Amok Train

... which in the greater scheme of film probably makes it one of the dumbest movies I've ever seen as well, but hey, I don't buy movies titled Amok Train to become smarter(just cooler)! Amok Train actually goes by the original title of Beyond The Door 3, and helps solidify the trilogy of films as one of the strangest ever. Not so much due to the movies themselves, but because the lineup consists of a blatant Italian ripoff of The Exorcist(posibly the best of all three), a slow-paced sequel directed by Mario Bava (also known as Shock), and now this, an American directed film about a "crazy train"(thanks Ozzie!). The story has a group of American college kids taking a "field trip" to somewhere in Eastern Europe(you know, where people still live in dilapidated huts and stare in awe and disgust at foreigners while banging rocks together and praying to their "old Gods") before having to flee for their lives by jumping onto a train... a train from #ell that is! It seems that the host of this little trip is interested in one of the students, an outcast girl who still possesses her virginity, and it just so happens that a virgin girl is needed in order to ressurect the "prince of darkness." From here on we get to enjoy(kinda) some charming special effects, as the train jumps the tracks and runs people down in the nearby woods and swamplands... then jumps back on the tracks(all done with miniature models too!). Some truly inspired gore effects(including a girl ripping her own face in half to reveal a skull filled with maggots!) and a smidge of nudity help balance against some awful acting and a plot that's gone(much like the train) "amok." The main thing that the movie suffers from though, is that it just takes itself way too seriously, and with this subject matter... how can you? So Amok Train is far from required viewing, but if you're on the hunt for some of that 80's horror magic in the form of a movie you probably never saw(or even heard of)... you could do worse than this(probably LOL!). 2.5 stars rounded up because, as I stated in the title, it still remains the BEST movie about a train possessed by Satan that I've ever seen!

<strong>Beyond the Door III</strong> (Jeff Kwitny, 1989)

<em>Beyond the Door III</em>, also released under its original title <em>Amok Train</em>, has as much to do with the first two <em>Beyond the Door</em> movies as <em>Zombie 5: Killing Birds</em> has to do with <em>Dawn of the Dead</em>... in other words, not a damn thing. What it <em>is</em>, and what gives it the rather limited appeal it has, is an attempt by two Americans, LA director Jeff Kwitny (<em>Lightning in a Bottle</em>) and Sheila Goldberg (who, perhaps not coincidentally, co-wrote the script for <em>Killing Birds</em> with director Claudio Lattanzi), to make a supernatural <em>giallo</em>. The end result doesn't work too well, but you've got to admire the gumption, no?

Plot: a college professor and some of her charges head off into the wilds of Eastern Europe for their comparative religion class (note: I'm extrapolating there, it could just as easily be an archeology class. Or sociology. Or calculus, in a particularly weird school.), where they hook up with ultra-creepy Professor Andromolek (<em>Walking Tall</em>'s Bo Svenson). Andromolek takes them even father from civilization, to a small village in the middle of nowhere where everyone bunks down for the night in preparation for some sort of ancient religious ritual the next day. Problem is, it's kind of like getting invited to dinner by cannibals; you never know if you're a guest or the main course. One of the students, Beverly <em>Mr. Baseball</em>'s Mary Kohnert), is a virgin, and the village folks are planning on sacrificing her to conjure up the devil. Where does the train come into all this, you ask? Some of the escaping students stumble upon a track and hop the train, which is full of all sorts of weirdos who make the villagers look positively friendly in comparison...

While this is certainly not deathless cinema, it's hard to deny its influence on things that have popped up since; the 2008 torture-porn flick <em>Train</em> seems to be almost a direct descendant of the second half of this movie, for example. And while it's full of the usual silliness one expects from bad low-budget cinema (awful acting, murky camerawork, fumbling direction, script full of plot holes, etc.), it's hard to deny the film is entertaining on some levels. Stupid, yes, but entertaining. If you're a fan of the Satanic-panic films of the eighties, this is going to be right up your alley, and were I you I would definitely check it out. The rest of you, maybe not so much unless you're familiar enough with movies like it to know what you're getting into. **

Although it was marketed as part of the Beyond The Door demon series, this film stands alone and is in relation by name only. It's about possession, but not of a human.

What made this film stand out for me and stayed in my memory for years since my initial viewing about 15 years ago was some of the sweeping camera work and the landscapes. This film is about a group of high school kids who go to a desolate European country, only to be violently murdered, save for one...who is needed for a sinister reason. The majority of the film takes place on a rushing train, and the camera angles and swooping effects are used well. The camera and landscapes are also put to good use to create a foreboding atmosphere.

The story is easy to follow and understand, but does have loop holes. Some of the characters are not fleshed out, and just seem to be there for the body count. The train sequence is a little long, but overall, I like this movie, and I am glad I own it.

And the count, and blood, is high.

Top this all off with a surreal ultra stereo soundtrack and you will have one haunting train ride you won't forget!