Night Train

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.

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.

'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!

I'm a fan of low budget film-making and I am convinced that from the truly talented filmmakers monetary limitations bring out the best in terms of creativity.

Night Train is basically a chamber piece. The whole story takes place within the compartments of a long train riding relentlessly through the darkness on Christmas eve. All the exterior shots are rather cheap looking CGI of the passenger train going ahead in the snow blizzard which in itself is not distracting, on the contrary - the darkness outside increases the gloomy, disturbing atmosphere inside the train. The set design is problematic though. The interior of the train makes it look like we're in the past, early in the last century. I was under the impression that that was the case - even the way people dress in the movie fueled this conviction - but then around 40 minutes into the film one of the characters uses a cell phone.

Although the tech credits are okay, by the look of the inside of the train I could see the film was shot somewhere in Eastern Europe and firing up IMDb I saw I was right. So it's not the dodgy CGI but the unnecessarily confusing set design what gives away the low budget of the film.

Plotwise it's all seen it all before. Many people refer to Shallow Grave in the threads here - yes, the setup recalls that movie, but then halfway through the story it takes a turn into a far more mysterious direction. Problem is, up until that time the plot is very predictable and goes through the usual motions (albeit in fast forward, given the time constraints) as characters debate what to do with the dead body and the loot, begin to act suspiciously to each other and to outsiders then ultimately turn on each other. This mechanical plot takes over from characterization, so after the twist in the midpoint when events become less predictable it's hard to really care because the characters remain thin and uninteresting.

Acting is okay, Danny Glover gives a low-key performance that suits the purposes of the film, while Zahn apparently tries to bring out the best of his clichéd role. Leelee Sobielski is quite convincing at first with her deadpan reactions and attitude but later gives a kind of performance which is borderline comic - I am not sure if this was intentional.

The unfortunate set design and some grave credibility issues (I am no expert of US police procedure but the way a detective handles the situation later on in the film seems quite ridiculous, plus even on Christmas it is hard to imagine only a handful of people would take a train that has a dozen carriages, a working bar and kitchen but no other staff than two attendants) make this a slightly worse than average movie.

Leelee Sobieski, Danny Glover, and Steve Zahn give life to their characters as people overcome with greed (or hope) for a better life. What starts out as an innocent "finders keepers" tale turns into a lemming march to destruction.

The story is about three strangers whose lives intersect while traveling at night on a train during the Christmas holidays. Sobieski is Chloe, a biology/med student unhappy with her future prospects of following a career not of her choosing. Danny Glover is the aging conductor whose family is desperately in need of additional financial support that he cannot provide. Zahn is a wannabe salesman whose life story seems to be one of alcohol abuse and failure. The story swirls around these strangers as they try to hold onto a box of riches which can fulfill their dreams.

Although obviously a low budget production, the suspense is well paced, the action sequences are timed perfectly and the characters are all empathetic (especially Glover's character, the conductor). Only one fault I find with the movie is a couple of minutes of totally unnecessary gore. Otherwise a solid piece of film making and storytelling.