How unusual is the world of Horror cinema when a movie breaks from the norm because it stays the course? That's the novelty and, in many ways,
the charm and even the brilliance of Terror Train, Director Roger Spottiswoode's (The 6th Day) debut film starring "Scream Queen" Jamie Lee Curtis fresh
off her success in Halloween. Terror Train is at first -- and most every -- glance a
conventional Slasher in which a
teenager is killed off every ten or fifteen minutes by a masked murderer. It's also sufficiently moody and nicely atmospheric. But the movie offers
something others of its kind do
not, and that's a refreshingly straightforward approach to its storytelling. It rumbles ahead just like the title vehicle and never flinches as it heads not
for the
genre inevitable but rather a welcome and unexpected finale, unexpected because, well, it actually is expected. It's a little difficult to praise
without giving it away, but suffice it to say the movie's success stems from a very linear approach that defies convention and tells its story in a way
that heightens the terror and lends to it a sense of credibility and realism that twisty-turny Horror can never quite achieve.
The terror train.
It's a New Year but it's not the same old college pranks. A group of medical students celebrate by luring one of their own into a darkened room with
the promise of sex. Kenny (Derek MacKinnon) has a crush on Alana (Curtis) and he jumps at the opportunity to sleep with the girl of his dreams.
Alana whispers to him from behind the sheets, but she's not in bed. Kenny instead finds a dismembered corpse in the bed and falls into a panic from
which he never recovers. Several years pass. Kenny's still institutionalized but the rest of his class is celebrating with an elaborate costume party
on board a train. It's all fun and games and even some impressive magic courtesy of Ken the Magician (David Copperfield) and his assistant.
Before the revelers know what's hit them, several of their classmates are dead, the killer's on the
loose somewhere in the train, it's certain that Alana is his or her target.
On the way towards that climax that proves both to be both expected and unexpected is a solid little Slasher film with a couple of cool magic
shows (starring David Copperfield of all people) to break up the unavoidable monotony of the teenager Slasher in which sex and drinking usually only
fill in the gaps between kills. The movie captures a fantastic atmosphere at its open New Years Eve party, with slowly blinking Christmas lights
illuminating an
otherwise darkened set and portending the awful reveal to come that sets in motion the rest of the movie. Even as the picture fast-forwards a few
years, it doesn't loose its mood, remaining chillingly dark and atmospherically effective on board the low-light confines of the speeding train. The
movie
makes only fair use of its environment and, if it stumbles anywhere, it's in its failure to really create a genuinely cramped and claustrophobic
environment which might have upped the sense of panic, inescapability, and inevitability of murder on a train.
Otherwise, Terror Train enjoys a solid premise of simple revenge that always seems to make for the best Horror movies. The mystery pays
off nicely
and circles back to that whole "expected/unexpected" angle that beautifully shapes the film and defines it as one of the better of its kind. The
picture enjoys a well-balanced buildup, taking its time to establish motives and connections to characters and ideas, but it does so without going
overboard, without taking too much time and needlessly extending the film. Character development is fine for a movie of this sort, and most of the
victims are never built up much beyond what is necessary to make their inevitable deaths mean something in context beyond "body A" and
"body B" and so on. Jamie Lee Curtis' performance satisfies, even though her character is nowhere near as memorable as Laurie Strode. The
supporting cast does well in getting killed, showing their breasts, or whatever it is that is asked of them. Production design is good, music is efficient,
and the direction is solid if not slightly disappointing considering the film's lackluster use of location.
Terror Train pulls onto Blu-ray with a proficient 1080p transfer. Scream Factory's image is naturally filmic and pleasing to the eye, generally. A
steady grain overlay benefits the image's finer details, leaving them intact rather than scrubbed away. Facial and clothing textures are suitably complex,
but the film is so dark in nearly every scene that there's nothing that's truly visually extraordinary to see. The transfer's biggest benefit is its stability on
larger screens and the Blu-ray resolution more so than tiny details. Colors, likewise, aren't vibrant by the film's nature but rather steady and accurate
under the unforgiving lighting conditions. Black levels are fine, and flesh tones present no problems. The opening minutes are a mess of scratches and
pops, both of which die down considerably once the action shifts to the train. A few soft shots are scattered throughout, notably during the first magic
act. On the whole, this is a good transfer that should please fans and newcomers alike.
Terror Train's DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack serves the movie well, but it's not a track without flaws. It's never quite seamlessly spaced,
huddled around the front-middle with only sparse elements drifting to the sides and into the surrounds. Music is suitably hefty and there's a fair din at
the opening bonfire, but not enough to really pull the listening audience into the moment. The train's departure is meant with a good, sturdy rumble
and pleasing directional effects. The faster rattle in full speed motion also satisfies. There's not much of an ambience on board the train. However,
dialogue and various sound effects are efficiently presented, enjoying suitable clarity and accuracy.
Terror Train's "unexpected" ending remains one of the better in Slasher film history, if only because it's honest and true to life, not some
convoluted and contrived finale, a twisty end only for the sake of a twisty end. That sincerity goes a long way in making a routine film something special
and memorable, a difficult but admirable achievement in a world filled with cookie cutter, mindless Horror entertainment. Scream Factory's Blu-ray
release of Terror Train features good video, adequate audio, and a fair collection of extras. Recommended.
In October, Scream Factory, the horror-thriller offshoot of independent film distributor Shout Factory, will bring the cult shockers Terror Train and The Funhouse to Blu-ray. Both titles will be making their North American Blu-ray debuts, and both will street ...
