[Gothmogxx]

Its amazing how many people sadly don't know this film exists. Compared to other films with Jamie Lee Curtis in them at the time like the first two Halloweens, The Fog and Prom Night, this one seems to sink under the radar.

What is there to hate here? Its 80’s slasher cinema at its near best, the only slasher films I can think of from this decade which either match or surpass it are A Nightmare on Elm Street, My Bloody Valentine and perhaps two or three of the Friday the 13ths (arguably The Fog but its debatable whether or not thats a slasher film, personally I say no).

Jamie Lee Curtis is in this at the very height of her horror career. One of few redeeming qualities in Prom Night she doesn’t disappoint here either. She is really strong in this movie and genuinely likeable along with most of the other characters, or good enough as their characters so you hate them like with Doc. Ben Johnson is in this also as the train conductor and he does a good job here as an authority like figure trying to keep everything under control. David Copperfield, the real life illusionist, is also here. He’s playing a character just called “the magician” so basically he’s playing himself. The magic scenes he performs in are pretty cool to watch.

The cinematography is fantastic here, which is expected, given that John Alcott previously worked on A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon and the Shining. It really looks fantastic and is shot very well, helping add a lot of claustrophobia, as you would expect in a train setting.

It isn’t gory, not really. But like Halloween I don’t think it’s a film which really needs any gore. The suspense and everything else more than makes up for it, including yet another good film score.

Regarding the (obvious) killer and the ending...

SPOILER:

Kenny Hampson is the killer (the guy at the beginning) which may or may not be obvious (sadly when I saw it years back I knew this in advance however when I showed it to some of my friends they were surprised). But it is done in such a way which is effective. Most killers tend to just don one mask and go from there, but Kenny kills people and takes their costumes as the film goes on. Therefore you never know where the killer is, especially if you are watching it for the first time. I mean yes it is pretty implausible for him to get everywhere he is in the film, constantly changing disguises, including dressing up as the magician’s assistant, but thats just a minor nitpick, especially when you consider that many slasher films always seem to have teleporting killers. It works well and creates suspense. The final chase is one of the best i’ve ever seen, a clear highlight. Jamie Lee Curtis is trapped in the cage and Kenny knocks out all the lights while he lurks around outside trying to stab her through the bars. The final couple of minutes with the revelation of Kenny being the killer is good, Ben Johnson to the rescue as he knocks him out the train into a river.

Its a 10 out of 10 for me. Definitely one of my personal favourite Slasher films of all time and horror films of all time: more people need to see this! (I try to watch 31 horror films every October. Of the 31 horror films I watched last year this one was included. Only The Thing, The Fog and Hatchet II ranked higher in my estimation out of the other 30 films)