Slasher Stop Off - Terror Train (1980)

I got in my Synapse release Blu of “Prom Night” (1980), but I really wanted to squeeze in “Terror Train” (1980) before giving the former a good deep dive. Considering I watched a few of her films (her voice heard on any phone call attempted out of Santa Mira in “Halloween III” (1982) doesn’t bode well for those attempting to dial for help…) the last week, I did want to open a window of late Saturday evening for “Terror Train”, a film I just really enjoy personally. Of course, slashers of this era simply received the critical raking across the coals, but for fans of the genre we are a just a different sort. Spottiswoode and Alcott’s work to recreate a train ride News Years party that goes awry for a select group of college friends—who pulled a rather unsettling prank (using a corpse taken from a hospital by the snotty Bochner) on a shy and barely stable fraternity hopeful pledge (Derek McKinnon; his casting for the part is quite a fascinating backstory, essentially stumbling into audition, back and forth a bit rocky before it all comes together, with production history involving him rather difficult) hoping to score with brainy Curtis—and the score from Mills-Cockell with the cues that relate the presence of the killer in different disguises (mainly a Groucho and old hag mask) and how he’s close and sinister are what certainly work the most for me besides some casting choices that also return me to the film. Ben Johnson as the Winnebago sales debt-strapped engineer with a warm personality, just a friendly, welcome host who tries to keep things running smoothly, dealt quite a blow when he finds a victim in “alien lizard” costume covered in blood inside a bathroom, the mirror broken and walls painted in red, and a neck-slashed gal (the enchanting stoned, sultry-voiced fox Sandee Currie) lying dead on a top bunk & Curtis as the main final target of the killer at the very end for her participation in his embarrassing prank both bring serious star power. Bochner as the dick who often badly influences Curtis’ boyfriend (Timothy Webber) and David Copperfield (this bit of casting raised my eyebrows when I first came across this film in the early 2000s) as the illusionist / magician who wows the college party drunks and stoners both leave impressions as well. I think I am more of a fan of its aesthetic and gimmick—slasher on a train in the dead of winter, tightly confined walkways and compartments, a collection of young adults dancing, making out, getting high, etc. while the killer moves among them often unawares in his masks—than its plot development and overall story. The setup revenge device—the corpse in the bed is not Jamie Lee Curtis, whose voice lures McKinnon to the bed to discover it, leading him into a mental breakdown including getting wrapped up in sheets, all orchestrated by Bochner and his friends—was morbid if lacking much dramatic weight. The goal was to present McKinnon as unhinged but also cold and calculating until he just wants so badly to end Curtis in any way possible. I think the best bits with McKinnon are in the Groucho mask early…his eyes studying the right time to make his move to murder are real eerie. The hag mask is really properly ugly and unpleasant so when he is wearing that it is also just unnerving enough to also pop off the screen. All the pains Alcott went through the light the train paid off…I just love the way the film looks inside the train and Spottiswoode definitely reminds us the entire time that while the spaces are often crowded and cramped there are moments at the very end especially where it could be easy to get separated from folks, leaving potential victims vulnerable. I liked the animosity between Curtis and Bochner, the obvious tensions deriving from consistently vying for Webber’s attention, this triangle that doesn’t really ever shoehorn Currie into involvement…Currie’s death is devastating for Curtis, but when Webber collapses from a wound to the chest right into the heart, Bochner (Currie’s boyfriend) seems far more traumatized by his death than his girlfriend’s. And the final act where McKinnon pulls an earring from Curtis’ ear as it bleeds and she fights back using  a sword and a paper holder (to the back and face) produces quite an altercation back and forth. Her using her wits such as locking herself in the office cage and refusing to just cower in fear gives Curtis another final girl who isn’t some wilting flower with no backbone.

“Terror Train” does sort of take a back seat to the others that are before and after it in the slasher genre featuring Curtis. “Halloween II” made more money and benefited from its attachment to the Carpenter masterpiece while “Prom Night” is a nostalgia cult favorite for its use of Disco and Curtis’ dance (and late 70s high school trip back in time). I just like “Terror Train”. I often judge the value of films (to me, subjectively) by how I can watch them from time to time and not tire of them. Maybe some of that is the Curtis factor, the train setting, good ole Ben always there to try to help and protect if able (it is his shovel that final gets rid of pesky McKinnon), and the Groucho mask (I LOVE the poster for the film), not to mention Copperfield performing magic tricks, Currie who I wished hadn’t died so soon in the film (not just easy on the eyes, I loved her soft voice while flighty and very under the influence), and how the film is claustrophobic sometimes while other times seemingly a maze to get lost in. 3/5