Terror Train 2

Still traumatized by the previous rampage, a survivor of a crazed killer is talked into going on a train ride commemorating the original massacre and get over the incident, but when it starts happening again finds herself forced to take action to save her friends and stop the mysterious killer.

This one turned into a generally fun if slightly problematic effort. One of the better features here is the fine work spent on integrating the events of the two films to feel like a genuine sequel. The main gist here involving her life coming apart dealing with her trauma affecting her surgical aspirations and turning into a paranoid psycho that can't be anything in the train without being reminded of the previous encounters is all incredibly fair and realistic. That carries over into the other setups involved here, with the exploits of the other survivors ranging quite reasonably from those still dealing but getting over the issue to using the experience to become a faux celebrity in an online community devoted to the incident. There's a lot to like here with these conflicting setups coming into play. As this is set up quite nicely, that turns the film into a stellar mystery about the nature of the killer committing the murders. Abandoning the concept of having the killer stalk anyone by going for the shocking ambush of the victim not believing the costumed person will hurt them before the killing blow, this one becomes a solid series of discussions and realizations about the killer's identity and purpose. This adds a layer of intrigue and suspense as the inability to really nail down a real definitive red herring which makes the stalking and ambushes here come off quite nicely. In addition to this, there's a lot to like here with the kills on display which are a bit more brutal than expected and have a fun component to them also being usually livestreamed to a disbelieving audience online, which all combine together for a lot to enjoy here. There are some drawbacks to be had with this one. One of the biggest issues holding this one back is the superficially obnoxious characters due solely to the specific setup featured here. Playing into the idea of the same train as before is already in bad taste, then to have the characters focus on trying to enhance their social media standings is even more by downplaying genuine emotional damage and distress. That people, supposedly being friends with each other are going through the issues they, to ignore this in favor of what they do here is incredibly shortsighted. Of course, there's also the whole issue of why anyone would want to partake in this setup to begin with considering the circumstances surrounding the whole incident that needs to be addressed, but otherwise, it's not so bad.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.

TERROR TRAIN 2 2022

Tagline: Nope.

Horror, Mystery, Choo Choo

Note: This movie was direct to Tubi's streaming service. It was not given an MPAA rating, but would definitely have been an R.

Maybe when she saw a sicko like you try to turn a tragedy into her own personal brand for some lame a-s murder app.

This is the direct follow up to TERROR TRAIN 2022. This time around they have turned the train where all of the murders happened over a year earlier into a train called "Terror Train". The train will allow any passengers that are college seniors, but The Prez is encouraging the passengers that survived the original slashing to take the ride again as a method of "cleansing" their fears and traumas. The party is dubbed the New Year's Eve redemption ride. It doesn't take long before the bodies start piling up as a new sinister killer is terrorizing the ride, but who is it?

It's pretty rare for a movie to come out and in the same year, its own sequel comes out, but I decided to check this out because the remake of TERROR TRAIN was actually pretty good with a really interesting twist. I like that they brought back a few of the original characters, but they do a pretty good job of giving us a reason they would be interested. When I was younger I had a lot of idiot friends that would have gladly done an idiotic thing after it almost killed them the first time. That is part of why very few of them are "still" friends. I will say that none of my friends were murder or true crime obsessed. One thing this sequel does is keep the level of how moral debased people can be. There is a girl on the train named Pet (who was also in the first one) that is live streaming the ride poking fun at the events of the first train ride.

The tension this script creates between the characters is shockingly high quality for a horror flick that wasn't going to theaters. Writers Aaron Martin and Ian Carpenter has a bit of an underground series of cult classics brewing here. Robyn Alomar crushes the role of Alana once again. She plays a more traumatized version of Alana in this one, but it makes sense given the events of the first one. Tim Rozon also returns as The Magician and is also good and slightly creepy in this one. We get Tori Barban back as Merry. She is just as dense as before. Dakota Jamal Wellman returns as The Prez and his character is more likable in this one even if his motives for doing a terror train is shaky. Romy Weltman returns as Pet and plays the role with the same consistency. She is the only one of the 4 acting talents I have mentioned so far that didn't do a "Christmas" movie in between the TERROR TRAIN flicks. Nadine Bhabha returns as Sadie and is now actually the trains conductor. One of the few newcomers with a lot of screen time is Nia Roam as Claudia.

Cinematically this is low budget so walk into it like you would be watching something that doesn't have big time Hollywood production and you might be pleasantly surprised if you like old school style slashers. The acting for the most part is pretty good, but there is one cast member that seems slightly out of place. I won't go into who the cast member is, but it will be noticeable. If I have any complaints, it's that there is at least one really unnecessary scene where a few characters end up kneeling at the altar of wokeness. On the upside, the scene is extremely short, so it's not going to affect my score for the film. This one also has an outstanding score.

A lot like the first one this one has a "really" unexpected ending. Both of these films feature master class misdirection. Not sure if there will be any more films in this series, but the first 2 are both weirdly impressive.

This one gets a 8 out of 10.

Watched 2025 on Tubi in Australia; immediately after Terror Train, 2022.

This is the sequel to my previously reviewed "definitely average slasher horror film".

More of the same as before. A story starts to progress and there are glimmers of depth in the first third of the film. But whoops, there we go, back into the land of horror tropes we've seen before "people doing and saying things that anyone with a spoonful of sense in their brain would avoid."

There is less "who is the killer?" this time around; much more of "I hope they get it next". The ending is a slight twist, but it wasn't even enough to keep me particularly entertained. Decent enough production values. Acting again, hit & miss; most of the returning characters do well, but some are worse for this effort. So many missed opportunities for a stronger sequel, some really poor story choices and wooden acting; but having been produced at the same time as the first film, more of the same but with slightly less in-jokes.

Just as last time, Maybe one for big fans of the genre; but for me, a film aficionado and only daytime horror viewer, it gets a very average score of 5, no more.

(My rating system is 0= someone got paid to produce this? 10= flawless entertainment.)

On the anniversary of the killings from the fist movie, someone gets the bright idea to rent out another train, in a way of showing that life is still going.

Our protagonist and a few of the other survivors board the train for what was supposed to be a healing trip. They are joined by a large group of murder obsessed people. Shockingly enough, people start getting killed.

The writers do a pretty fair job in trying to throw you off the scent of the killer's identity, but anyone that has seen these movies before will do a decent job of figuring out who it is.

The killings are done with a variety of weapons, but the production team went with CGI to show stabbings, a bad idea. They were very clearly not real and they should have spent a few more of those precious Canadian dollars on better effects.

All in all, not a terrible movie and yet not a good one either. It moved really slow and I had a difficult time keeping my attention on it.

In this version, our heroine boards the train only to find more murder and mayhem on the infamous Terror Train. In the first film, it was easy to figure out the killer's I. D. and motivation. I mean, you couldn't figure out who it was and why?

I give kudos to the scriptwriters for making the guessing game a wee bit harder to I. D the killer. I had the killer's I. D. pegged early on. This time, the red herrings made the guessing game difficult. Maybe the killer was this person? Maybe the other? After all, was said and done, I was right all along.

The one annoying thing was the inclusion of characters from the first film. They had nothing to offer to the plot but to remind you of their presence from the first film.

A high body count might make splatter hounds rejoice, but in the long run, this movie is slightly better than its predecessor.