Night Train Murders

From The Deuce

The New House on The Left (Alt. Title) Available DVDs Poster Art Press Kit

Also Known As

• Ultimo treno della notte, L' (Italy)
• Bête tue de sang-froid, La (France)
• Dernier train de la nuit, Le (France) (cable TV title)
• Don't Ride on Late Night Trains (UK)
• Last Stop on the Night Train (USA) (dubbed version)
• Late Night Trains (UK)
• Night Train - Der letzte Zug in der Nacht (West Germany)
• Nighttrain Murders (Belgium) (video title) (English title)
• Torture Train (undefined)
• Train de l'enfer, Le (France) (video title)
• Train de la mort, Le (France) (video title)
• Train de nuit pour un tueur (France) (video title)
• Violenza sull'ultimo treno della notte (Italy)
• Xmas Massacre (USA) (reissue title)

Taglines

• Most movies last less than two hours! This is one of everlasting torment!
• The windows look out onto hell...a view that will take your breath away...permanently!
• SEAL OF CONSUMER AWARENESS: The price of admission to this motion picture is only the down payment. The balance will be extracted from you nerves...minute by minute.
• Even PSYCHO, LAST HOUSE and EXORCIST let you off before the end of the line...NOT THIS TIME!
• You can tell yourself IT'S ONLY A MOVIE - but it won't help!

Main Details

• Released in 1975
• Color
• Running Time: 94 min
• Aspect Ratio: (1.85:1)
• Production Co: European Incorporation
• Distribution Co: Bryanston Distributing (USA) | Central Park

Cast and Crew

• Directed by Aldo Lado
• Written by Roberto Infascelli (story), Renato Izzo, Aldo Lado, and Ettore Sanzo (story)
• Starring Flavio Bucci, Macha Meril, Gianfranco De Grassi, Enrico Maria Salerno, and Marina Berti
• Original Music by Ennio Morricone
• Cinematography by Gabor Pogany
• Film Editing by Alberto Gallitti

Film Review

Following very closely in the footsteps of The Last House On The Left, Aldo Lado's train-based shocker follows that film's legacy down to the small print, taking everything from plot progression to taglines along the way. It manages at times to be a very artful knock-off, featuring quality cinematography, a relatively interesting Ennio Morricone score, and some eerie, claustrophobic locomotive suspense. Unfortunately, little brother doesn't really match his big brother in strength or power, making for a mildly entertaining film that barely shocks and rarely frightens.

Heading home to Italy from boarding school in Germany, Lisa is excited to spend the Christmas holiday with her well-to-do parents at their massive Italian villa. Bringing along her saucy and promiscuous pal, Margaret, Lisa and company hop a train to Italy, in hopes of arriving for dinner in a timely fashion. Unbeknownst to the girls, two local, doped-up thieves are on the train as well, and they're looking for love, and won't take no for an answer.

After cornering the girls into a secluded compartment and taking on a well-dressed and equally sick woman of ill repute, Blackie and Curly (our junkie antagonists) play vicious sexual games with Lisa and Margaret, eventually deflowering Lisa with a switchblade and forcing Margaret to have sex with an older male passenger. The female member of this sadistic posse watches the rape and torture in a cold, detached fashion, gaining power from viewing the desecration of two young and innocent teen girls.

These brief and tastefully filmed torture scenes are disturbing, especially with the rainy and dimly-lit corridors of the nearly empty train. Morricone's score also adds to the mood, utilizing sparse harmonica in the same vein of his immortal Once Upon a Time in the West compositions. Yet, this level of tension eventually wains, especially during the inevitable parental vengeance sequence towards the end of the feature. The stomach-wrenching heights of Last House or Ruggero Deodato's The House On The Edge of The Park are never met and what should have been a cathartic conclusion ended up feeling like too little, too late.

What we're left with is a watchable and professionally executed film that falters solely on the basis of its connection to a better feature. If not held up to the mirror of Last House's infamy, it may have turned out to be a much more interesting and original piece of work.

Reviewed by Mdeapo