Terror Train (1980)

Terror Train takes the familiar slasher setup and gives it a wonderfully cinematic twist: a New Year’s costume party on a moving train where the killer can literally vanish into the crowd by changing disguises. Roger Spottiswoode keeps the film sleek and steadily paced, letting the narrow corridors, passing darkness outside the windows, and shifting party energy create an atmosphere that feels both festive and claustrophobic. Jamie Lee Curtis anchors the panic with a grounded, watchful presence, while the camera makes great use of the train’s geometry to turn every doorway and connecting car into a little stage for dread. If you’re not into early-’80s slashers or can’t stomach some fairly nasty gore, it may not convert you—but if you want a stylish, high-concept thriller with a genuinely eerie vibe, this is one of the era’s better rides.

Terror Train is clearly aiming to be a slick, contained whodunit slasher: a New Year’s costume party on a moving train where anyone could be the killer, and Jamie Lee Curtis works hard to sell the rising panic. The problem is it often feels like a checklist of familiar slasher beats, with thin characters making convenient choices so the movie can hop to the next kill rather than build real suspense or logic. If you need a mystery that plays fair, or you’re allergic to “because the script says so” plotting, this one may test your patience. Still, the train setting has a fun, claustrophobic vibe and the disguise gimmick gives it a few genuinely tense moments—just don’t go in expecting a smartly constructed thriller.