NIGHT TRAIN MURDERS

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

(Two girlfriends, Laura (Marina Berti, JESUS OF NAZARETH) and Margaret (Irene Miracle, INFERNO; MIDNIGHT EXPRESS) travel via train to spend the Christmas holidays with Laura's parents in Rome. Unfortunately, a couple of Santa-beating, chain-smoking hoodlums hitch a free ride on the same train while fleeing from an irate rail station guard.

Once on the train, the girls talk about losing their virginity (one has, the other hasn't) and innocently flirt with the two delinquent lads (one of whom is played by Flavio Bucci, blind pianist Daniel from SUSPIRIA).

Meanwhile, a ‘la LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, Laura's parents are busy at home preparing eagerly for their daughter's arrival. We see them organising dinner, buying her a scooter, liaising with Margaret's mother over train times, etc.

Back on the train, things get a little more uncomfortable as Blackie (Bucci) gets it on with a business-like lady passenger (Macha Meril, DEEP RED) and locks himself in the toilet to give her a good seeing to.

A fight breaks out when the other hoodlum, Curly (Gianfranco De Grassi, THE CHURCH), is unable to produce his ticket for the on-board inspector. Laura and Margaret look on in horror as a knife is pulled out on the inspector, then decide among themselves to change trains at the earliest opportunity.

In a severe stroke of bad luck, the girls sneak off the busy train and board a far quieter one, only to discover that the terrible twins have followed suit - and brought the sexually unhinged Meril along for the ride.

A night of rape, torture, beating and deflowering-by-blade ensues, culminating in two senseless deaths.

The following morning our murderous trio vacate the train at precisely the platform where Laura's parents are awaiting her. And then, in a further not to Craven's milestone nasty, the girls' killers are taken in unwittingly by Laura's parents.

During an evening meal, Laura's mother begins to suspect all is not well with her new houseguests. One of them is clearly a junkie in need of a fix, ands appears to be wearing a gift that Laura had bought for her father ... sounding familiar?!?!

Yeah, the similarities to LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT are so painful that it's pointless to elaborate further on plot.

Still, Aldo Lado (WHO SAW HER DIE?) does a neat job of splitting his story into three acts, the mid-section being particularly intense and, at times, unpleasant. The direction is slick yet patient enough to let the impending sense of unease burrow its way under your skin slowly. All of which is aided tremendously by Ennio Morricone's haunting, harmonica-led score.

Lado benefits from a good cast too. The two girls make for great, believable victims. Meril, on the other hand, is so convincingly demented that you just want to punch her in the face. Bucci lets the side down a tad by constantly teetering on over-acting.

Subtle swipes at communism and fascism make for an interesting subtext during the earlier scenes on the train, while the opening tune boasts the unforgettable strains of the late, great Demis Roussos.

What really makes NIGHT TRAIN MURDERS tick though, upon repeat viewings, is its perfectly executed sense of unrelenting terror once the girls find themselves trapped in the train car with their tormentors.

And now, the film makes its debut on UK blu-ray, courtesy of our friends at 88 Films.

It looks superb. The film is fully uncut, and presented as a healthily sized MPEG4-AVC file which utilises full 1080p HD resolution to proffer a clean, true representation of the 35mm negative materials.

Presented in 16x9 widescreen, framing and composition are accurate, while colours and detail impress throughout. There are no issues with compression or edge enhancement.

The picture is certainly finer and more filmic, more naturally grainy, than its Blue Underground blu-ray counterpart.

Master mono audio comes in choices of English or Italian. Both are fine ways of watching the film, though the real coup here is the latter: it lends gravitas to the film, and comes equipped with easily readable blue-green English subtitles.

A static main menu page opens the disc. From there, a static pop-up scene selection menu allows access to the film via 8 chapters.

We also get some interesting bonus features...

"Strangers on a (Late Night) Train" is an excellent new 21-minute featurette with Miracle, in which the actress reflects on her time spent acting in the film. She speaks about hanging out with the likes of Bernardo Bertolucci and Pier Paolo Pasolini, likens Lado's film to THE VIRGIN SPRING and SALO, and talks favourably about her Italian co-stars. "It's a hard film to watch", she comments as she muses over how it's survived throughout these last few decades.

"Further Adventures in Italy" offers a further 4 minutes with Miracle, in which she covers her post-NIGHT TRAIN MURDERS acting career in Italy (working with people like Luigi Cozzi).

Two theatrical trailers round things off on the disc: one with English audio, the other in Italian (without subtitles).

Finally, it's worth noting that this release comes with double-sided cover artwork and a collectors' booklet - neither of which were available for review purposes.

NIGHT TRAIN MURDERS looks great in this new HD transfer, and it's fabulous to finally see it with its Italian soundtrack intact. The extras are good too, making this the best domestic treatment of NIGHT TRAIN MURDERS yet.

Review by Stuart Willis