acidburn-10 "Night Train Murders" is one of those several rape revenge flicks that came from the 1970's following "I Spit On Your Grave" and "Last House On The Left", and now this one, which is just as unsettling as the previous two, where in this one we have 2 girls terrorised by 2 men and a woman, who torture and eventually kill the young girls and then they come into contact with one of the dead girl's parents and when they find out the father wreaks revenge.Okay I found this movie way too unsettling even for my taste, not that I'm saying that this movie is terrible, it just started off well and the torture scenes were this movie's strong point as they were filled with tension and it made me really feel for these girls, but it's the second half of this movie which was a kind of let down, It just didn't have the pay off that I was hoping for, and there could have been a bit more too it. But on a positive not I did like the distinctive use of blue light while the girls are being held captive on the train along with the films cinema photography is perfectly executed as most of the film is shot in claustrophobic spaces adding to the tension that builds as the film progresses is also another of this movie's highlights.The acting was also strong and convincing especially from the two unlucky girls who were both outstanding. Enrico Maria Saleno who plays the father was also great as he goes from mild mannered doctor and then pushed to his very limits of sanity. But it's Macha Meril who plays the woman of the trio of sickos who steals the show as the ice cold queen who quickly goes from early victim to taking charge of the other two thugs. All in all "Night Train Murders" is a decent enough horror movie and not just a clone of "Last House On The Left" and definitely a must see for fans of 70's Italian horror movies.

tonymurphylee Ingmar Bergman's THE VIRGIN SPRING has been hailed one of the most controversial foreign films of the 60s. Not surprisingly, the 1972 remake of THE VIRGIN SPRING, titled THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT and directed by Wes Craven, is considered one of the most controversial horror films of the 70s. If anyone were to have guessed that the film would have been remade and rehashed so much, perhaps one wouldn't have been so quick to jump on the idea of it being a taboo horror film. In truth, the Wes Craven classic does not hold up well today. It's cheap look, it's inappropriate sense of style of music, and it's pacing come off more strongly as camp.None the less, the film is undeniably influential. It's influence can be seen in everything from family films such as HOME ALONE in which the main characters make a mockery of thugs in a variety of gruesome traps, to Grindhouse style shock films such as I DRINK YOUR BLOOD and CAGED TERROR. It has been remade three times; In 2009 it was fully adapted as THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, which garnered mixed critical acclaim. In 2005 it was remade in as a cheap low budget student film by wrestler David DeFalco called CHAOS. However, most importantly it was remade by in 1975, only three years after the original, in an Italian version known as NIGHT TRAIN MURDERS, or, as it was known in the US, THE NEW LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT.NIGHT TRAIN MURDERS follows the same basic set-up as THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT. Two girls are kidnapped by thugs, tortured, raped, and then brutally murdered. The setting this time is in Italy, and the plot follows two girls on a series of train rides to one of their parents's house. The film starts off much like a film about two innocent tourists. The girls get on the train and have a series of little adventures, not entirely innocent, but playfully naive and without much fear. However, as their train rides continue, things don't go as planned. Two thugs sneak on board and begin to harass the girls, as well as another female passenger who soon decides to join them on their night of debauchery and mayhem after one of them rapes her.When the two girls find themselves fearing for their lives and uncomfortable, they take advantage of a somewhat convenient bomb-threat and sneak onboard another train that will get them to their destination about half an hour early. They get on-board only to find that the train is, mostly, deserted and seemingly without lights or electricity. They take a nap in one of the compartments and then wake up later on in the night to have dinner by candlelight. However, during their dinner they soon discover that the thugs, along with their female friend, have sneaked on-board and the two girls find themselves trapped in a horrible nightmare of torture, rape, humiliation, and heartless cruelty.When the deeds are done the terror still continues. Even after the bodies are violated and disposed of there is still such incredible suspense in it's unfolding of events. When the parents show up to pick the girls up and find the two thugs and the girl at the train station instead, we can feel the slowly building paranoia as the characters realize who they are each dealing with. As the parents come to find out what happened, we truly can feel their sorrow as they realize that they will never see their daughter alive again. Then the revenge aspect comes into play and it is even more shocking than we anticipated. It is not shocking in a gratuitous gorefest kind of sense, but rather it is shocking in that it is obvious that the father who performs these killings is unprepared and inexperienced in such matters. The terror comes from the fact that he is a normal man who is doing something he has never wanted to do. As a result the film is not only horrifying as hell, but it is also an emotional roller coaster ride.This is one of the most effective horror films I have ever seen. The realism of the situations presented here comes off so authentic and suspenseful that it's practically a guarantee that most viewers' stomachs will be in knots. The film is relentless in it's horror and the way the victims' lives are toyed with. The audience is toyed with as well in several moments of what I could pretty much describe as false hope. The film will likely take an emotional tole on viewers who aren't prepared. This film is far more disturbing than THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT due to the unfolding tension. There are no moments of forced dark comedy or cheap style. The film pulls no punches in depicting the last hours of the lives of these two innocent girls. The character of Curly is also far more terrifying than the character of Krug in the original in that he comes across as so simple-minded and yet so screwed up in a realistic way. This is an absolute must-see for all horror fans. This film is a masterpiece, and I'm glad that a modern day version of THE VIRGIN SPRING has finally been told in a proper and effective way.

The_Void You'll probably never see a review of this film that doesn't make reference to Wes Craven's classic 'The Last House on the Left', and there's a good reason for that; as this film has basically the exact (and I mean EXACT) same plot, only instead of a couple of young girls being raped, beaten and humiliated in the woods, they're raped, beaten and humiliated on board a train. Of course, I knew that this was the case before I began watching the film; but I was honestly expecting the two to differ a lot more than they actually do. I do sometimes wonder about my mental health when I purposefully track down and enjoy films like this one and The House on the Edge of the Park; films that are famous purely for relentless violence, but I can rest easy with this one as it really isn't all that enjoyable. The plot follows a couple of young women that decide to take a train ride in celebration of the holidays. However, their bad luck is in when it turns out that a trio of lunatics have also decided to ride the train that day; and the meeting between the two parties is pleasurable for one side only! The main problem with this film is the fact that the first hour is unbelievably dull and there isn't a lot going on in the way of plot or violence. The early scenes set up the movie - but they go on too long, and the film even descends into political discussion on several occasions - and I may be on my own here, but that's not what I want from an exploitation flick. What I do want from an exploitation flick is violence, and the film doesn't completely deliver on that front either. There are unpleasant scenes aplenty in the final third, but one sequence aside; they're not all that shocking. The saving grace of Night Train Murders is director Aldo Lado's attention to detail. He makes good use of his mobile setting, and the train always seems a claustrophobic and unpleasant place to be. Ennio Morricone's score isn't one of his best, and merely goes along with the common exploitation beat. Anyone who has seen The Last House on the Left will know how it all ends, but it fails to pack a punch because the characters are so hard to care for, and Lado doesn't manage to make the audience really hate the villains. Overall, this film isn't very good; but there are a few positives, and exploitation completists may get a kick out of it.

Johann Anyone who has seen Last House on the Left doesn't need to bother with this film. LHOTL was taken (admittedly) from Ingmar Bergman's film Virgin Spring.The plot in that film was an old Swedish folk legend about a girl who is raped and killed by three highwaymen. The highwaymen then end up having to stay at the girl's parents' place. The parents notice that one of the murderers has a personal effect of their daughter's, and the father enacts his revenge on them for the murder.Night Train Murders was taken from LHOTL (so they're both really ripping off the Swedes). LHOTL does it much better and keeps it relatively artistic. I didn't like this film that much. Here, they keep the two girl formula used in Last House, but has them traveling on a night train from Munich to Italy to visit one girl's parents for Christmas. The killers are two street thugs and a sadistic woman that they hook up with on the train. The girls switch trains in Austria and so do these folks. If you've seen Virgin Spring or Last House, you know what will happen.It seems to try to keep the shock value up, but doesn't deliver highly on the watchability. The first half is rather boring (it tries to set up what is going on, but is really more trouble than it's worth). Granted, there is some sadism, sex and violence, but it's not that shocking or really necessary. Last House was considered to be very shocking when it came out. This film seemed to be playing off of that success and throw in some more shocking things. This formula didn't make it good, or even enjoyable. It seems like they were just shocking to be shocking.Don't waste your time.