Die Hard Movie Review

I guess Die Hard has achieved something close to classic status by now. It’s a beloved action movie from the 80s (the heyday of big dumb action) with an up-and-coming movie star that spawned four sequels and a catch phrase. Taking another look at it I’ve found that it holds up well, but it’s certainly not great. It does just about everything right and hardly missteps until the very last scene, I’d say.

Terror Train Movie Review

The story goes that I was three years old when I saw this film and it gave me nightmares and a general inability to go to sleep on my own. I was permitted to watch it because my sister, nine years older than me, was into horror films and my eight year old brother just didn't believe these movies. No one expected I would be so affected by it. I had no memory of it growing up and I never watched it until I decided to include it for this series.

Click here for a list of all other films reviewed and considered for this October 2012 series of horror reviews

Terror Train is just one in a series of late 70s and early 80s slasher films attempting to capitalize on the popularity of the genre, especially after John Carpenter’s great Halloween. But Terror Train, directed by Roger Spittiswoode from an inane script by T. Y. Drake, contains none of the artistry of Halloween and instills almost none of the fear engendered by Michael Myers or the terror of the title. About the only thing it shares in common with its predecessor and inspiration is Jamie Lee Curtis as the shrieking star, a pure and virginal young woman whose chaste behavior is ostensibly what helps her survive. Both films tally up the body count of young people, but they are far less interesting or cinematic here.