Night Train

It definitely is not some first run Hollywood flick, but it had good American actors and not a horrible plot. You see this mysterious stranger dies on a train, and only three people see him. Well he has this mysterious box, oh so evil, that warps each person's mind with dreams of riches then sows strife amongst the passengers who are trying to claim it. It has horror elements to it, the original box bearer was hacked up after death to aid in the disposal of the body by Leelee Sobieski, some buttoned down pre-med student severely bitten by the greed bug. Danny Glover is the train's conductor who tries to be all moral and fair, and Steve Zahn plays his trademark loser rogue role as a drunken salesman who sees his big break. Of course, the dead man has others trailing him who too were smitten by the greed thing. And soon more bodies start piling up on top of the first one who was an accidental drug overdose. The ending really was sort of a let down, it's like everyone on the train was somehow already or got involved and started shooting everything and everyone to pieces as the box exerted its malignant supernatural influence all around, even on the people who didn't peer inside, which is what hooks someone on the greed hate thing. The noirish, creepy atmosphere set design, a mix of modern and 1940s, was interesting and the cgi animation of the exterior shots of the train winding down line in the snow were adequate for the film. It was made in Bulgaria. But the lame ending, when they needed to concentrate on the initial triumvirate of conspirators, made it fall short of the mark. It could have become a good cult film with a better ending, not just endless twists of the supporting cast popping as greed treasure seekers to create more mayhem.

I saw this for the first time recently. Was on my radar for a little time.

I like horror n thriller movies set in a moving train.

I dont kno why people have taken the names of Strangers on a Train n The Lady Vanishes or Maltese Falcon cos these movies are great n Night Train is a just a small lil thriller.

Midnight Meat Train came to my mind while viewing the dvd cover n when I started the movie Polar Express came to my mind.

The movie is predictable especially regarding the fellow passengers n even more predictable with the lady with a dog.

The scene where they transport the dead body from one compartment to another n that too while trying to evade other fellas, lacks tension n looks very foolish.

We have Matthias Schweighöfer before he became famous aft Army of Thieves.

On a snowing Christmas Eve, a stranger embarks in the night train Nightingale at Fall Brook Station and has a heart attack after an overdose on pills and vodka. The medical student Chloe (Leelee Sobieski) and the drunken salesman Peter Dobbs (Steve Zahn) see a mysterious box with the stranger with valuable stones inside and convince the stiff conductor Miles (Danny Glover) to not report the death of the passenger and keep the box for them. Chloe chops the corpse with a cleaver; put the severed parts in a trunk and Peter and Miles dump it from a bridge into the Sturgeon River; however they do not succeed in opening the box. Therefore Chloe does not get off the train in Maple Creek, but the passenger Mr. Gutman (Constantine Gregory) embarks seeking out the stranger. He subdues the greedy trio and discloses that everyone that sees inside the box dies until the end of the day; but Peter accidentally kills him. When they have an unscheduled stop by the police that had found the body parts in the river, the number of corpses increases in a travel without return.

"Night Train" has an intriguing plot with a mysterious Pandora box that corrupts the soul of bizarre characters. The weird story has a promising beginning with black humor and an excellent character – Chloe – that is wasted to a collection of clichés in the end. Unfortunately the director and writer Brian King loses control and derails with his "Night Train" to a very deceptive conclusion without any explanation about the content of the mystical box. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Viagem Sem Volta" ("Travel Without Return")

" Night Train" is a quirky and hard to define movie, but nevertheless an enjoyable experience. Its seems to be a dedication to the golden oldies of the 1940's, the era of Peter Lorre , Sidney Greenstreet and other amazing character actors that all but disappeared these days. The plot is a strange mix of thriller, comedy ,slasher and even religious metaphor about greed. And, unfortunately it is where some of its troubles begun. The talented director seems to hop from one genre to another like a confused fly. It adds to a certain level of frustration in this little irritated albeit good natured viewer. To sum it up: I'll rather have a bit troubled effort than stale and predictable rubbish.

'Night Train' is sort of a chamber movie that takes place in the compartments of a train. Made at a low budget (which actually works to its benefits), the film uses glowing lights. This adds to the tense atmosphere and mystery element and the bright colours used within the train compartments bring a feeling of illusion. The story starts off interesting but is downright predictable not to forget the typical Hollywood ending which brings the film down by a huge notch. Acting is okay. Danny Glover is restrained (which is quite unexpected of such films). Steve Zahn's Pete is a caricature but the actor infuses some humour and provides comic relief. Leelee Sobieski is good in the beginning but her performance heads towards 'cliched psychopath' as the film proceeds. Overall, in terms of story it doesn't offer anything new and there are plenty of plot holes but what I liked about it was the atmosphere within the train compartments. It sort of looks like a noire film in colour. The use of bright colours, the strange passengers, the characters: salesman, med student and ticket conductor and music create contribute to this bizarre atmosphere. I also liked how the wooden box was symbolically used. Pandora's box is the first thing that comes to mind and the writer could have done so much with it, but alas!