Terror Train (1980)
Genre: Horror
Duration: 97 minuten
Country:
United States / Canada
Directed by: Roger Spottiswoode
Stars: Jamie Lee Curtis, Ben Johnson and Hart Bochner
IMDb score:
5,8 (15.365)
Releasedate: 3 October 1980
Terror Train plot
"The boys and girls of Sigma Phi. Some will live. Some will die."
A group of young people plays a prank on a student, the prank goes wrong and an accident happens in which one of them ends up in a hospital. Four years later, the students are in their final year and they decide to have a costume party in an old and dilapidated train. That night, a killer sneaks around the lost train, dressed in a costume, and slaughters the students one by one.
Actors and actresses
Alana Maxwell
Carne
Doc Manley
The Magician
Kenny Hampson
Mitchy
Jackson
Brakeman
Reviews & comments
Shadowed
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- 11421 messages
- 6719 votes
Phew.
Another earlier film by Curtis, which was clearly popular in the horror world around this time. Carpenter has also managed to ensure that, but I have often mentioned that I can appreciate a Curtis better, especially in her later roles. Where she comes across as rather insecure here, she later became a really charming actress who came across as strong.
One problem I mainly have with this film is that there is no hole to be seen. Not that nothing happens, anyway. There are quite a few scenes in this film that have to keep up the pace and the opening kicks right in, but otherwise the film is so darkly lit, especially in the second half, that you have to squeeze your eyes to see anything. .
Furthermore, the acting is downright clumsy and the film is anything but exciting or atmospheric. It also doesn't help if you have a killer donning a second-hand comedy mask. That immediately destroys a lot of tension, especially because it makes it difficult to take the film seriously. I can appreciate some attempts at depth, but because I generally got through it with difficulty, it doesn't get much out of it.
The finale is nice and some scenes in between are worth watching. Thank goodness that Copperfield is coming to do some magic in between, otherwise it would have been completely insufferable. Terror Train had potential to be a decent movie, but I miss almost all the elements that make a horror movie complete for me. No tension, no atmosphere and no strong look. It is that the film can briefly distinguish itself at other times, otherwise the figure would have been even lower.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Collins
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- 7346 messages
- 4345 votes
A New Year's party with dressed-up students aboard a moving train becomes less and less festive as the film turns into a slasher. The known ingredients are available. A killer with a childhood trauma and a lot of potential chopping meat, including Jamie Lee Curtis who played a similar role in Halloween. And between the kills a few more performances by David Copperfield, with tricks that are fun, but don't contribute to an oppressive atmosphere.
Terror Train is not a good movie. Although the setting is original, it didn't give me a train feeling. Most scenes do without the typical motion and sound experience you get when you're on a train. The idea is nice. The effect is sterile. Another negative point is the role of Curtis. As a leading lady, she does not distinguish herself from the other partying travelers. She is as superficially designed as the other partygoers, does not have significantly more playing time and hardly plays a distinctive role. And yes, in slashers it is indeed about the kills, but even then a slightly better developed protagonist is desirable for the experience.
The kills aren't particularly exciting, by the way. In addition to the weak staging, the lack of tension is also due to the quality of the killer. He always wears a different outfit in the context of the costumed party. In itself a good idea to increase the suspense level, but that only works if you don't know which outfit the killer is wearing. The makers apparently forgot about that important detail.
Terror Train is a mediocre slasher.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Bobbejaantje
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- 2301 messages
- 2092 votes
Has an atmospheric prologue indicating the serial killer's later motive. The pulsating colorful lighting creates an unreal atmosphere à la Argento. After that it takes some time before it gets going well. The presence of David Copperfield is surprising. He was the big thing at the time but I had no idea he was acting too. And then in a horror movie. On the one hand, his presence is cool, on the other hand, his show further slows down the pace of the film. Although at the denouement it will turn out that it is still functional (even if that function weighs very light). After the show part things go better with the build-up of tension. Although I also had the impression that the fight between Jamie and the killer came across as a bit clumsy at one point. The main purpose was to smear Jamie a lot of blood on her body. Despite the lack of 'gore in action', I had some good moments with this slasher. Top setting and beautiful photography. Fascinating and entertaining also how Jamie's kiss turns out to be a kiss of death at the end. The kiss awakens the killer from his psychosis, with instant trauma processing. At that point, he faces reality as it is and can't take it anymore. Instantly cured and dead the next moment.
Not really a topper but good enough to entertain. I round my score up.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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