Terror Train - crew, film crew

The entire team, the film crew of the film "Terror Train"
Terror Train (1980)
Timing: 1:37 (97 min)
Terror Train - TMDB rating
5.793/10
246
Terror Train - Kinopoisk rating
5.824/10
1211
Terror Train - IMDB rating
5.8/10
15000

Film crew

Director

Producer

Harold Greenberg
Producer

Executive Producer

Daniel Grodnik
Executive Producer
Lamar Card
Executive Producer

Casting

Ingrid Fischer
Casting
Anna St. Johns
Casting

Editor

Anne Henderson
Editor

Art Direction

Guy J. Comtois
Art Direction

Costume Design

Veronica Hadfield
Costume Design

Production Design

Glenn Bydwell
Production Design

Makeup Artist

Joan Isaacson
Makeup Artist

Original Music Composer

John Mills-Cockell
Original Music Composer

Director of Photography

Photo John Alcott #72518

John Alcott

John Alcott
Director of Photography

Screenplay

T.Y. Drake
Screenplay

Line Producer

Photo Don Carmody #71749
Don Carmody
Line Producer

What's left behind the scenes

  • 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.
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