Terror Train
Terror Train is a 1980 slasher film directed by Roger Spottiswoode — in his directorial debut — written by Thomas Y. Drake, and starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Ben Johnson, and Hart Bochner. The film follows a group of pre-medical school students holding a New Year's Eve costume party on a moving train who are targeted by a killer who dons their costumes. It features supporting performances from Sandee Currie, Anthony Sherwood, and David Copperfield.
The concept for the film was based on an idea by executive producer Daniel Grodnik, who sought to "make Halloween on a train". A full-length script for the film was composed by T. Y. Drake, and production began within four months. The film was shot in Montreal between late November and late December 1979, shortly after Curtis had completed filming for Prom Night (1980). Terror Train had to have a primarily Canadian cast and crew to qualify for a tax credit.
An independently produced film, Terror Train was purchased for distribution by the major studio 20th Century Fox, which had yet to release a slasher film; the studio spent an estimated $5 million on an expansive marketing campaign for the film. It was released theatrically in the United States on October 3, 1980, grossing $8 million during its theatrical run. The film's gross disappointed 20th Century Fox, falling short of their expectations for $40–50 million. Writer David Grove attributed the movie's box office performance to an oversaturation of the slasher film market.
Terror Train garnered a mixed reception, with several reviewers considering it an above-average example of its subgenre. Critics noted the film's themes of revenge, illusion, and genderbending. Terror Train became a cult classic, inspiring a remake in 2022, which was followed by a sequel that same year.
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