Terror Train
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Movie Reviews of Terror Train
Movie Review: great movie
Summary: 5 Stars
This is what true horror is all about. You really were on the edge of your seat. Real cat and mouse chase. I thought this was true slasher form.Movie Review: Scream Queen
Summary: 5 Stars
This is also an old school movie, from way back. Another good one for Halloween.Movie Review: Next time take the bus...
Summary: 4 Stars
I rented Terror Train (1980) with a friend of mine about ten years ago and I remember after we watched it we were both like "Is that it?" Not recalling what our criticisms of the film were at the time, but I decided to give it another chance, and you know what? I liked it...I really did...I'll grant you it's not an outstanding feature, but the effort is there, resulting in an overall solid film. Directed by Roger Spottiswoode (The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper, Turner & Hooch, Tomorrow Never Dies), the movie stars Jamie Lee Curtis (The Fog, Trading Places, A Fish Called Wanda), who, a couple years earlier, had appeared in a little horror feature you may have heard of called Halloween (1978). Also appearing is Ben Johnson (Hang 'Em High, Red Dawn), Hart Bochner (Breaking Away, Supergirl, Die Hard), Derek McKinnon (Breaking All the Rules), Sandee Currie (Terminal Choice), Timothy Webber (The Hotel New Hampshire), and David Copperfield, who was at one time engaged to supermodel Claudia Schiffer but called it off as their relationship interfered with his work, earning himself a place in the `What the f?' hall of fame.
As the movie opens, it's New Year's Eve, and the boys at the Sigma Phi Omega house are having a party. After a prank directed at one of the spaz fraternity pledges goes horribly wrong, we fast forward three years and see another New Year's Eve bash in the offing, this time a costume affair taking place on an excursion train, hosted by Doc (Bochner) and Mo (Webber), two of the fraternity brothers responsible for the prank that occurred three years ago. Also in attendance is Alana (Curtis), Mo's girlfriend, who was also involved in the prank, but not to the extent to being fully aware of what exactly Doc and Mo had planned, resulting in some bad blood between her and Doc, who was essentially the ringleader (and a real a-hole, to boot). Anyway, turns out the nerdlinger who was the victim of the gag is now a dangerous, homicidal psychopath, has decided this a good opportunity to exact his revenge by sneaking on board the train and murdering all those who wrong him back in the day. Actually, it was a pretty good move because not only is most everyone disguised in costumes, but they're also stoned and/or drunk, and easy pickings. Also, the trip is an all night deal with no place to stop, so once the fun begins, it won't end until it ends...eventually those on board learn there's a killer among them (after the corpses start piling up), but he could be disguised as anyone, so who's to be trusted? Oh yeah, a magician played by David Copperfield is also on board for the purpose of entertaining the rubes, performing his illusions (never call them tricks as that really ticks him off).
Like I said, I liked this Canadian produced movie, at least the 2nd time around. I'm not sure what changed, other than the fact I'm older, but I think I have a bit more appreciation for the effort put into developing the characters within the film. I believe this helped, especially in terms of Jamie Lee Curtis' character, as we saw she had real empathy for the kid who got tricked not so long ago (apparently she tried to visit him after he ended up in the hospital), along with strong disliking for the person whom she saw responsible for the prank, that being Doc, a self centered, manipulative type, mostly for his cruelty, but also because of the way he used her in his scheme. The result of all this was an effort to make us feel for Curtis' character in that maybe she didn't deserve the same fate as the rest, and it work, for me at least. The movie does fall within the `slasher' realm, but gore hounds will most likely be disappointed as there's actually very little bloodletting violence. Spottiswoode, in his directorial debut, instead seems to be focusing on the suspenseful build up, rather than on the visceral material normally present within the genre. I thought there was some very decent scares throughout the film...I didn't jump out of my seat or anything, but the movie did keep my attention. The goofy bits for me was how well the killer was able to keep his identity hidden, even after those on the train realized who was the one responsible for the killings. The story does throw around a red herring or two, but at one point, before his identity on the train is revealed, you should be able to discern which passenger he is...there was a definite sense of claustrophobia, as most of the film takes place on train that has only three or four cars, but then this also made the difficulty for those trying to find the killer seem all that much more, well, dumb. One element that didn't really help was the amount of time spent watching David Copperfield perform his magic. His character, who seemed quite smarmy to me, did figure into the plot, but it just felt like his lengthy performances were included to help pad out a decent running time. I don't mind magic, but I would have preferred there not to have been as much as there was since this was supposed to be a horror film. It was kind of funny, though, given how seriously he takes his craft, to see him stuck on an excursion train having to impress a bunch of drunken college kids. I did like the bit after the main conductor, played Ben Johnson, discovered the first body and attributes the death as being caused by `some kid messed up on dope'. As far as Ms. Curtis, her presence here did help a lot, and probably resulted in quite a few seats being filled at the time of the movie's release given her prominence of `Scream Queen' in the late 1970s/early 1980s (she had all of three films out in 1980...this one, along with The Fog and Prom Night). Overall I found this to be a fairly engaging film, one that rises slightly above that of your run-of-the-mill slasher feature.
The picture quality, presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1), looks decent enough, and the audio, available in both Dolby Digital mono and stereo comes across well. There's really not much in the way of extras other than a theatrical trailer for the film and subtitles, available in both English and Spanish.
Cookieman108
Movie Review: Masquerade.. Bloodied Faces on Parade!
Summary: 4 Stars
Formulaic story about revenge and mass murder. The story is quite simple, several college students, who years earlier, played a cruel prank on the resident nerd, are being killed one by one by a masked killer inside a chartered train during their New Years Eve's Masquerade party. Although the story itself follows the typical slasher movie formula and the killers identity is pretty much known within the first few minutes, this chilling little nail-biter offers little to no gore but like Carpenter's epic "Halloween" it substitutes it with loads of suspense, great atmosphere and some clever twists to keep the audience guessing. You have a hard time trying to figure out where the killer is as he keeps changing from one creepy looking costume to another. The cast is also great, Ben Johnson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Hart Bochner, David Copperfield, Vanity (as DD Winters) and several other unknown actors turn in some decent to good performances. Curtis is especially pleasing in a role she was all too familiar with but few would argue her status as one of horror's greatest "Scream Queens".
The pacing however, is where this film falls short. There is a lot of talk mixed in with a David Copperfield (sporting a wickedly bad period hairdo) magic show and more talk and talk and talk. Those who are yearning for a blood-soaked gore extravaganza will be the most disappointed with this since other genre films that had terrible pacing would make up for it with a tremendous amount of slaughter and gore ("The Prowler", "The Burning", any "Friday the 13th" film), "Terror Train" is incredibly tame by comparison. With that said, a lot of young imbeciles do get slaughtered here and although it may not be as visually visceral as the films stated above, there is a tremendous amount of suspense, something a lot of these films lack. The killer goes incognito wearing several bone-chilling costumes and like "Halloween", this film saves the best scenes for last. When Jamie Lee Curtis and the masked maniac come face to face, a nicely staged cat and mouse chase begins. Those scenes are the film's major highlights and Curtis gives it her all. I do wish they would have gotten a little more creative with the death scenes since this film was very creative in some of its ideas and it would have benefitted greatly in having a Carpenter-esque score.
I've always had a soft spot for this film. It is not in the same category as the other splatter films and that is a good thing as this one is slightly better than most. The suspense is here, as is the creepiness factor and although the pacing is weak at times and the film too dark to see all of the action clearly, the climax is satisfying. Lets not forget that any horror film that has "Scream Queen" Jamie Lee Curtis is never half bad. It is nowhere near as good as "Halloween" or "Black Christmas" (it is definitely better than "Prom Night") but if you have the patience to sit through a slasher film with a lot less gore, a lot more talk, action, suspense, good performances and Jamie Lee Curtis, then "Terror Train" is worth the ride. 3.5 out of 5.
Movie Review: Great time, great ride...
Summary: 4 Stars
Terror Train was one of those slashers of the 1980's that followed the usual formula: Killer in a claustrophic setting, donning a costume that can be particularly scary (in this case many), and chasing after teen girls that are all about partying and sex. This one works rather well in the genre due to its gloominess, its setting both on and off the train, and idea of using a costume party and magic to hide the identity of the killer, which i thought failed. I knew who the bugger was right off the bat, or the axe for this case. Once again this is one of those dark atmosphere Canadian slasher films like "Prom Night", and my personal favorite "Curtains". Roger Spottiswoode did a great job on the scenery as the train chugged through the countryside. Cinematography in this film was lush and the winter time gave it all the more of a depressing, somber setting.
Jaime Lee Curtis was midway down the road of her long list of slasher and horror films that she did during the 80's, and this one is one of her better ones. I think that the acting was fair, good performances by Curtis and Ben Johnson as the conductor. I think that i had first seen this film on Cinemax sometime in late 1987, and i do rememeber that it was around the holidays. They usually show horror films on their respective holiday setting, or title, around here.
I think that Terror Train was an effective thriller, that didnt need buckets of blood to get the job done. Although i do think that the hazing idea was used too much, and to a better effect in the 80's than this film. I do believe that it does accomplish what it set out to do, and that was to give the viewer a train ride into horror. I do think that the plot and story was a little on the weak side, but the execution of the film was very well done. Terror Train should definitely be in the collection of "Holiday Horror" for any of you horror hounds out there like myself. Definitely a film to watch for a weekend. ****
-C.West