Terror Train

Welcome to Flick Chick Reviews! I hope that I can provide you with reviews for the movies you are looking for as well as some that you did not even know existed. My first review that I will post here is a review that I wrote this week for My Month of Movies, which was put together by my friend and fellow movie fanatic, Dan Barbour. This review is for the movie Terror Train (1980) starring Jamie Lee Curtis and David Copperfield. Enjoy and happy "flicking"!

Terror Train was everything that you would expect from an 80s horror movie but it still stood out from the rest for me. Despite the beginning of the movie dragging on for what seemed like an eternity, it still managed to keep just enough of my interest to make me want to see what happened next. Once the movie got moving, though, it was full steam ahead!

What I Did Not Like About This Movie:

- The overall character development was not very well done. I did not necessarily feel connected to anyone in this movie on any sort of level. Therefore, when they were killed it got an "Eh....*shrug*" or "Now who was that guy again? Oh well...." reaction from me. The only character in the film that I felt was developed well was Jamie Lee's. That girl can act! Why she is stuck doing Activia commercials now is beyond me.

-I liked the idea of this movie. It was creative, however, it was not well thought out. It lacked depth to the point that a four year old could have watched it (not that I would recommend that lol) and understood every single thing going on because everything was taken at face value and was very simple in its presentation. The script had more holes in it than a golf course covered in swiss cheese and doughnuts. This didn't make me not want to watch it.....it just left me feeling like I had been hungry, grabbed the first thing that I saw, ate it, was full, but not satisfied. It does the job of scaring you in parts but its simplicity made it not enough. I could have walked away for 5 minutes at a time throughout the movie and come back and still known exactly what was going on. The ending, however, makes watching the first 3/4 of the movie worth it, though :)

What I Liked About This Movie:

- I absolutely loved the versatility of the killer in this movie! The basis of the movie is that a group of college medical students throw a costume party on a train to celebrate their graduation. What they do not know is that someone from their past wanting revenge has boarded the train with them and uses their own costumes as disguises as he kills them one by one. This made the killer in this movie stick out from other movie killers who have a distinguishable look throughout (ie. Freddy or Jason). This made the movie itself more interesting and even fun in parts!

- The ending of the movie is as fast as the beginning is slow. The beginning drug on for awhile but once things started to pick up it really got interesting and I could not take my eyes away! I would suggest watching the movie just so that you could enjoy the last 20-30 minutes! It does not disappoint. Just when you think that you've known all along what was going on you get slapped in the face with a surprise in the end :)

- David Copperfield does magic throughout the movie, which I am sure was added in to hold the viewers interest (and it worked!).

Gross Out Moment:

- The part where one of the guys takes a random girl's high heel and starts drinking out of it. These are medical students. Have they not heard of foot fungus? You don't know where her foot has been. Gross.OUT!

Things to Note:

- I can't recall a single cuss word, which is a miracle in a horror movie.

- Brief female nudity.

Overall Rating:

As fas as 80s cheesy horror movies go it was alright....Not TOO bad. I'm giving it a higher rating just for the ending.

Three out of Five Hearts: ♥ ♥ ♥