Long Drive Home is a 2017 British horror short film starring Mark Arnold, and featuring John Kassir and Tim Curry as the voices of a radio DJ and an enigmatic caller to his show respectively.
David (Arnold) is a grumpy insurance salesman driving back home on Halloween night. He has two problems: he hates Halloween with a burning passion, he is sleep-deprived, and he is experiencing increasingly eerie phenomena, whether it be an old woman somehow knowing his name, to a radio caller giving a shout-out to him talking about exactly what he is doing, and catching glimpses of a mysterious creature with a pumpkin for a head.
It is planned to be one of the segments in an anthology horror film centering on the four different seasons.
This film contains examples of:
- All There in the Manual: The radio caller voiced by Tim Curry is named Monster Head in the credits. The pumpkin-headed monster is also named Pumpkinhead in the credits as well.
- Asshole Victim: Monster Head explicitly states he and his brethren intend to kill people who are this. The ending implies David is about to become this.
- Big Bad: Monster Head is heavily implied to be responsible for the creepy things David runs into as part of his and his brethren's plan to rid the world of those creating society's downfall.
- Child Hater: David starts yelling at a bunch of trick-or-treaters for still wearing their costumes and buying candy from a gas station because the youngest of them (who is around five or younger) had said “Trick or treat!” to him. When the little kid asks him again, he threatens to throw hot coffee in his face.
- Danger Takes a Backseat: The film ends with Pumpkinhead appearing in the backseat of David's car and reaching towards him.
- The Ghost: Most of the characters only have their voices heard, whether it be over the phone or over the radio.
- Humanoid Abomination: David sees glimpses of a being referred to as Pumpkinhead in the credits that looks like a man, with the exception of its head being a fusion between a human head and a pumpkin.
- Jerkass: David is a grumpy misanthrope who bullies everyone he encounters for no real reason, is implied to be having an affair with a married woman, and uses highly ruthless business practices.
- Motive Rant: Monster Head spends the duration of his call ranting about how he will resurrect his brethren and they will kill those slowly destroying society. The radio DJ replies by stating that the topic of calling in was supposed to be about Halloween experiences with loved ones.
- Only Sane Man: The radio DJ is the only person in the film who appears for more than a scene and is not creepy as hell or a jackass.
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Spiritual Successor: Creepshow and the works of John Carpenter. - Shut Up, Kirk!: The radio DJ tries to stop Monster Head's on-air ranting by pointing out he’s talking about murdering innocent people. Monster Head replies that he isn’t talking about killing innocent people.
