6.7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
A pair of psychotic hoodlums and an equally demented nymphomaniac woman terrorize two young girls on a train trip from Germany to Italy.
Starring: Flavio Bucci, Macha Méril, Gianfranco De Grassi, Enrico Maria Salerno, Marina BertiHorror | 100% |
Foreign | 44% |
Thriller | 9% |
Holiday | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH, French, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 2.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Hasn't there been enough violence?
Night Train Murders represents something of a minor but perceptible departure from the
more traditional I Spit on Your Grave "rape and
revenge" picture while also serving as a stabilizing force that's largely representative of what that sub-genre is all about. The film is on one hand
awash
in indecency, grotesque
actions, and despicable people, and it most definitely doesn't let the perpetrators off scott-free. Yet the differences remain in resolution, differences
that seem to almost add to, rather than detract from, the immediacy, the devastation, maybe even the gut-level justification for meeting violence
with
violence, for perhaps the only thing more natural in the animal kingdom than self-preservation is protecting and avenging loved ones. Rather than
the battered and beaten girl, or in this case girls as in "plural," Night Train Murders dabbles in The Last House on the Left formula where a concerned third party
doles out the punishment to the scum responsible for sickening the audience with their vile actions. And that's how all these movies make their
living, by sucking the life out of the viewer only to reinvigorate those who make it through to the end, asking them to cheer on even more violence,
the harder
the better, an eye for an eye, and all of that stuff. No, there can never be enough violence when the tables are turned, when the heroes necessarily
and understandably sink to the
level of the villains for a little retribution that superficially feels really good but does make one wonder just what sort of vicious circle exists out in the
wild when violence may be either shunned or celebrated only by the slightest tipping of the scales of justice.
The cigarette before the storm.
Night Train Murders' 1080p Blu-ray transfer is quite the looker. The image may feature the occasional speckle, vertical line, or static piece of debris around the edges of the frame, but Blue Underground's transfer nevertheless handles aging material quite well. The image is very nicely detailed; the wool caps and scarves worn by the two leading ladies appear naturally complex and almost tactile. Additional clothing textures are strong, as are little fine details around the train, but faces range from complex to a touch smooth. Colors are stable, with the daylight scenes perhaps looking just a touch washed out. Black levels are deep and accurate, though skin tones, following the lead of the entire palette, can look slightly pale. Clarity is strong, the image can look a tad sharp at times, and grain does look frozen in place in spots, but the image manages an overall very positive, cumulative effect. It's not quite the pristine transfer of a fresh-from-theaters movie done right, but fans of Night Train Murders are in for a real treat when they see this one up on their high definition screens.
Night Train Murders features a DTS-HD MA mono soundtrack that delivers exactly the kind of sonic experience one would expect of a dubbed and aged presentation. It's quite compact and shallow at times, with music, of course, lacking range but also body. Sound effects are on the wrong side of "mushy," whether sliding doors, screams, or the din of the train station that's little more than a clouded jumble of undefined sound straight up the middle of the soundstage. Gunshots as heard near the end of the film lack in energy and precision, but are suitably potent and get the point across. Dialogue is generally fair and clear, though there are stretches where it plays with a slight sense of detachment. Despite all these observations, this is still a fairly decent track considering the source, and kudos for keeping it fairly in-line with expectations and original stylings rather than working it over to better fit the criteria of modern presentations.
Night Train Murders contains a featurette and various promotional materials.
Night Train Murders succeeds beyond the typical and lesser revenge Horror picture because its stylings and pandering to base emotions work so very well in tandem. It brings nothing new to the genre, really -- it largely copies Wes Craven's The Last House on the Left -- yet the movie's powerful photography and novel setting that truly engenders a sense of captivity and imprisonment more than mask its other shortcomings, such as midlevel acting, shaky dialogue, poor characterization, and absent thematic relevance even where it attempts to say something about the excesses of violence in the modern world. Blue Underground's Blu-ray release of Night Train Murders features good 1080p video, a passable lossless mono track, and a few supplements. Recommended to genre fans who can appreciate what the film tries to do -- in its successes and failures -- and see what it has to offer beyond the raw brutality of it all.
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