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30 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Better Than It Had To Be, November 3, 2002
Lets just start off with a blanket statement that is unequivocal; I typically DESPISE "slasher" films. Oh, I worship every frame of Halloween [1978, which is classic cinema period] and had fun seeing Friday the 13th [1979] for the first time and going BOO! But I don't go to see "dead teenager" movies, don't rent them, and don't care. I didn't even like Red Dragon with Ralph Fiennes as a very worthy screen monster; I don't want to get to know mad killers, I want to see them smacked over the head with a coal shovel and done away with.I first saw Terror Train quite by chance -- sleepover party at a friends in 1981 at the age of 14 where a bottle got passed around. Everyone else zonked out; I snuck upstairs to watch HBO on his parent's big screen TV set, and what did they happen to show, but Terror Train. I had never seen a movie like it before. We had whispered to each other in the hallways of our middle school about Jason Vorhees and his mad mother, but I had never seen a film where some maniac runs around with an ax chasing comely college girls before. It was something new and sensational, and as usual my memory of the film proved to be more lurid than what actually turned up in my mailbox after buying the now out of print film from an Amazon.com reseller. Terror Train follows the proven formula of building up a descent into madness and violence: A young fraternity pledge is subjected to a horrifying initiation stunt and goes bonkers. Cut to three years later and his now graduating pre-med classmates are staging an elaborate New Year's Eve costume party on a chartered excursion train, The completely psychotic former pledge gets on board via an elaborate ruse to murder his way through the principal cast members who set him up. The gimmick is that since everyone is wearing identity concealing costumes he can pretend to be someone else while getting close to his prey. The result are some truly unsettling scenes of mistaken identity and a final denoument that is completely out of left field, unexpected, and refreshingly final in it's closing act. There was no Terror Train 2, nor should there have been. The film is known mostly these days as a post-Halloween Jamie Lee Curtis screamer fest, and on that level has developed a cult following of such [being out of print also helps make a film a "cult" item; just try bidding for this tape on eBay sometime to see what I mean]. Of more interest to film afficianados is the presence of first time director Roger Spottiswoode [a frequent editor of Sam Peckinpah's 1970's movies, and of later Stop! Or My Mom will Shoot! and Tomorrow Never Dies fame] and longtime Stanley Kubrick cameraman John Alcott filming the proceedings with a nice recurring motif of light vs. dark and truly haunting color schemes. The result is a film that was better than it's genre demanded. Sure, the dialogue and performances are either wooden or hysterical, but the smoothness with which the story unfolds and sweeps those involved in the proceedings up is inspired and follows a path of logic. Screen legend Ben Johnson [probably doing Spottiswoode a favor; they certainly would have met while working with Peckinpah] is on hand to provide a calming authority figure for Jamie Lee to think things out with. Also on hand is magician David Copperfield, playing a magician who resembles a waxwork figure. His presence in the film serves three roles; he annoys us, kills screen time with his disco music magic shows, and serves as a convenient red herring for the film's climax. And no, I didn't just give the killer's identity away. Nor will I do so by saying that his name is Kenny, and he is apparently one resourceful little insane waife. Kenny is able to magically transport himself to different parts of the train to commit acts of mayhem while the person he is impersonating is somewhere else. He can apparently materialize inside of locked train compartments, and in one preposterous shot has the ability to crawl around on the outside of the train like a spider. The fact that he is on a mission of revenge and the people who he harms more or less "had it coming to them" makes him seem more like an avenging spirit at times, yet he is clearly a real person. What the hell is going on here? I suspect that what Spottiswoode and his asscociate scriptwriters did is to actually craft a clever little nightmare of vengance or justice, propably playing in the guilt-ridden mind of Curtis' good girl character who was, of course, suckered into taking part in the prank that scarred Kenny. She also contends that he was sick to begin with in a revelation I didn't catch the first couple times through, and already had killed someone under suspicious circumstances prior to his hazing incident. Curtis is also put through such a visually compelling ordeal at the end that it suggests a nightmare unfolding in the vivid detail we see them in. And like a nightmare, the film comes to an abrupt end when Kenny's body smacks into the ice of a frozen river after being beaned over the brainpan with a shovel. There is no post script, no explanation, only a ridiculous closing theme playing over the credits. Kind of like waking up, and finding yourself right there in the same old bed all along. I'm probably reading a certain amount of this into the film, but the fact remains that for it's genre, Terror Train was very well made and has some distinguished talent behind it. Notice I have not dwelled on topics like gore and nudity, mostly because they are used with restraint and only at times that make sense in the scope of the story. There is not a truly gratuitous moment in the script, which is also unique of it's kind. And once you get down to it, the fact that it never had a sequel is a sign that maybe they had an idea here that was too good to mess with once the final print was snapped into the can. Amen for that.
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21 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A train wreck, July 12, 2005
Before writing a review for "Terror Train," I decided to peruse Jamie Lee Curtis's filmography to test out a theory. I believed that the atrociousness of "Terror Train" likely was the straw that broke the camel's back, thus leading this actress away from her horror film roots and into new territory that she would subsequently mine quite successfully for the next twenty plus years. I think my theory proves correct, at least in part. Before making this movie, Curtis starred in "Halloween," "The Fog," and "Prom Night." After "Terror Train," she made "Halloween II." And that was it as far as horror went until she reprised her role as Laurie Strode in a couple of the latter stage "Halloween" sequels in 1998 and 2002. I compliment her for moving beyond what was obviously posing a grave threat to her burgeoning career, namely her status as a slasher scream queen. If she had kept making horror movies, perhaps starring in a "Terror Train 2" or something similar, we would be reading about her in one of those "Where are they now?" articles. Don't get me wrong; I like Curtis's horror film portrayals in "Halloween" and "The Fog." What I don't like are films like "Terror Train."
A truly unimaginative slasher, "Terror Train" sets up its premise early on. A bunch of college freshmen--Alana Maxwell (Curtis), Doc Manley (Hart Bochner), and a couple of other bland faces I can't place at the moment--play a particularly nasty prank on one Kenny Hampson (Derek McKinnon), a geek whose demeanor and appearance practically begs for abuse. Rightly ascertaining that Kenneth hasn't been with a woman, the members of the fraternity he's pledging to send him up to a room where Maxwell awaits his presence. But there's a catch. Alana has no intention of bedding the gullible Kenny, so she hides behind the door to watch him embrace a cadaver those merry fraternity pranksters copped from the medical school. Hampson predictably freaks out, spinning around and around on the bed getting all wrapped up in a bunch of gauzy curtains. Sure, it's a mean spirited prank, but Kenny flips out in a permanent sort of way and heads for a free vacation at the mental motel. Life goes on for Maxwell, Manley, and the rest of the kids involved in the gag until their senior year. It is then that the group rents a train for one last alcohol-fueled bash before moving on with their lives.
How is it possible to stage a bloody massacre in the narrow confines of a train? It's not easy, so director Roger Spottiswoode and writer T. Y. Drake throw in a contrived scenario in which all of the kids don costumes while partying the night away. Ahhh, a costume party! See, this way the killer can wear a mask and go unnoticed while he kills his prey! How clever! Anyway, people start dropping almost immediately, with one kid dying outside in the snow while his friends board the train. Once inside, the movie moves about as fast as the train. We're treated to interminable stretches of mind numbing boredom as the camera moves from group to group for bouts of yawn inducing dialogue. A magician named Ken (David Copperfield) shows up to provide entertainment and look and act weird, and a train conductor called Carne (Ben Johnson) ambles about offering sage advice to anyone who'll listen for more than a second. Occasionally the movie reminds us we're watching a horror movie with a relatively bloodless kill or two, but the murders come too few and far between to help this train wreck. Lots of screaming and running around sends the signal that the film is coming mercifully to a close. The end.
I'd like to advocate a new policy concerning DVDs right now. For films like "Terror Train," I think Congress ought to pass a federal law requiring a sticker attached to the cover of the DVD case that says, "This movie stinks!" That way I can avoid unpleasant experiences like this one and move on the next load of schlock that much faster. Geez, where to start with the terror that is "Terror Train"? Well, the performances are mediocre, with only Jamie Lee and Ben Johnson turning in anything that smacks of a passing resemblance to acting. David Copperfield, I must say, should never, ever consider appearing in another movie. He's about as lifeless as road kill here, and what's up with that haircut? He looks like he's wearing a motorcycle helmet. But it's not just the performances that sink the film; it's the lack of carnage. What is this, a 'PG' rated film? I saw more blood when I skinned my knee back in the third grade than I did anywhere in this mess. If you're looking for an axe in the head, a machete making a meaty thwacking noise as it enters young flesh, or extended periods of arterial splashing...well, look elsewhere because you won't find it here.
The only extra on the disc is a trailer for the film, and for once I'm not complaining. I wouldn't want to listen to a commentary or see behind the scenes footage. The movie is far too boring to merit such special treatment. I planned on giving "Terror Train" one star, but I'm going to kick it up a notch for one scene that actually does manage to work up a bit of suspense and, dare I say, terror. The part in question involves Jamie Lee hiding in a cage screaming her head off while the killer jumps around outside breaking the light fixtures and generally ranting and raving because he can't reach his prey. One scene doesn't redeem the film, however. I recommend giving this one a wide berth--just watch "Halloween" or "The Fog" again if you want to feed your Jamie Lee Curtis cravings.
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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
HALLOWEEN Meets Amtrak--What a Wreck!, September 27, 2005
In 1979's TERROR TRAIN, pre-med students hold a masquerade party on a quaint old passenger train and are picked off one by one as a costumed maniac lurks about. With this mediocre slasher flick, Director Roger Spottiswoode quite literally tried to ride the coattails of John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN (1978). Indeed, the film was produced and released within a year of Carpenter's watershed flick, and Spottiswoode even borrowed his predecessor's star, Jamie Lee Curtis!
A first-rate cast does its best, but even good actors can only do so much when working with lame material. TERROR TRAIN's biggest fault is the often excruciatingly slow pacing, and it doesn't help that the identity of the killer is telegraphed to the audience right from the opening scene. Copious gore or a little T&A might've livened things up a little, but even these slasher requisites are kept to a minimum.
In addition to the talented players, TERROR TRAIN does have a few other qualities that almost redeem it. Almost. Gaffer Lou Bogue's lighting creates perfect highlights and shadows, turning the quaint steam train into a haunted house on rails, and John Alcott's gorgeous cinematography gives the whole thing a vivid sense of the Gothic. But TERROR TRAIN is still, at best, just a footnote in the slasher sub-genre, and only ardent fans will not wish they could reclaim the 97 minutes they'll spend watching it. (Of course, big-time fans of Ms. Curtis might also enjoy a run-through.)
The dual-sided no-frills DVD from Fox offers the film in both anamorphic-widescreen and full-screen versions, and the digital transfer is crisp, vibrant, and relatively clean. Still, even at the low price of admission, most should be wary of forking over ANY cash for this one.
Note: The three-star rating is only for avid fans of slasher films. For the average viewer, this film would rate at two stars.
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