O Trem do Terror

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!

The picture narrates how a group of fraternity executes an initiation prank to a young boy who is emotionally frightened . Years later , a masquerade party is celebrated on chartered hired train and someone mask wearing realizes a series of body count scabrously murdered . The train chief (Ben Johnson) will try to track down the killer among the numerous students (Jamie Lee Curtis, Hart Bochner , D.D.Winters : Vanity). The psychotic murderer is wearing the costume of each successive victim . Who's the killer ? .

Jamie Lee Curtis , as usual , interprets a scream girl (similarly at Hallowen , The fog , Prom night and Road games) in the role of a young student besieged by a cruel and sadist murderer . Jamie Lee Curtis shot this film back to back with the similarly themed slasher film Prom Night in late 1979 ; both films were shot in Canada ; Prom Night in Toronto and this one in Montreal . David Copperfield (as always) acts showing his magic numbers . The film has enough scares , it is plenty of shocks , terror and great loads of bloody and gore . Although technically well made is mediocre and offers a few novelties . Nice cinematography by John Alcott , photographer of ¨Clockwork Orange¨ and many classic English films . The film was professionally directed by Roger Spottswoode . He'll posteriorly attained many success and he'll direct much better movies , such as : ¨Shoot to kill¨ , ¨Under fire¨ and even one with James Bond/Pierce Brosnan . Rating: Average but entertaining .

A mean spirited prank sends a coed into a mental hospital and he plans his sweet revenge on the classmates who sent him there while on a New Year's Eve train party.

It's a simple set up, but a lot of it is effective. There's a surprising lack of gore, but the killer's multiple disguises are downright eerie. A late in the game twist does genuinely surprise as well. Actors such as Ben Johnson, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Hart Bochner elevate the threadbare material throughout and the finale ends up being more intense than it probably should be as the masked madman terrorizes Curtis throughout the train.

A very middle of the road slasher film that's saved by the third act as it focuses more on the leads Ben Johnson and Jamie Lee Curtis, who both give good performances. The train location is a nice change of pace from a house or the woods where most slashers generally take place, the costume party does make it more plausible for the killer to be on the loose without people catching on, the cinematography is good, also surprise appearances from Vanity and David Copperfield are a plus. However, with ever good thing there is about the film there's also a bad, the characters are generally unlikable, there's very little to no sex or nudity and the kills are mainly off screen and what is shown is unimaginative, especially considering magic was a big part of the movie. Some of the decisions the characters make, the leaps of logic in the story and the "twist" at the end are eye rolling and cringe inducing. There are better slasher movies, there are better Jamie Lee Curtis slasher movies. You definitely won't regret watching this, but you're not missing much if you skipped it either.

*Good movie with a twist. Keeps you guessing.

"Terror Train" is the final Jamie Lee Curtis horror movie (not including the "Halloween" sequels) and it certainly is a high note to go out on. The film doesn't have the substance and art that "Halloween" or "The Fog", but one might find that "Terror Train" is an above average slasher film that, like its fellow Curtis movies, relies more on story and thrills than blood and guts. This movie truly puts others like "Prom Night", "My Bloody Valentine", "Madman", "Happy Birthday to Me", and "Graduation Day" to shame, and one could easily argue that its better than the extremely popular "Friday the 13th" films.

"Terror Train" is a little more complicated than most slasher fares. It is about a fraternity holding a New Year's Eve costume party on a train but someone has boarded the train with a vendetta against the college kids for an accidental prank that occurred several years beforehand. While on the train, the killer takes on the costumed identity of whoever he kills, so who is the killer and who is just dressed up. Its got a great plot and the movie delivers some as well.

Jamie Lee Curtis and Ben Johnson are the stars of this movie, but other big names are included as well. David Copperfield is one of them; he does his job playing himself basically, but the true acting chops go to Hart Bochner, who plays the stuck up, rude, and mostly mean fraternity brother responsible for the accident years ago. Ben Johnson is of course good, but his role is limited to a train conductor. Jamie Lee Curtis is pretty much playing yet another heroine in a horror movie, and her performance is stellar but nothing special.

"Terror Train" is a great slasher film recommended for slasher fans. It has its plot holes, but overall its makes up for them with a good story, some decent suspense, and a great twist ending that you won't soon forget. It definitely doesn't fall off the tracks.

"Terror Train" is available on DVD only on a simple DVD with just the theatrical trailer included. The impending remake may bring about a special edition.