source: Last House - Part II

NIGHT TRAIN MURDERS, like many have already noted is a very thinly veiled homage (or a straight-up ripoff, depending on how you look at it...)of LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT - only this this one is set on a train. Two girls are heading home for the holidays on a train in Europe when they are accosted by two creepy guys and an equally creepy woman who begin tormenting the two young travelers. The taunting starts off pretty tame but quickly escalates. Without spoiling too much of the "fun stuff"...one of the girls is killed "accidentally" and the other jumps out of the moving train in terror and dies. Through an unlikely chance meeting, the girls parents unsuspectingly meet up with the killers and invite them to their house (a la LAST HOUSE...). When a newscast tips off the mother and father as to the fate of the girls, the father decides to take revenge in typical 70's exploitation fashion... Overall NIGHT TRAIN MURDERS is a decent film. A little slow going especially in the beginning, but the story is relatively tight - if also very derivative. The rape and revenge scenes are relatively tame by today's standards - I was hoping for something a little rougher, but - I have a soft spot for these 70's exploit "classics", so my rating may be a little higher than some. Not a masterpiece by any means, but worth a look for the genre enthusiast. Stick with LAST HOUSE, THRILLER: A CRUEL PICTURE or I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE for stronger, more original takes on this genre of film. 6/10

We'll it seems during the 70's a lot of films tried to hope on the revenge you raped my daughters bandwagon. The "Night Train Murders" is no exception and like some of the others, it's a very cheap and pathetic attempt. It really is an unmemorable flick. The overall picture that takes place on the train is too grainy and dark too watch. The acting I would call average. The girls in this movie, we'll you feel sorry for them but they don't deliver any surprises in this. Like "Last House on the Left" and other flicks, you know their going to die. They actually do have a chance to escape and there's even some bumbly old geezer that catches the disgraceful pedophiles in action but he does nothing, in fact he tries to join in!!!! This is bad sleaze as you can tell, Meanwhile one of the daughter's dad is a doctor who claims that he isn't " a violent man". LOL!!! We'll that is about to change when her the bad news of his daughter's death. Even the revenge scenes are a bit unsatisfying, and the movie is probably a bit wee too long It's like Aldo Lado forgot he was still filming a movie and forgot about the running time. There's even a crappy theme song because supposedly it's Christmas , man really terrible film. Anyhow the movie is not that great , I would almost say it's below average, but if have some time to kill and what to spend it watching a "Last House" knockoff with worse acting, and worse effects give it a look.

I believe this is the Euro equivalent of Last House on the Left, though no where near as brutal. In my opinion, and I'm sure other's too, the "shocking scenes" are not as gut-wrenching as Last House on the Left. The story is believable, as is Last House, but only to a certain point. The overall problem lies in the adaptation of the story. It seems as though something was lost in translation. Not much bloodletting either in comparison to Last House. The ending was sort of a let down also, and that makes for an unsatisfying view. Only recommended for those who are into the genre and want to view an obscure film, otherwise, avoid. 4 out of 10.

Director Aldo Lado leaps on board the LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT bandwagon with this entry. Craven's story is reprised but this time set on a train, and the nastiness is upped GREATLY. The sexual violence is presented in a far more ambiguous light in this movie, and there are several extremely morally dubious scenes of so called "porno rape"- where the female victims actually begin to ENJOY their assault half-way through. Couple this with the fact that the female criminal was politely discussing philosophy with other passengers before her rape transformed her into an evil murderess (implying that "all women need is a good f**k") and you can probably see that this film is extremely morally contentious and misogynistic. Similar to Deodato's HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE PARK, the morality on display here seems almost alien in these enlightened PC times. LATE NIGHT TRAINS works both positively and negatively. The positives are that by choosing a train to set this tale upon, Lado has allowed a deep-rooted claustrophobia to become a main feature of the film. In the context of a story like this, it should work well, but in many cases the cinematography just doesn't make the best use of the situation. The darkness and grimeyness works well but could have been played on to a much greater extent. Also, the plot is extremely contrived and relies on ridiculous coincidence (the girls changing trains half way through their journey, the old man who walks in on the assault accidently breaking off the door handle to the next carriage, etc) and the characters are left undeveloped, as pointed out earlier. In the latter case this almost ADDS to the atmosphere of the film, though. The tone is one of absolute inevitability and nihilism. Unfortunately, the acting throughout is very poor, especially from the male protagonists- their lethargic performances pale in comparison to those by David Hess in his "psycho" roles. There is a Morricone score too, but not a particularly fitting or good one in my opinion. This is certainly an interesting film. Despite there being good points and bad points, the sleaziness certainly keeps you watching. Once again it is a case of the outrageous misogyny having to be overlooked in order to enjoy this. LATE NIGHT TRAINS remains banned in the UK and this certainly won't change any time soon. There is little gore but the themes themselves are explicit enough to upset the BBFC.

(Spoilers, but irrelevant to anyone who's seen "Last House on the Left.") "Night Train Murders" has quite a bit going for it, but is ultimately undermined by its too-familiar links to "Last House on the Left" to the point where it is impossible to view it as a fresh, creative spin on that film's themes (this is like the Brian De Palma version, with an emphasis on style over character). The plot is recycled, but the setting is new: 2 girls (one a virgin) board a train to visit family for Christmas, only to be accosted by a group of thugs (including Sylvester Stallone lookalike Flavio Bucci, who played the blind pianist in "Suspiria") and an upper-class woman (Macha Meril, from "Deep Red") who is turned on by their sadistic behavior. Both girls are beaten, raped, and tossed off the train; the killers seem home free, until chance delivers them to the home of one of the girls' parents, who find out what happened and seek bloody retribution. "Night Train Murders" contains beautiful cinematography and is creatively directed by Aldo Lado, but this ultimately hinders the film--"Last House" possessed a gritty realism that made the events all the more horrifying; comparatively, this film is so meticulously lensed and deliberately choreographed that nobody will have to say "it's only a movie!" Scenes such as the switchblade deflowering and the self-conscious sexual encounters are so delicately rendered that they avoid (unfortunately) the low-grade bite of an exploitation film. Also problematic is the killers themselves, who possess little character under the surface of their brutality (save for Meril's two-dimensional socialite); the vengeful parents are direct copies of the mother and father in "Last House" (right down to the father being a doctor!), whose liberal views on crime are of course disposed of when their shell of security is shattered, blah blah blah. If you're a revenge-film completist, give "Night Train Murders" a whirl. It's not bad, but I've seen better.

Well, I was planning to provide this review with the title "Last Train on the Left" but that seems to be a pretty obvious choice. Nighttrain Murders tries to pick in on the success of Wes Craven's milestone as close as possible. They even managed to find a main villain resembling David Hess, who played the merciless bastard in Craven's film. The film means well and all but, it just lacks the budget, talent and inspiration to become of any importance. The entire first hour (in which two girls travel to Italy by train, in order to celebrate the Holiday season) completely lacks suspenseles or depth and it seems to be endless. Eventually, the girls are being humiliated and tortured by two madmen and a nympho-bitch. From then on, everything goes rather quickly and, before you know it, the father of one of the girls already avenged the death of his daughter. Totally "Last House on the Left" in other words...only less fascinating and only half as disturbing. Although it looks like a sleazy Italian production, the film hasn't got much violence or bloodshed in it. One scene is pretty disgusting to watch and you'll recognize which one I mean immediately. Besides that, it's nothing more but a waste of a terrific musical score by Ennio Morricone. Avoid! Unless your a fan of rare cult stuff of course.

basically a remake of last house but set on a train. it starts out with an ear bending demis roussos song 'a flower is all you need' which is worryingly catchy. we see 2 girls going home for christmas on a train but they didn't count on there being a depraved macha merrill and 2 psycho guys sharing the train. inevitably after doing their dirty business the bad guys end up at the home of the 2 girls as guests of their parents. this film has a nasty line in violence and is actually well worth checking out.

Come on I am sick of people saying Last House remake. Last House on the left is not original. It is also a remake of The Virgin Spring starring Ingrid Bergmann. I love Last House. Great film David Hess sealed himself as one of cinemas great villains. But Night Train is technically better made. Aldo uses the widescreen to great effect and builds the film to a great climax. Plus the fact the middle class woman probably the most evil character in the film walks away free. Excellent no compromise. So remember Last House is not original anyway. Also the reason the villains end up in the parents home is far more believable than the Last House synopsis

Lisa and Margaret are two sweet, if less than innocent teenagers taking a train ride across the European countryside on Christmas Eve. The unlucky pair run afoul of a couple of vicious sleazy thugs and an icy cold wealthy woman on board the train who proceed to rape, torment, debase and eventually murder poor Lisa and Margaret. Director/co-writer Aldo Lado wrings plenty of gut-wrenching claustrophobic tension from the edgy, unsettling story, adroitly creates a gritty, threatening atmosphere rife with sadism and perversion, addresses the troubling issue of random everyday gratuitous violence with truly jolting results, and delivers a few savagely powerful moments of startling brutality (the sequence where the virginal Lisa gets gruesomely violated with a knife is especially ugly and upsetting). The performances are uniformly excellent: Irene Miracle and Laura D'Angelo make for very attractive and appealing fair damsels in distress while Flavio Bucci and Gianfranco De Grassi are frightfully credible and disgusting as the greasy low-life criminal villains who are memorably first seen in the picture beating up a sidewalk Santa for his money. But top acting honors clearly go to the strikingly lovely blonde Macha Meril, who gives a positively chilling portrayal of the cruel, haughty rich bitch who gladly joins in on the hoodlum's ferocious degradation of Lisa and Margaret. Gabor Pogany's slick, handsome cinematography works wonders with the tightly confined setting while the great Ennio Morricone supplies a typically haunting, throbbing and melodic score. Demis Roussos' beautiful ballad "A Flower Is All You Need" is used as an achingly ironic bookend for all the harsh barbarism. A nice'n'nasty Euroslime exploitation thriller.