Terror Train

Terror Train (1980)

Timing: 1:37 (97 min)

5.793/10
246

5.824/10
1211

5.8/10
15000

All about film

Video 2

Photo 40

Actors and characters

Release date

1980-10-03

Country

Canada, United States

Production

20th Century Fox, Astral Bellevue Pathé, Sandy Howard Productions, Triple T Productions

Genre

Horror, Thriller

Budget

$3 500 000

Revenue

$0

Website

Director

Roger Spottiswoode

Actors

Jamie Lee Curtis, Ben Johnson, Hart Bochner, David Copperfield, Derek McKinnon, Sandee Currie, Timothy Webber, Anthony Sherwood, Howard Busgang, Steve Michaels
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Harold Greenberg, Daniel Grodnik, Lamar Card

Operator

John Alcott

Composer

John Mills-Cockell

Artist

Audition

Ingrid Fischer, Anna St. Johns

Editing

Anne Henderson
All team (16)

• The idea for the film "Terror Train" came to screenwriter Daniel Grodnik in a dream. After watching John Carpenter's "Halloween" (1978) and Arthur Hiller's (1923-2016) "Silver Streak" (1976), he asked his wife in the middle of the night: "What if we staged Halloween on a train? How does that sound?" She replied, "Horrible," and he wrote "Horrible Train" on a piece of paper. The next morning he changed the title of the future film to "Terror Train," wrote 22 pages of the script, and by 3 p.m. had made a deal with Sandy Howard's (1927-2008) production company.
• The film was shot on board a real train in specially converted cars (they had to be converted to accommodate staff and equipment). To create the effect of movement, the train traveled back and forth inside a huge hangar-warehouse in Montreal.
• The very last scene filmed was the bonfire scene that opens the movie. It was added during post-production, about a month after principal photography wrapped, to tie in with the character of Kenny, played by Derek McKinnon.
• Cinematographer John Alcott (1930-1986) devised a unique lighting scheme. He ran lighting throughout the entire train and installed individual dimmers inside the cars. By using bulbs of varying wattage and controlling them via external dimmers, he was able to quickly illuminate the entire set. He also sometimes used handheld flashlights to light the actors' faces.
• Most of the filming on the train had to be done at night because during the day the hangar-warehouse was teeming with people and very noisy. Filming began at 6 p.m. and ended early the next morning.
• David Copperfield had so much trouble delivering his lines, and it irritated him so much, that he vowed never to act in films again.
• The steam engine smoke was the result of burning coal and church incense.
• During the final fight scene, the heroine, played by Jamie Lee Curtis, defended herself against a stuntman portraying the villain attacking her. At one point, she slammed the door shut right in the attacker's face. The door was supposed to fall apart with the slightest impact, but for some reason, that wasn't done, and the actress's partner suffered an injury to the facial area. The actress was so upset that she left the set and didn't appear on set for two days.