Terror on Track 9 (1992) (TV)

Director:

Robert Iscove

Writers (WGA):

William Bayer (characters)
Monte Stettin (written by)

Release Date:

20 September 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller

Plot Keywords:

Dual Personality | Serial Killer | Heroin | Number In Title

Cast

Richard Crenna	...	Det. Frank Janek
Joan Van Ark	...	Leslie Renner
Cliff Gorman	...	Sgt. Aaron Greenberg
Joseph Campanella	...	Chief Mleczko
Ving Rhames	...	Jellyroll
Bertila Damas
Stephen McHattie	...	Randolph Darnell
Bethel Leslie
Swoosie Kurtz	...	Marcia Hobbs
August Schellenberg	...	Vargas
Susan Blommaert	...	Umbrella
Peter Dvorsky	...	Dr. Billings
Harvey Atkin	...	Verona
Lawrence Bayne	...	Zachary Dent
Allan Clow	...	Billy Paxton

Runtime:

UK:96 min | USA:96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:15

Company:

Titus Productions

Movie Connections:

Followed by Janek: The Silent Betrayal (1994) (TV)

You won't find Valene Ewing in this telemovie...

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

...but you will find a deranged Joan Van Ark giving a hilarious campy performance as a psychopathic serial killer! Contains spoilers Bodies start turning up dead all over the city of New York. Well actually, just near a train station in New York (Track 9), hence the title of this telemovie. The victims are females and the cause of death has been determined that each victim was stabbed with a syringe filled with heroine causing them to O.D. At each crime scene, the victim lies dead with a halo of glitter sprinkled around their heads.

Enter Richard Crenna as the police detective assigned to track down the killer. From witness reports and evidence, the killer appears to be a female dressed as a hooker who goes by the name 'Jazelle'. Enter Joan Van Ark as a nosey television reporter who always manages to arrive on the scene before every other reporter to ask Richard Crenna annoying questions about the murders.

Figured out who the killer is yet?

Halfway through this gem of a telemovie, Crenna unearths juicy information about the serial killer. In what could be one of the most over-acted performances of all time, a wig-maker tells Richard Crenna that the halo of glitter around the victims' heads suggests that the killer seeks 'fame and glory'. Crenna puts two and two together and eventually ends up at the residence of the serial killer's parents who turn out to be Amish farmers. The mother shows Crenna a picture of her 'daughter' who ran off to the 'big city' years ago. Her name was "Lorali" and she apparently used to carouse about their local hometown with various men if ya get my drift.

At this point, Crenna seems to have figured out who the killer is and he returns to the Big Apple to weasel her out. He enters the television studios where Joan Van Ark is in the middle of anchoring the 6 o'clock news and exposes her as 'Jazelle'. In what could be one of the campiest performances of all time, she goes through both her multiple personalities on-air (reminiscent to Joanne Woodward's performance in "The Three Faces Of Eve") whereupon she is arrested by security after confessing to the murders. And if that scene wasn't enough, when the security guard manhandles her to the ground, she screeches, "NOBODY TOUCHES JAZELLE!", and up go the credits.

This was actually a very amusing telemovie. I'm sure it wasn't intended to be a comedy - but c'mon - this is Joan Van Ark playing a schizophrenic serial killer here. Give her some credit!

9/10