Housewife Carol Turner (a sturdy and appealing performance by Valerie Harper) finds herself being terrorized by a killer (a frighteningly intense portrayal by Richard Romanus) after she witnesses the man shoot a highway patrolman dead while driving cross country late at night.

Director E. W. Swackhamer keeps the gripping story moving along at a constant pace, generates a good deal of tension, makes nice use of desolate backroads locations, and stages a few exciting car chases with skill and flair. The sound acting from the capable cast keeps this film humming: Nicholas Pryor as a raucous drunken motorist, John Quade as a gentle and pitiable homeless guy, and Michael Tolan as Carol's supportive husband. The tight 73 minute running time ensures that this TV movie never gets dull or overstays its welcome. A really neat and tidy thriller.

Certainly it is impossible not to feel anguish for the terrified wife and mother played by Valarie Harper, then nearing the end of her run as Rhoda after two sitcoms and numerous Emmy's. Harper breaks through her wisecracking comic persona to play a woman in serious jeopardy after she witnesses a murder on a lone highway with the obviously psychotic Richard Romanus having just killed a police officer right in front of her. She's on her way to Denver from Phoenix after learning that her young son is in a hospital, so she has more to worry about than her own life being in jeopardy.

Everything that can go wrong for Harper does go wrong, having already started when she couldn't get a flight out because of weather conditions, and later running out of gas after an irresponsible gas station attendant decides to close early so he can go partying with friends. She breaks into another closed gas station where she finds nothing but a homeless man (John Quade),and later tries to get help with Nicholas Pryor, a man in his car on the side of the road getting drunk while waiting for a huge rain storm to subside. That leads to more carnage and puts Harper deeper into hysteria.

This TV movie solely rests on Harper's shoulders as she is practically in every scene, and it is not surprising that considering her situation, her character does not make the best decisions in the effort to save her life and get away from him. She is truly riveting in the nail biting situation, but the script relies on so many stereotypical situations and twists and turns and blockades to her getting away that after a while it ends up being just too much. Too melodramatic, too depressing, too filled with paranoia that it probably prevented other women like Harper to go out for necessary long drives on their own.

The young Quinn Cummings, who would be nominated an Oscar early the next year for "The Goodbye Girl", plays Harper's daughter, showing the same amount of sarcasm and brattiness that she would as Marsha Mason's daughter in that comedy classic. Richard Romanus truly is frightening as the mostly silent killer whose real voice you never hear, only altered by a device that completely distorts it. But this is Harper's film, and it would not be the only time in a TV movie where she'd find herself as a victim, something our beloved Rhoda was not.

Howler of a Duel knock-off with Valerie Harper playing a character so stupid it defies belief. I don't even want to spoil all the examples of how stupid this person is because it would ruin so many funny scenes for you. You have to watch. I will say that every single part of the lengthy gas station sequence is comedy gold. GOLD I tell you! A warning before you watch: the movie takes itself seriously. It's a comedy, but an unintended one. I'm telling you this because the first fifteen or twenty minutes before any actual driving starts is pretty dull stuff. Harper's line delivery is atrocious, which helps with the comedy but makes the film a chore to sit through whenever she's interacting with another person. It's really hard to believe this is the same actress who breathed life into one of the most colorful, likable characters in TV history, Rhoda Morgenstern.

Forget all the Duel comparisons. There's no tension or suspense here. You don't really care what happens to anyone, you just want to laugh at it all, particularly Harper's character. This is a great watch if you go into it with the right mindset. Take it seriously and you're in trouble. Finally, one of the highlights for me is this exchange between Harper's character and a man who is a word we aren't allowed to use anymore - Man: "You're a nice lady." Our Heroine: "Do you have any money?"