Terror Train (1980)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Roger Spottiswoode

Writer:

T.Y. Drake (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

3 October 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

The boys and girls of Sigma Phi. Some will live. Some will die.

Plot:

A masked killer targets six college kids responsible for a prank gone wrong years earlier and whom are currently throwing a large New Year's Eve costume party aboard a moving train.

Plot Keywords:

Costume | Train | Party | Prank | Student

Awards:

5 nominations

Cast

Ben Johnson	...	Carne, Train Conductor
Jamie Lee Curtis	...	Alana Maxwell
Hart Bochner	...	Doc Manley
David Copperfield	...	Ken, The Magician
Derek McKinnon	...	Kenny Hampson (as Derek MacKinnon)
Sandee Currie	...	Mitchy
Timothy Webber	...	Mo
Anthony Sherwood	...	Jackson
Howard Busgang	...	Ed
Steve Michaels	...	Charley the Brakeman
Greg Swanson	...	Class President
Vanity	...	Merry (as D.D. Winters)
Joy Boushel	...	Pet
Victor Knight	...	Walter the Engineer
Donald Lamoureux	...	Shovels the Stoker (as Don Lamoureux)
Charles Biddle Sr.	...	Donnelly the Chief Porter
Elizabeth Cholette	...	Maggie the Dispatcher
Thom Haverstock	...	Bill Chase (as Thomas Haverstock)
Peter Feingold	...	Senior
Richard Weinstein	...	Pledge #1
John Busby	...	Pledge #2
Roland Nincheri	...	Bus Driver
Andrea Kenyon	...	Bunny Girl
Elaine Lakeman	...	Nurse
Gerald Eastman	...	Porter #1
Charles Biddles Jr.	...	Porter #2
Nadia Rona	...	Corpse
Larry Cohen	...	'Crime' band member: Keyboard Vocalist
Brenda Gagnier	...	'Crime' band member: Bass Guitar
Phil Albert	...	'Crime' band member: Drummer

Directed by
Roger Spottiswoode

Writing credits
T.Y. Drake		(writer)
Daniel Grodnik		story (uncredited)

Produced by
Lamar Card	....	executive producer
Don Carmody	....	line producer
Harold Greenberg	....	producer
Daniel Grodnik	....	executive producer

Original Music by
John Mills-Cockell

Cinematography by
John Alcott

Film Editing by
Anne Henderson

Casting by
Ingrid Fischer
Anna St. Johns

Production Design by
Glenn Bydwell

Art Direction by
Guy J. Comtois		(as Guy Comtois)

Costume Design by
Veronica Hadfield		(as Penny Hadfield)

Makeup Department
Michèle Burke	....	makeup artist
Alan Friedman	....	special makeup consultant
Joan Isaacson	....	makeup artist
Louise Mignault	....	makeup assistant (as Louise Mignault Rundell)
Huguette Roy	....	hair stylist

Production Management
William Zborowsky	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Lamar Card	....	second unit director
David McLeod	....	second assistant director
Blair Roth	....	third assistant director
Ray Sager	....	assistant director

Art Department
Raymond Larose	....	draftsman
Jean-Pierre Laurendeau	....	assistant props
Maurice Leblanc	....	property master
Rosanne Moss	....	assistant to production designer

Sound Department
Ellen Adams	....	dialogue editor
David Appleby	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Dave Appleby)
Fred Brennan	....	sound effects editor
Bo Harwood	....	sound mixer
Sharon Lackie	....	dialogue editor
Jean-Marc Magnan	....	boom operator
Andy Malcolm	....	foley artist
Michael O'Farrell	....	sound effects editor
Dino Pigat	....	sound re-recording mixer
Michael Rea	....	assistant sound editor
Helen Watson	....	assistant sound editor
Don White	....	foley recording mixer

Special Effects by
Joe Elsner	....	special effects (as Josef Elsner)

Camera and Electrical Department
Peter Benison	....	additional photographer
Lou Bogue	....	gaffer
Alan Carruthers	....	still photographer
Don Caulfield	....	key grip
James Devis	....	camera operator
Normand Foy	....	best boy
Jonathan Goodwill	....	clapper loader
Paul Gravel	....	focus puller
Pierre Lapointe	....	assistant key grip
Allen Smith	....	additional photographer (as Al Smith)
Jerome South	....	grip
Yves Tessier	....	electrician
René Verzier	....	additional photographer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Susan Hall	....	wardrobe mistress
Jenepher Hooper	....	set costumer
Lise Pharand	....	seamstress

Editorial Department
Thomas Metzger	....	color timer
Susan Shanks	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Kirk Hawkes	....	music editor

Transportation Department
Michael Bernardelli	....	driver
Victoria Frodsham	....	driver (as Vicki Frodsham)
Donna Noonan	....	driver
Roy Perryon	....	driver
Joe Sanchez	....	driver
Michel Siry	....	driver captain
Steve Wilkins	....	driver

Other crew
Victoria Barney	....	assistant to producer
Don Carmody	....	production executive
Paulle Clark	....	assistant production accountant
Marie Renée Collette	....	stagiere
David Copperfield	....	illusion creator
Lucie Drolet	....	production accountant
Kathy Flynn	....	production secretary
Brigitte Germain	....	continuity
Ginette Hardy	....	unit coordinator
Paul Lamontagne	....	location manager
François LeClerc	....	assistant location manager
Holly Levine	....	publicist
Louis A. Massicotte	....	assistant to executive producer
Sandy Rochester	....	production assistant
Caryl Wickman	....	dialogue director
Paul Wisenthal	....	train coordinator

Production Companies

• Astral Bellevue Pathé
• Sandy Howard Productions
• Triple T Productions

Distributors

• Astral Films (1980) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Cine-Studio (1981) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1980) (USA) (theatrical)
• Astral Video (Canada) (VHS)
• Future Film (2007) (Finland) (DVD)
• MRA Entertainment Group (2005) (Australia) (DVD)
• Magnum Video (????) (Finland) (video)
• Oy Europa Vision AB (????) (Finland) (video)

Other Companies

• Berger Novek Entertainment PR  publicity
• Pathé Sound and Post Production Center  sound facilities

Also Known As:

Le monstre du train (Canada: French title)
Train of Terror

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 (1990) (cut) | Finland:K-18 (1981) (cut) | West Germany:16 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | UK:X (original rating) (1980) | Finland:K-18 (uncut) (2007) | Italy:T (VHS) (alternate rating) | Italy:VM14 (VHS rating) | Italy:VM18 (DVD rating) | Australia:R | France:-16 | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (re-rating) (1989) | USA:R | South Korea:18 | Spain:18

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Company:

Astral Bellevue Pathé

Trivia:

The idea for Terror Train (1980) came from a dream that Daniel Grodnikhad. One weekend night after seeing the films Halloween (1978) and Silver Streak (1976), Dan woke up and said to his wife, "What do you think about putting Halloween on a train? His wife answered, "That's terrible. He jotted down "Terrible Train" on a piece of paper on his nightstand. In the morning he changed the title to TERROR TRAIN, wrote up 22 pages, and made a deal on it with Sandy Howard's company at 3 in the afternoon.

Quotes:

Carne, Train Conductor: Have you ever shoveled any coal?

Movie Connections:

Featured in Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film (2006)

One of the better Halloween follow-ups

Of the slasher films that Jamie Lee Curtis would appear in after the masterful Halloween (1978), Terror Train is truly the best. It's also one of the better genre entries of the early '80s.

College students hold a costume party on a train, only to have a masked stranger come aboard with murder on their mind. But is this murderer really a stranger?

As slasher films go, Terror Train really has a lot going for it. The claustrophobic setting is an ideal place for suspense and it works! The direction is compact and nicely done, making great use of the rather creepy-looking masks that the killer wears. This film also boasts one of the most suspenseful chase sequences in the genre! The cinematography is slickly-well done. The music score is unique and beautiful (especially Alana's theme, heard mostly in the beginning of the end credits).

The cast is also in good form. Jamie Lee is good as her likable heroine self. Handsome Hart Bochner does well as the two-faced frat leader. Veteran actor Ben Johnson is a welcomed addition as the train conductor. Even David Copperfield manages to be a little menacing in his role as a mysterious magician.

All together Terror Train does well, making for a good slasher-thriller with a few tricks up its sleeves. Definitely a highlight among 80's slasher films.

*** 1/2 out of ****