Better than most in the slice-and-dice genre, Terror Train has a couple of decent performances from Ben Johnson and Jamie Lee Curtis, great photography from John Alcott (Barry Lyndon; The Shining), and some atmospheric direction from Roger Spottiswoode (Under Fire).
The intention here was to make a thriller, a suspense movie about some people trapped on a train, waiting for an unknown killer to strike. The problem is that they don't do very much else except wait.
40
Chicago ReaderDave Kehr
Chicago ReaderDave Kehr
This 1979 teenage horror film has no redeeming style: it's a straight, pedestrian cop of Halloween, from the opening shock to the climactic battle against the psycho.
30
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jay Scott
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jay Scott
The premise - a crazed killer abused years before returns to wreak vengeance on the young - is so familiar that the audience can predict (and does: loudly) every "shock." [15 Oct 1980]
25
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Terror Train is a curious hybrid that doesn't seem to know just what it wants to be. It has, I guess, few artistic pretensions, and yet it's not a rock-bottom-budget, schlock exploitation film.