Terror Train

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Director: Roger Spottiswoode Year: 1980 Runtime: 97 min IMDb: ⭐ 5.8
Movie Poster

Synopsis

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

At a university fraternity's New Year's Eve party, a reluctant Alana Maxwell is pressured into a prank: she lures the awkward, virginal pledge Kenny Hampson into a bedroom under the promise of sex. Instead, he discovers a corpse stolen from the medical school in the bed. Traumatized, Kenny is committed to a psychiatric hospital. Three years later, members of the same fraternities and sororities hold a New Year's Eve costume party aboard a train. Attendees include Alana, her best friend Mitchy, her boyfriend Mo, class clown Ed, prank ringleader Doc, and Jackson, along with a magician and his female assistant hired to entertain the students. Ed is murdered before boarding, and the killer dons his Groucho Marx mask to move among the students unnoticed. As the train travels into the wilderness, he continues his killings: Jackson is murdered in the sleeper bathroom, and when conductor Carne investigates, the killer conceals the body and dons Jackson's lizard costume, fooling brakeman Charlie. Mitchy is killed in her compartment, Mo is found dead during a magic show, and two crew members are later discovered murdered. Carne sequesters the students while porters uncover yet another corpse. Pulling the emergency brake throws everyone off balance, and the porters escort the students off, many thinking it is another of Doc's stunts. Alana suspects Kenny and recalls visiting him at the hospital, learning of his disturbed state. Doc seals himself in a sleeper car but is decapitated, and Alana mistakes the magician for Kenny. Pursued through the train, she discovers the magician dead and finds Kenny, dressed in Charlie's uniform, revealing that he has been posing in drag as the magician's female assistant. Alana apologizes for the original prank, but Kenny refuses to forgive her and forces her to kiss him. The kiss triggers a traumatic relapse, leaving him vulnerable. Carne arrives and beats Kenny with a shovel, causing him to fall from the train into an icy river as it speeds away.

Summary adapted from TMDb and Wikipedia sources.

🎄 Holiday Cheer Breakdown

Content Warnings

⭐ IMDb Parents Guide 🛡️ Common Sense Media

someone is sexually assaulted
spoiler Woman has sexual contact with someone who she thinks is somebody else. It appears a dead hand is used to touch her.
there are snakes
spoiler no but a reptillian costume.
there's an alligator/crocodile
spoiler no but a reptillian costume.
someone leaves without saying goodbye
spoiler Characters abandon their friend at the station in a bad state.
a woman is brutalized for spectacle
spoiler Alana is tormented the most, especially in her Final Girl Circuit, for our amusement.
someone gets gaslighted
spoiler A character finds a dead body and reports it, but upon returning the scene has been altered: he isn't outright gaslighted, but he and his company suggests it was "just a prank."
the abused becomes the abuser
Yes
someone is stalked
spoiler Stalking/hunting, but definitely lots of watching from a distance.
alcohol abuse
spoiler the entire setting is a fraternity party on a train
someone uses drugs
spoiler Marijuana.
someone is sexually assaulted onscreen
spoiler A female character reveals herself, attempts to undress and blocks an unwilling male character in a room.
sexual assault on men is a joke
spoiler inciting incident was a prank on a man involving sex, but he wasn't assaulted per se and though the characters pulling the prank were laughing the movie itself doesn't play it for laughs. and there was a scene with a woman trying to get a guy to do her and getting undressed (and I think he was uninterested?) but I think the intent was for misunderstanding
someone is restrained
Yes
someone's mouth is covered
Yes
there's excessive gore
Yes
there's shaving/cutting
Yes
there's amputation
spoiler Hands, arms (briefly), head.
someone struggles to breathe
Yes
somebody is choked
Yes
someone is stabbed
Yes
someone falls to their death
Yes
Someone becomes unconscious
Yes
there's finger/toe mutilation
spoiler Disembodied finger prank (and not prank).
there's decapitation
Yes
there's eye mutilation
spoiler While it initially appears that he was stabbed in the eye, the killer later unmasks and we see he was actually stabbed in the cheek. His eye appears completely unharmed.
there's body horror
spoiler An earring being ripped out of an ear. Ick!
heads get squashed
spoiler A helmet is crushed under a train wheel. A body (and its head) assumedly does too off-screen.
hands are damaged
spoiler Amputated hand.
someone's throat is mutilated
Yes
someone is crushed to death
Yes
a major character dies
Yes
someone dies
Yes
someone overdoses
spoiler Someone appears dead and passed out drunk
someone cheats
Yes
there are jump scares
Yes
there are clowns
spoiler background extra, the entire cast is wearing a costume
there's natural bodies of water
spoiler River, at the end of the movie.
there's incarceration
spoiler No, but a character locks themselves in a cage, which may be triggering.
a trans person is depicted predatorily
spoiler There's crossdressing in this film, but it's to misdirect rather than their identity.
an LGBT+ person is outed
Yes
there's a mental institution scene
spoiler character is mentioned to be "hospitalized" for 3 years for unstable behavior
someone has cancer
spoiler A "smoking gives you cancer" joke is made.
there's a hospital scene
spoiler mentioned but not shown on screen
autism is misrepresented
Yes
a mentally ill person is violent
Yes
someone suffers from PTSD
spoiler someone is affected by a past traumatic experience but the label of PTSD and any real symptoms arent said.
reality is unstable or unhinged
spoiler No, but depictions of magic, which may trigger.
there's a claustrophobic scene
spoiler It's a claustrophobic movie... all on a train/tight spaces
there's dissociation, depersonalization, or derealization
spoiler A character has a flashback that results in him twirling like a pretty ballerina.
someone has an anxiety attack
Yes
someone has a mental illness
spoiler A character is mentioned to "have been sick." Subtle, but intentional.
someone has a meltdown
Yes
shaky cam is used
Yes
there's flashing lights or images
spoiler Flashing light that isn't strobe speed but is flashing.
there are sudden loud noises
Yes
there's screaming
Yes
there is obscene language/gestures
Yes
someone is watched without knowing
Yes
someone is misgendered
Yes
there are "Man in a dress" jokes
spoiler Not a joke, per se, but ...
the black guy dies first
spoiler Two Black men do die, but not first.
there is sexual content
spoiler Multiple consensual scenes of kissing, etc. One scene of uninformed nonconsensual contact.
someone is sexually objectified
spoiler Lots of female characters wear sexual costumes, and lots of them are sex-focused.
there are nude scenes
spoiler Mostly breasts, notably a scene where a woman takes her costume off to begin sex.
someone loses their virginity
spoiler No, but virginity is mentioned in the opening scene ("It's my first time too.")
there's fat suits
spoiler A minor character wears clothing that is too large for them as a costume
the ending is sad
Yes
a person is hit by a car
spoiler a body is run over by a train
a car honks or tires screech
spoiler no but a train whistle blows frequently and its tires are shown running over a body so that might be close enough for concern?
there's blood/gore
Yes

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