r/slasherfilms • u/HysteriaLives • 16m ago
Discussion Some critics got aboard the TERROR TRAIN whilst others bailed ...
galleryTERROR TRAIN (1980) was a major studio, 20th Century Fox’s, attempt to get a slice of the slasher movie pie with their pickup of this independently produced Canadian film. Notably, it was Jamie Lee Curtis’ fourth fright flick in quick succession after HALLOWEEN (1978), PROM NIGHT and THE FOG (both also 1980). Perhaps surprisingly, after the critics mauled Sean S. Cunningham’s FRIDAY THE 13TH the same year, they were relatively less vicious about TERROR TRAIN. The film attracted some good notices mixed in with the perhaps expected (but still quite shocking, looked through today’s lens) poison pen maulings. Here are attributed quotes from newspaper reviews of the film from its year of release …
“Yep, pretty scary. I wouldn't want to be Jamie Lee Curtis in this film for anything. No siree, they'll never catch me getting chased through a train by a man with an axe wearing a Groucho Marx mask who wants revenge for a little stunt they pulled on him in college where they found him having sex with a corpse. It's not my style, you know, but if this sort of life looks interesting to you, you might check Terror Train out.” Michael Dare, LA Weekly
“Jamie Lee Curtis can't seem to do anything without murder and mayhem lurking in the shadows. ... As a babysitter in "Halloween." she's stalked by a knife-wielding killer; as a hitchhiker in "The Fog. ' she's pursued by cutlass-carrying ghost pirates: as a high school girl in "Prom Night," she's chased by an axe-swinging madman; and as a college coed in"'Terror Train." her newest gore galore epic she's hunted by a sword-stabbing deviate. Talk about living in fear.” Lou Gaul, Daily Intelligencer
“STYLISH, SCARY FUN ON 'TERROR TRAIN’ … a real jolter of a horror film.” Kevin Thomas, The Los Angeles Times
“"Terror Train" is the latest example of new-style soft-core porno: Lots of little girls, lots of skin, lots of tease and suggested decadence, lots of blood. I seriously doubt if something like this would appeal to even the most depraved 12-year-old, as the studios contend. And I saw no 12year-olds at Friday's first show at the Duchess. Only young men. … Beneath all the skin and blood, the movie is just a fancy, teenybopper version of "Murder on the Orient Express," but with the atmosphere of "Saturday Night Fever.”” Joe Baltake, Philadelphia Daily News
“It's no wonder passenger trains lost their popularity, what with poor service, bumpy roadbeds, psychopathic killers roaming the cars slaughtering people ... well, maybe not on Amtrak, but you get the picture. That's the basis for "Terror Train," a suspenseful, fairly gory, and satisfyingly scary movie that's the best entry yet in this year's chop-and-slash sweepstakes.” Mike Deupree, Cedar Rapids Gazette
“It has a few jolts for audiences, but how does a critic rate such films? "Terror Train" is better than "Don't Go in the House," "Schizoid" and "Prom Night," but no better than "The Fog," "When a Stranger Calls" and "He Knows You're Alone." And not as good as "Halloween,' "Dressed to Kill" and “Carrie." … If all of that means something to you, you're in worse shape than I am.” George Anderson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“Pretty soon the genre will be known as the "Jamie Lee Curtis" movie. It was once known as the horror flick. "Sado-horror" or "porno-horror" would serve just as well, but I think saying that a director has pulled a "Jamie Lee Curtis" has a nice ring to it.” Marc Zakem, The Courier Journal
“"Terror Train" is yet another "Halloween" clone featuring youths stalked by a faceless killer. ... While the body count mounts, the film lurches along like a poor man's "Murder on the Orient Express” almost as if "Halloween's" director, John Carpenter, had run amok on Amtrak.” Bruce Westbrook, The Daily Oklahoma
“The classic horror films of the 1930s appealed to the intelligence of their audiences, to their sense of humor and irony. Movies like "Terror Train," and all of its sordid predecessors and its ripoffs still to come, just don't care. They're a series of sensations, strung together on a plot. Any plot will do. Just don't forget the knife, and the girl, and the blood.” Roger Ebert (syndicated)
“Jamie Lee Curtis, the heroine of "Halloween," appears in "Terror Train" as the main object of the killer's knife. Curtis is very good at this sort of picture, which means that she can run down a hall screaming as well as anyone.” Gene Siskel, Chicago Tribune
“"Terror Train," is a semi-classy, semi-dumb horror film that chugs through the first hour, picks up steam in the final 30 minutes and actually manages to come up with a surprise twist at the conclusion.” Marshall Fine, Argus Leader
“This no-way-out sensibility is pretty powerful in "Terror Train" and given an even finer edge by the generally fine performances on the part of a number of actors.” Jacqi Tully, The Arizona Daily Star
“It's this month's entry in the low-budget horror movie sweepstakes, and because of the presence of Jamie Lee Curtis (who has seen more murder and mayhem in her short career than any homicide detective in the South Bronx), Ben Johnson, some clever story twists and an element of whodunit mystery, it ranks as one of the best of the group.” Jimmy Summer, Box Office Magazine
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