Terror Train
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: D Film: C-
After John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978, reviewed
elsewhere on this site), a long line of imitators followed and many wondered
when Jamie Lee Curtis would surface and capitalize on the trend. Before she could star in the sequel Halloween
2, she settles for Terror Train.
Despite supporting cast like Ben Johnson, Hart Bochner and a wacky
appearance by magician David Copperfield as “The Magician” before he became a
spoof of himself, this film is a wreck and always has been.
During a New Year’s Eve (serial killers and slashers just
love those holiday’s) co-ed train ride, one that they have specifically paid to
charter, a secret addition to the “guest list” is intent on cutting that list
down, literally. Too bad this is not as
good as it sounds, thanks to a quickie screenplay by T.Y. Drake, though this
was not even good enough for TV. The
film earns it R-rating for some blood and violence, but it is nothing as
compared to what we see now and was a dead on arrival as the cold iron the
train rides over. Director Roger
Spottiswoode later directed the thriller Shoot To Kill and the
interesting James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, but you would never
know he could be that good from this.
Some of the visuals were good, but we could have cut them into a music
video, or trailer today. This is one
departure still worth missing.
The film is available in an awful full screen version and
better anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image that still shows its age and
lacks detail. This is simply a quick
throw-together basic edition for a quick buck film. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has hardly any Pro Logic surround
information and the low budget of the production shows in the sound. The only extra is the trailer, but too bad a
good film was not made to match.
- Nicholas Sheffo
