Le Monstre du train

This movie is really good. It is a very creative idea isolating people on a train. I really just love this movie. Good acting, some suspense, and I loved how the killer was there the entire time. This movie really surprised me. I've seen comments these other users have made, complaining about how it was a Halloween rip-off. Don't base the fact of whether or not you're going to view this movie on these opinions. This movie is nothing like Halloween and it isn't so much trying to be Halloween. If you say this movie is a Halloween rip-off you may as well say that about every other slasher movies. It is silly to not watch this movie because some other person who had way too HIGH expectations about this movie says it was bad. It is a great movie, but if you watch it with high expectations of another Halloween you'll be disappointed.

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 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.

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 .

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.