Terror Train
1980 Directed by Roger Spottiswoode
Synopsis
A college fraternaty prank goes bad and student ends up in the mental ward. Four years later, it's graduation time, and the members of the fraternity decide to have a costume party aboard a train trip to celebrate thier graduation. Unknowingly to them, a killer has slipped aboard, wacking them off one by one, disguised in the costumes of the victims.
Popular reviews
More-
Suspenseful, well paced and competently shot. Though I wouldn't have expected anything less from the director of Turner & Hooch.
Jamie Lee Curtis is on Scream Queen autopilot and David Copperfield sports some luxuriant hair. The setting is quite unique and the levels of blood and gore are pretty satisfactory. As far as Slasher flicks go, Terror Train measures up pretty well.
Just a shame after the great reveal at the end how the lunatic flips their lid, gets 187'd and there's no satisfying coda.
-
I was so won over by The Fun House that I decided to immediately follow it up with another slasher movie that I had never seen before. Much to my disappointment it's emblematic of everything that I don't like about them. We follow uninteresting characters as directed by mediocre directors without a sense for suspense as they slowly die one by one.
Had the director been more aware of the great tradition of the horror genre as Tobe Hooper obviously did we could have ended up with a great slasher movie. The premise is really brilliant but it's just pulled off so poorly. You have a killer who is switching masks with his victims completely undetected by everyone onboard, that…
-
I always feel a bit conned when more than one or two characters survive a slasher film. Terror Train has at least 20 potential victims, and yet the body count never comes close to double figures. Nonetheless, Roger Spottiswoode's debut is a prime cut of finest slasher steak, released in 1980 by 20th Century Fox and, by the looks of it, with a 20th Century Fox-style budget. Jamie Lee Curtis faces her second psycho killer in as many years, this time aboard a party train full of students. Even when it's taking its time getting to the carnage, there's plenty of suspense and shenanigans to keep things interesting, and there's a great gimmick in the form of obnoxious illusionist David…
-
Starts off as your typical 80's slasher where a prank goes wrong then we flash forward to current time for a little killing. Yeah.... been there, done that, right? Shockingly enough this turns into a well crafted little horror flick filled with suspense and a few good scares. Loved Ben Johnson in this. Definitely a step above the rest when it comes to 80's horror.
-
Really cool setting for a slasher. The kills aren't that outrageous, which is what a lot of the films from this era went for. This movie takes a more subtle approach and it works.
-
"Terror Train" seems like a lot of setup without a lot of delivery. It starts with the ever-reliable prank gone wrong and there is a theme of magic and deception throughout (with David Copperfield!).
After the first kill on the train it seems there is potential in the things aren't as they seem way, but that idea doesn't really hold up, and the finale doesn't really add anything unexpected either. Entertaining enough, but nothing special.
Part of Horrortober 2012.
Recent reviews
More-
Le puedo dar un 0 muy merecido pese a Jamie Lee Curtis, a Michi, al product placement del Copperfield y esas cosas. Muy mala. Peor. Mucho. Dolor de ojos.
-
I was so won over by The Fun House that I decided to immediately follow it up with another slasher movie that I had never seen before. Much to my disappointment it's emblematic of everything that I don't like about them. We follow uninteresting characters as directed by mediocre directors without a sense for suspense as they slowly die one by one.
Had the director been more aware of the great tradition of the horror genre as Tobe Hooper obviously did we could have ended up with a great slasher movie. The premise is really brilliant but it's just pulled off so poorly. You have a killer who is switching masks with his victims completely undetected by everyone onboard, that…
-
I always feel a bit conned when more than one or two characters survive a slasher film. Terror Train has at least 20 potential victims, and yet the body count never comes close to double figures. Nonetheless, Roger Spottiswoode's debut is a prime cut of finest slasher steak, released in 1980 by 20th Century Fox and, by the looks of it, with a 20th Century Fox-style budget. Jamie Lee Curtis faces her second psycho killer in as many years, this time aboard a party train full of students. Even when it's taking its time getting to the carnage, there's plenty of suspense and shenanigans to keep things interesting, and there's a great gimmick in the form of obnoxious illusionist David…
-
Pretty silly even for a slasher movie.
-
Suspenseful, well paced and competently shot. Though I wouldn't have expected anything less from the director of Turner & Hooch.
Jamie Lee Curtis is on Scream Queen autopilot and David Copperfield sports some luxuriant hair. The setting is quite unique and the levels of blood and gore are pretty satisfactory. As far as Slasher flicks go, Terror Train measures up pretty well.
Just a shame after the great reveal at the end how the lunatic flips their lid, gets 187'd and there's no satisfying coda.
-
The Count's Verdict: Having Jamie-Lee Curtis as the final girl is a major plus for any slasher.
-
Starts off as your typical 80's slasher where a prank goes wrong then we flash forward to current time for a little killing. Yeah.... been there, done that, right? Shockingly enough this turns into a well crafted little horror flick filled with suspense and a few good scares. Loved Ben Johnson in this. Definitely a step above the rest when it comes to 80's horror.
-
Really cool setting for a slasher. The kills aren't that outrageous, which is what a lot of the films from this era went for. This movie takes a more subtle approach and it works.
-
Terror Train is about a bunch of mega-obnoxious pre-med students who board a party train. One of the passengers is a masked killer. That's the plot.
Terror Train is directed by Roger Spottiswoode. Roger would go on to direct Turner and Hooch and Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot. He also directed a shitty Bond movie and a shitty Schwarzenegger movie. This movie stars Jamie Lee Curtis as one of the college students. She also starred in Prom Night and The Fog the same year. Stellar. David Copperfield plays a creepy magician on the train. My favorite opening credit is "and David Copperfield as The Magician". My favorite closing credit is "Illusions Created by David Copperfield". These "illusions" include levitating…