Terror Train (1980)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Roger Spottiswoode

Writer:

T.Y. Drake (writer)

Release Date:

3 October 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

The boys and girls of Sigma Phi. Some will live. Some will die.

Plot:

A masked killer targets six college kids responsible for a prank gone wrong years earlier and whom are currently throwing a large New Year's Eve costume party aboard a moving train.

Plot Keywords:

Costume | Train | Party | Prank | Student

Awards:

5 nominations

Cast

Ben Johnson	...	Carne, Train Conductor
Jamie Lee Curtis	...	Alana Maxwell
Hart Bochner	...	Doc Manley
David Copperfield	...	Ken, The Magician
Derek McKinnon	...	Kenny Hampson (as Derek MacKinnon)
Sandee Currie	...	Mitchy
Timothy Webber	...	Mo
Anthony Sherwood	...	Jackson
Howard Busgang	...	Ed
Steve Michaels	...	Charley the Brakeman
Greg Swanson	...	Class President
Vanity	...	Merry (as D.D. Winters)
Joy Boushel	...	Pet
Victor Knight	...	Walter the Engineer
Donald Lamoureux	...	Shovels the Stoker (as Don Lamoureux)

Also Known As:

Le monstre du train (Canada: French title)
Train of Terror

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 (1990) (cut) | Finland:K-18 (1981) (cut) | West Germany:16 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | UK:X (original rating) (1980) | Finland:K-18 (uncut) (2007) | Italy:T (VHS) (alternate rating) | Italy:VM14 (VHS rating) | Italy:VM18 (DVD rating) | Australia:R | France:-16 | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (re-rating) (1989) | USA:R | South Korea:18 | Spain:18

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Company:

Astral Bellevue Pathé

Trivia:

Filmed aboard actual train cars that were converted to allow space for large camera equipment for the production.

Quotes:

Carne, Train Conductor: Have you ever shoveled any coal?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Something to Scream About (2003) (V)

One of the better Halloween follow-ups

Of the slasher films that Jamie Lee Curtis would appear in after the masterful Halloween (1978), Terror Train is truly the best. It's also one of the better genre entries of the early '80s.

College students hold a costume party on a train, only to have a masked stranger come aboard with murder on their mind. But is this murderer really a stranger?

As slasher films go, Terror Train really has a lot going for it. The claustrophobic setting is an ideal place for suspense and it works! The direction is compact and nicely done, making great use of the rather creepy-looking masks that the killer wears. This film also boasts one of the most suspenseful chase sequences in the genre! The cinematography is slickly-well done. The music score is unique and beautiful (especially Alana's theme, heard mostly in the beginning of the end credits).

The cast is also in good form. Jamie Lee is good as her likable heroine self. Handsome Hart Bochner does well as the two-faced frat leader. Veteran actor Ben Johnson is a welcomed addition as the train conductor. Even David Copperfield manages to be a little menacing in his role as a mysterious magician.

All together Terror Train does well, making for a good slasher-thriller with a few tricks up its sleeves. Definitely a highlight among 80's slasher films.

*** 1/2 out of ****