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Released by: Severin Films
Released on: November 26th, 2024.
Director: Aldo Lado
Cast: Irene Miracle, Laura D'Angelo, Gianfranco De Grassi, Flavio Bucci
Year: 1975
Purchase From Severin Films
Night Train Murders – Movie Review:
Directed by Aldo Lado in 1975, Night Train Murders follows a pair of skuzzy criminals named Blackie (Flavio Bucci) and Curly (Gianfranco De Grassi) who wind up on a train with the intention of doing some damage. Also on this train are Lisa Stradi (Laura D'Angelo) and her cousin Margaret (Irene Miracle), two pretty young women travelling home to see their families for the holidays. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what happens next, and the girls soon find themselves essentially being held hostage on a train by a pair of oversexed psychopaths.
Blackie and Curly were on the run from the cops though, that's the very reason that they got on the train in the first place - will the law catch up to them before they go too far or are Lisa and Margaret basically screwed? And what's up with the older woman on the train (Macha Meril), the one who seems to be enjoying all of this far more than she should?
Very clearly influenced by Wes Craven's Last House On The Left, Lado's picture isn't nearly as slick as some of the Giallo's he is better known for but it definitely delivers some sleazy thrills. Setting the action on the train gives the story some added tension, as you just can't run out the door and escape the way you can from a building. The train is moving at a good pace and any escape attempt on the part of Lisa and Margaret would be dangerous. As such, you very definitely get the feeling that our two victims are very much in some very real danger quite early on in the storyline.
Performance wise, D'Angelo and Miracle both look right for their respective parts. The each offer up some decent work here and play things both sweet and sexy at the same time. Their characters contrast with those played by Bucci and De Grassi, the latter of whom does his best David Hess impersonation in the film but can't quite reach the same levels of intensity that the late Hess brought to Last House's Krug. Throwing Meril's character into the mix also spices things up a bit, as she shows some interesting development here. Her initial rejection of the thugs' abrasive tactics soon turns into something far more accepting of it. As such, the antagonistic side of the script winds up with an unexpected third element.
Lado and his team shoot the film with plenty of style. Like the best Italian horror movies the film always looks great, making excellent use of the train's closed quarters and high speed to build tension and atmosphere. The film makes no qualms about rubbing the viewers' faces into the seedy side of humanity. This is made readily apparent in a scene where the two girls are being raped and a fellow passenger first peers at them and then winds up joining in on the assault. Ennio Morricone's score for the film is a good one, heightening the mood that helps bring everything to a suitably dark and grisly conclusion. It may be derivative, or even a flat out rip off of Craven's film, but Night Train Murders is done well enough that you probably won't mind so much - it's simultaneously effective, sleazy, slick and disturbing.
Night Train Murders – UHD/Blu-ray Review:
NOTE: As this review is based on an online screener provided by Severin Films for review purposes, the technical portion and the extras review for this release will is not complete. If/when finished product is made available, we’ll update this review accordingly.
The stream offered for review presents the movie in a 1080p high definition transfer, framed at 1.85.1, while the UHD would, obviously, be a HVEC encoded 2160p transfer “scanned in 4K from the original camera negative.” Keeping in mind that this is based on a stream and therefore not a completely accurate representation of what the transfer on the disc will look like, the picture quality is quite good. Grain is present throughout, there doesn’t appear to be much, if any, digital noise reduction but the source was clearly in great shape as you’re not going to spot much print damage outside of a few white specks here and there. Colors also look really good and black levels are nice and deep.
Audio chores on the stream are handled by an English language 2.0 Mono track with optional subtitles in English. The finished product should also include an Italian language track 2.0 Mono track. The English audio sounds pretty solid here, with clear dialogue and decent range to the score and effects work. Levels are fine and there aren’t any problems with any hiss or distortion to complain about.
Finished product will be a two-disc set with extras spread out across the set as follows:
Disc One (UHD):
-Audio Commentary With Director Aldo Lado, Moderated By Freak-O-Rama's Federico Caddeo
-Audio Commentary With Ultra Violent Magazine's Art Ettinger And Cinema Arcana's Bruce Holecheck
-Trailer
Disc Two (Blu-ray):
-Audio Commentary With Director Aldo Lado, Moderated By Freak-O-Rama's Federico Caddeo
Audio Commentary With Ultra Violent Magazine's Art Ettinger And Cinema Arcana's Bruce Holecheck
-Hear My Train A-Comin' – Interview With Director Aldo Lado
-The Veiled Lady – Interview With Actress Macha Méril
-Back On The Train – Interview With Actor Gianfranco De Grassi
-Train In Vain – Interview With Actress Irene Miracle
-Ngiht Train Murders And Sadean Women: Power, Pleasure And The Subversion Of Morality – Video Essay By Kat Ellinger, Author Of Daughters Of Darkness
-Trailer
This release is also slated to come with the film's soundtrack included on a bonus audio CD.
Night Train Murders – The Final Word:
Aldo Lado's Night Train Murders is a sufficiently sleazy slice of Italian horror that offers up some memorably twisted set pieces, great location work and a cool score. Severin’s upcoming UHD/Blu-ray edition looks to be a good one, offering up a great selection of supplements to go along with the kick ass feature.