Night Train

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.

On a snowing Christmas Eve, a stranger embarks in the night train Nightingale at Fall Brook Station and has a heart attack after an overdose on pills and vodka. The medical student Chloe (Leelee Sobieski) and the drunken salesman Peter Dobbs (Steve Zahn) see a mysterious box with the stranger with valuable stones inside and convince the stiff conductor Miles (Danny Glover) to not report the death of the passenger and keep the box for them. Chloe chops the corpse with a cleaver; put the severed parts in a trunk and Peter and Miles dump it from a bridge into the Sturgeon River; however they do not succeed in opening the box. Therefore Chloe does not get off the train in Maple Creek, but the passenger Mr. Gutman (Constantine Gregory) embarks seeking out the stranger. He subdues the greedy trio and discloses that everyone that sees inside the box dies until the end of the day; but Peter accidentally kills him. When they have an unscheduled stop by the police that had found the body parts in the river, the number of corpses increases in a travel without return.

"Night Train" has an intriguing plot with a mysterious Pandora box that corrupts the soul of bizarre characters. The weird story has a promising beginning with black humor and an excellent character – Chloe – that is wasted to a collection of clichés in the end. Unfortunately the director and writer Brian King loses control and derails with his "Night Train" to a very deceptive conclusion without any explanation about the content of the mystical box. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Viagem Sem Volta" ("Travel Without Return")

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.

Leelee Sobieski is the main reason for seeing this low-budget train thriller. From a mousy medical student in a watch cap in the beginning to a cleaver-wielding, blood-spattered maiden of death by the end, she gives a performance of unsettling ferocity.

A train has stopped in the darkness during a snowstorm and two conductors, one of them Danny Glover in decent-guy mode, are on the tracks smoking when a man clutching a package stumbles out of the woods. The conductors allow him on board with the understanding he'll buy his ticket later. Once aboard, the stranger settles in a lounge car, where he swallows a bunch of pills, washing them down with vodka. Next thing you know, he's dead of an overdose.

Only two other people were in the lounge car to witness this, an alcoholic salesman played by Steve Zahn in his usual goofball-loser mode and a medical student with a studious, ultra-serious demeanor played by Sobieski. They call the death to the attention of the conductor played by Glover.

They become curious about the man's package and look inside. It contains a small wooden box with perforations allowing them to see what's inside, which is apparently worth a king's ransom because everybody who looks inside gasps in wonder. This is our macguffin and it serves much the same purpose as the briefcase in "Pulp Fiction." It doesn't really matter what's inside; you just know everybody wants it.

The three conspire. First order of business -- disposing of the body (black, black humor). Then things get complicated. Turns out the three conspirators are not the only ones who knew the stranger was on the train with his package. You know nothing good is going to come of this and you are absolutely right. Betrayal. Mayhem. Murder.

In order to enjoy this movie, you have to overlook a lot of major implausibilities. For such a long train, there's hardly anyone aboard. Plot points involving night ice fishing and murderous electrical tape are also hard to swallow.

All the exteriors of the train hurtling down the track at what looks like 200 mph are cheap CGI. Doesn't matter. We get it -- fast train, darkness, lots of snow, in the middle of nowhere.

And then there's Leelee Sobieski, icily delivering lines with blood on her face and insanity in her eyes. Whoa.

Sometimes the synopsis of a film just calls out to me. I can't always put my finger on exactly what it is, but something just screams at me that I have to see that film. Quite often it leads me down the track of watching some abysmal films, but that was not the case when it came to 'Night Train'. What I found instead was a little gem (so to speak).

I love films set entirely in one place. Always have done. And trains are one of my favourite settings too because although they're all one place, each cabin can be entirely different, and characters can be in the story without a clue as what is actually going on around them. 'Night Train' was a surprisingly suspenseful ride from start to finish. It achieved what very few modern horror/thrillers manage to do and that is to get me on the edge of my seat and keep me there. Leelee Sobieski had a lot to do with this. She was a real presence on the screen and kept me hooked with everything she said and did.

There's a real creepy atmosphere throughout this one. It has very much a 'Twilight Zone' feel to it, only with slightly better actors, a little more action and obviously a touch longer. I also loved the underlying psychology of the story. We really are a strange race sometimes. I loved this film and if you are able to track it down somewhere please give it a watch. You'll be pleased you did.