NIGHT TRAIN MURDERS

NIGHT TRAIN MURDERS

(a.k.a. LATE NIGHT TRAINS; DON'T RIDE ON LATE NIGHT TRAINS; L'ULTIMO TRENO DELLA NOTTE; LAST STOP ON THE NIGHT TRAIN; TERROR TRAIN)

I've reviewed Aldo Lado's excellent early 70's exploitation effort before, when Blue Underground their solid Region DVD back in October 2004. Now it makes it's UK DVD debut, courtesy of Shameless Entertainment, and affords me the chance to take a fresh look �

Ripping off Wes Craven's seminal THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT without shame, Lado's film starts with best friends Margaret (Irene Miracle, INFERNO) and Lisa (Laura D'Angelo) preparing to travel overnight via train to spend the Christmas holidays with Lisa's parents in Rome.

Unfortunately a couple of punks - Blackie (Flavio Bucci, SUSPIRIA) and junkie Curly (Gianfranco De Grassi) - hitch a free ride on the same train when they board it to escape a policeman giving chase to them.

Once on the train, the punks amuse Margaret and Lisa when they ask them to help them hide from the ticket collector. But things soon turn sour when Blackie gets on with a mysterious lady (Macha Meril, DEEP RED) and Curly has a violent confrontation with the ticket collector.

Margaret and Lisa retire to their cabin, resolving to keep out of the trouble-hungry threesome's way for the remainder of the journey. They even change trains when theirs is held up at a station by police keen to arrest Blackie and co.

For a while, the girls are at ease on their new train, discussing their next college term, their sex lives (or lack of), and enjoying a candlelit supper in their cabin. But it's at this point that they're joined by Blackie, Curly and their seriously twisted new female accomplice - and things turn ugly �

Though lacking in originality (Lado freely admits his film was made to cash-in on the success if Craven's grim predecessor), NIGHT TRAIN MURDERS is an effective shocker that gets better with each viewing.

I still think Bucci overacts wildly, but found it more enjoyable than distracting this time around. And I paid more attention to the stunning coloured lighting and imaginative camera work, getting good mileage out of the limited locations.

The film is a very grim and unsettling piece, even if the final act feels like a cop-out after the truly harrowing mid-section. The ending, echoing Craven's film heavily (the vengeful father is even a doctor), goes for comic-book type violence designed to get its audience cheering. Which is fair enough, it just feels a little at loggerheads with the "violence is ugly" rhetoric and heavy political posturing of the film's first hour.

Still, it's a fantastic film overall, the likes of which just don't get made anymore. I should also point out Ennio Morricone's haunting score, which remains as chilling and atmospheric as ever.

It's great to see such a contentious classic finally given the uncut treatment in the UK. Thank God then, that it's release was catered for by the reliable Shameless.

The uncut film is presented in its original 1.85:1 ratio, and is anamorphically enhanced. It looks great, with nice sharp image detail and bold colours. Sure, it's a tad darker than the BU transfer, but overall you'd have to be extremely finicky to pick flaws.

The English dubbed mono audio does it's job well, with no hiss or inconsistencies to speak of.

The film can be accessed via 12 chapters.

Beyond the attractive animated main menu, the only extra relating to the film is it's original theatrical trailer. This looks in extremely good shape to, and lasts for a satisfying 3-and-a-half minutes.

Elsewhere, we get trailers for a selection of other Shameless titles: THE BLACK CAT; THE FRIGHTENED WOMAN; MY DEAR KILLER; RATMAN (with Shameless' superb tagline "He's the critter from the shitter"!); BABA YAGA and PHANTOM OF DEATH.

Finally, I must note that this release continues Shameless' pleasing trend of offering double-sided cover art. On the one side is the colourful, exploitative artwork with the tagline "Whore Aboard!", while on the other is a more sedate, aesthetically pleasing poster art depicting Lisa's father with rifle in hand. The title on this side (and on the reverse spine) is LATE NIGHT TRAINS.

A brilliant, potent, politically charged film, and one that understandably a lot of genre fans prefer to Craven's celebrated LAST HOUSE. It's great to see it finally arrive uncut on UK DVD.

Review by Stuart Willis


 
Released by Shameless
Region 2 - PAL
Rated 18 (uncut)
Extras :
see main review
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