Terror Train

Jamie Lee Curtis was once again cementing her status as the Scream Queen, after the successes of "Halloween", "The Fog" and "Prom Night", but this one unfortunately wasn't as successful as the previous ones and remains the least remembered. But that doesn't mean that this movie is bad. A Slasher movie set on a train is something different I suppose, which makes Terror Train a stylish and inventive and really makes the most of it's settings. And I also loved the fact that the killer uses different costumes for each murder, pure genius.

The only draw back on this movie is that most of the murders happen off-screen, but more than makes up for it in the performances like Derek MacKinnion who plays Kenny a very well rounded performance, Ben Johnston does well in his role as the train conducter and even real life magician David Copperfield plays his part well. Hart Bochner plays the coward Doc annoyed me and glad he got his just desserts and once again Jamie Lee Curtis is brilliant as the lead heroine and gives the best chase scene in this movie which is the main highlight of this movie in my books.

All in all "Terror Train" is an underrated gem and a highlight on Jamie Lee Curtis's glowing CV.

The college students Doc (Hart Bochner), Michelle "Mitchy" (Sandee Currie), Mo (Timothy Webber), Alana (Jamie Lee Curtis), Edward "Ed" (Howard Busgang) and Jackson (Anthony Sherwood) plot a prank for their college mate Kenny Hampson (Derek McKinnon); however the joke goes wrong and Kenny ends up in a mental institution. Years later, Doc and Mo decide to celebrate their graduation with a costume party and a magician (David Copperfield) aboard of a train. In the embarkation platform, Ed is murdered by a killer that wears his costume of Groucho Marx. Then he kills Jackson and wears his costume of The Swamp Thing. The conductor Carne (Ben Johnson) discovers his body, but who might be the masked killer?

"Terror Train" is an average slasher, with a claustrophobic story developed in a moving train. The identity of the killer is discovered but the he and his victims wear costumes and is difficult to identify who might be him. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Trem do Terror" ("The Terror Train")

Note: On 09 Sep 2022, I saw this film again.

The 1980 horror film TERROR TRAIN might best be described as HALLOWEEN on the rails. In it, a fraternity has a party taking place on a train speeding through the Canadian night. And then, one by one, without anyone knowing it (a situation made even more complicated by the fact that everyone's dressed up in disguises), they all get bumped off in shocking and violent fashion by a maniac. And as with HALLOWEEN and THE FOG, the heroine at the center of this is none other than Jamie Lee Curtis.

But unlike most HALLOWEEN-inspired bloodfests, TERROR TRAIN does boast a lot of good things to lift it above the worst of an always-bad bunch. The director here is Roger Spottiswoode, who served as a film editor for some of Sam Peckinpah's films, including his 1971 horror film STRAW DOGS. The train's conductor is portrayed by veteran character actor Ben Johnson, a stalwart of both John Ford and Peckinpah who won a Supporting Actor Oscar in 1971 for THE LAST PICTURE SHOW. Even more, the atmospheric cinematography of TERROR TRAIN is provided by the legendary British camerman John Alcott, whose groundbreaking work for Stanley Kubrick, including 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and THE SHINING, is legendary. Furthermore, the violence and bloodshed are surprisingly kept relatively down; and while the revelation of who the killer is may not in and of itself be so surprising, it does give the opportunity for both Johnson and Curtis to be heroes.

TERROR TRAIN may not be everyone's cup of tea (and it doesn't really compare to HALLOWEEN); but for those willing to take a spooky ride, it is well worth it.

I had to rent this movie so badly, so one night I did and it was cool! The killings are cool and so is the suspense. The scene where that guy was looking through the room trying to find the killer kept me on the edge of my seat! **** out of **** stars.

Three years after a prank gone wrong, a costumed killer is targeting some snotty college kids on board a train. I happen to like trains and I enjoy a good '80s slasher film as well. This one isn't half bad. Not great but good. Some will be disappointed as there isn't much gore. The cute girl quota is filled by Jamie Lee Curtis, Sandee Currie, Joy Boushel, and Vanity. Who can forget Hart Bochner and Ben Johnson? Well, quite a few people can but they're good here anyway. Of course the big selling point is David Copperfield playing -- wait for it -- a magician! The plot's fairly thin and the killer is hardly a surprise but it's all good fun with some suspense and a decent cast for the genre. All aboard!