner than many of us expect.

Abby (Julia Anderson) and Cliff (Martin Donovan), a happily married couple, are talking one night as they drive through town when Cliff screws up and crashes. The resulting fire burns Abby severely, putting her in limbo in the local hospital, hovering near death. Cliff is at least partially in favor of pulling the plug as he knows she's suffering and doesn't want to prolong what the doctors tell him will be the inevitable. Every time Abby slips, however, she pays her husband a visit in spirit form, reminding Cliff about his past and about things that he would rather forget.

Right To Die isn't completely successful but it's certainly an interesting attempt at a horror story that obviously does not shy away from making a few political pot shots along the way. While some might feel it to be in bad taste to base a 'horror' movie (let's face it, there have always been negative connotations attached to the genre) the fact is that the best fright films tend to have some sort of basis in reality and Schmidt is simply following in the grand tradition of the countless great horror films that have been loosely inspired by real events. So how does the movie actually hold up? Well, there are a few problems with some of the effects (limited really to little more than a few moments that are obviously CGI) and Martin Donovan's performance is definitely too understated for its own good but by and large this piece works thanks to a clever script and some interesting and bizarre hyper-sexualized and freakishly violent set pieces.

Anderson (and, in all fairness, Xantha Radley who plays the burned Abby), despite the extremely heavy make up, does well in her part. She brings a sinister sense of pathos to her character that, within the confines of Schmidt's movie if not so much the real world, is very effective. We feel for her, we sympathize with her and we find ourselves wondering about her predicament despite the supernatural goings on that make up a large portion of the movie. Parts of the movie borrow a little bit from Hellraiser II: Hellbound but even with that said there's enough originality here that the film is hardly a knock off or a copy cat. A slightly more believable effort from Donovan and a bit more care in the effects department could have elevated this to one of the best episodes of the second season. As it stands, it's definitely above average and certainly worth checking out if only for the fact that it provides some decent scares and tasty food for thought. The fact that Joey Santiago, the guitar player for The Pixies, scored the film doesn't hurt things either.

Like every entry in the series so far, Right To Die is presented in an anamorphic 1.78.1 widescreen transfer. For the most part, things look pretty good on this disc. There are some mild compression artifacts present here and there, but aside from that the image is decent if just a little bit soft. Color reproduction looks accurate and flesh tones look lifelike, and there's a pretty solid level of both foreground and background detail present through the majority of the movie - you'll definitely notice this during a few key gore scenes. Not a flawless transfer, but certainly a very good one.