by Few things hit the spot for a horror fan quite like a slasher film. These generally don’t require much thought to enjoy which makes them perfect for those moments when you just want a few jump scares, cheesy characters, and a story which you can’t really be bothered to follow. The golden age of slasher films followed after such landmark genre releases as Halloween and Friday the 13th with a sea of copycats attempting to modify the formula as little as possible with hopes of striking it big. Terror Train was released within this time period, and to say it fits this theme is not far from the truth. It’s a slasher film that doesn’t really try anything different (it even stars Jamie Lee Curtis in the height of her scream queen career). There’s not much else to say so let’s just dive right in.
Terror Train doesn’t try much different with it’s scenario. Here we have a killer, a bunch of young twenty somethings, and an old beef. In this case our antagonist is an awkward young man named Kenny Hampson (Derek McKinnon) who, in a fraternity prank, is tricked into thinking he’s going to be getting frisky with Jamie Lee Curtis’ character Alana. Unfortunate for him he instead winds up in bed with a cadaver which sends him into a fit of madness landing him in a psychiatric ward. As you may have surmised he won’t soon forget about being the butt of such a cruel prank. Fast forward three years later and the very same members of the fraternity behind the prank (Alana included) board a train wherein their New Years Eve party is being hosted. As luck would have it this is a costume party giving a killer free reign to slaughter one of the frat members, steal his Groucho Marx costume, and board under disguise. As you may have guessed it’s good old Kenny Hampson, and he’s seeking revenge on all those who shamed him during the introductory sequence.
Yes the concept is trite and unoriginal (even at the time of release) but this is a slasher film and I went in with my expectations in check. On this front I was not disappointed, and even believe that Terror Train has enough of an identity to be remembered in the era of ‘me too’ slasher films from the early 80s. One aspect of the story that I rather enjoyed is the fact that the story unfolds in a sort of ‘who done it’ fashion. Yes, we know who the killer is, but because this is a costume party (with many of the patrons wearing masks) there are moments where we are left to guess under which of the costumes the killer is hiding. Generally he assumes the identity of his last victim, but there are moments where the film plays on this somewhat unique concept. The protagonists are left to wonder exactly who might be the killer, and in the beginning of the film we’re never really given a good look at Kenny so their guess is as good as the viewer’s.
Also noteworthy is the fact that, by slasher film standards, Terror Train isn’t as schlocky as most others from this time period. There isn’t a lot of violence (it’s mostly off-screen or vague) with few gore effects and short sequences. The killer here isn’t as creative as say Freddy Krueger or Jason Voorhees, but I’m sure many of the more squeamish viewers will appreciate this fact. With that said even in the higher energy sequences Terror Train can be a little boring. There aren’t really any chase or fight sequences; the antagonist simply gets things done quickly and efficiently. This was an early slasher film so back at the time of release it probably wasn’t a big deal, but modern viewers may find this one a bit vanilla after decades of horror releases. The train setting sounds good on paper but it doesn’t do much for the atmosphere to be honest. The film rarely plays with this element and fails to create a tense or claustrophobic atmosphere. It’s a real missed opportunity with the ambiance being smothered by the party element of the story with a ton of flashing lights and music.
Where Terror Train falls short is in the… er… ‘terror’ category. It’s simply not scary and lacks the jump scares this sub-genre is so well known for. The killer gets too much screentime in his various costumes while characters interact with him while he waits for a moment to end their fun. Unfortunately this fails to even produce a sense of impending doom. This is largely because the antagonist isn’t intimidating, and in many of the costumes (the lizard monster in particular) is more comical than anything. What’s more is I found myself not caring about any of the protagonists which makes it even less frightening to watch them being offed. You have your typical stereotypes here with hormonal sex crazed men and women, but aside from Jamie Lee Curtis’ character they’re all annoying and very unlikable. Even our heroine is a bit of a boring to be honest. It’s not the performances (they’re typical fare by slasher standards) rather it’s the writing, scenario and dialogue that just doesn’t do it for me.
It might sound like I’ve been pretty hard on Terror Train so far. I was a big fan of the film when I was younger but watching it today it did not have the same effect that it once did. Terror Train is by and large a generic slasher film with its key points being the slightly unique antagonist and the fact that it isn’t as tasteless as most other similar releases. That’s not really much of a pedigree if you ask me. The last fifteen or so minutes are enjoyable, but I found getting to that point was tedious. Terror Train is a standard slasher film. If you’re okay with that going in then you surely won’t be disappointed, but don’t go in expecting much more than that.
Pros
- Decent premise
- Great sense of claustrophobia
Cons
- Slow paced
