Libramedi Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Kodie Bird True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Married Baby Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

tonymurphylee Ingmar Bergman's THE VIRGIN SPRING has been hailed one of the most controversial foreign films of the 60s. Not surprisingly, the 1972 remake of THE VIRGIN SPRING, titled THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT and directed by Wes Craven, is considered one of the most controversial horror films of the 70s. If anyone were to have guessed that the film would have been remade and rehashed so much, perhaps one wouldn't have been so quick to jump on the idea of it being a taboo horror film. In truth, the Wes Craven classic does not hold up well today. It's cheap look, it's inappropriate sense of style of music, and it's pacing come off more strongly as camp.None the less, the film is undeniably influential. It's influence can be seen in everything from family films such as HOME ALONE in which the main characters make a mockery of thugs in a variety of gruesome traps, to Grindhouse style shock films such as I DRINK YOUR BLOOD and CAGED TERROR. It has been remade three times; In 2009 it was fully adapted as THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, which garnered mixed critical acclaim. In 2005 it was remade in as a cheap low budget student film by wrestler David DeFalco called CHAOS. However, most importantly it was remade by in 1975, only three years after the original, in an Italian version known as NIGHT TRAIN MURDERS, or, as it was known in the US, THE NEW LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT.NIGHT TRAIN MURDERS follows the same basic set-up as THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT. Two girls are kidnapped by thugs, tortured, raped, and then brutally murdered. The setting this time is in Italy, and the plot follows two girls on a series of train rides to one of their parents's house. The film starts off much like a film about two innocent tourists. The girls get on the train and have a series of little adventures, not entirely innocent, but playfully naive and without much fear. However, as their train rides continue, things don't go as planned. Two thugs sneak on board and begin to harass the girls, as well as another female passenger who soon decides to join them on their night of debauchery and mayhem after one of them rapes her.When the two girls find themselves fearing for their lives and uncomfortable, they take advantage of a somewhat convenient bomb-threat and sneak onboard another train that will get them to their destination about half an hour early. They get on-board only to find that the train is, mostly, deserted and seemingly without lights or electricity. They take a nap in one of the compartments and then wake up later on in the night to have dinner by candlelight. However, during their dinner they soon discover that the thugs, along with their female friend, have sneaked on-board and the two girls find themselves trapped in a horrible nightmare of torture, rape, humiliation, and heartless cruelty.When the deeds are done the terror still continues. Even after the bodies are violated and disposed of there is still such incredible suspense in it's unfolding of events. When the parents show up to pick the girls up and find the two thugs and the girl at the train station instead, we can feel the slowly building paranoia as the characters realize who they are each dealing with. As the parents come to find out what happened, we truly can feel their sorrow as they realize that they will never see their daughter alive again. Then the revenge aspect comes into play and it is even more shocking than we anticipated. It is not shocking in a gratuitous gorefest kind of sense, but rather it is shocking in that it is obvious that the father who performs these killings is unprepared and inexperienced in such matters. The terror comes from the fact that he is a normal man who is doing something he has never wanted to do. As a result the film is not only horrifying as hell, but it is also an emotional roller coaster ride.This is one of the most effective horror films I have ever seen. The realism of the situations presented here comes off so authentic and suspenseful that it's practically a guarantee that most viewers' stomachs will be in knots. The film is relentless in it's horror and the way the victims' lives are toyed with. The audience is toyed with as well in several moments of what I could pretty much describe as false hope. The film will likely take an emotional tole on viewers who aren't prepared. This film is far more disturbing than THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT due to the unfolding tension. There are no moments of forced dark comedy or cheap style. The film pulls no punches in depicting the last hours of the lives of these two innocent girls. The character of Curly is also far more terrifying than the character of Krug in the original in that he comes across as so simple-minded and yet so screwed up in a realistic way. This is an absolute must-see for all horror fans. This film is a masterpiece, and I'm glad that a modern day version of THE VIRGIN SPRING has finally been told in a proper and effective way.

rixrex That's what those who made this film apparently set out to do, and fairly successfully, too. For one thing, it does have a better rating here than LHOTL, though only by 0.2! Here's the thing about this nice version of the family revenge murder spree tale, it's as if the filmmakers actually said to each other that they wanted to remake LHOTH without the sophomoric comedy, without the inept technical aspects, and do it as a giallo-styled terror film. They were fairly successful. There are nice plot elements here that are not in LHOTL, and the silliness has been left out, making this film version one that fans who like horror without over-the-top humor can enjoy. Ignore those who complain about this being slow, if you know the giallo style of film, that is a pretty standard method. It's called plot and character development. The one thing that is lesser here from LHOTL is that the killers do not show momentary remorse the way they do in LHOTL. but that's only one thing out of dozens done better.

Johann Anyone who has seen Last House on the Left doesn't need to bother with this film. LHOTL was taken (admittedly) from Ingmar Bergman's film Virgin Spring.The plot in that film was an old Swedish folk legend about a girl who is raped and killed by three highwaymen. The highwaymen then end up having to stay at the girl's parents' place. The parents notice that one of the murderers has a personal effect of their daughter's, and the father enacts his revenge on them for the murder.Night Train Murders was taken from LHOTL (so they're both really ripping off the Swedes). LHOTL does it much better and keeps it relatively artistic. I didn't like this film that much. Here, they keep the two girl formula used in Last House, but has them traveling on a night train from Munich to Italy to visit one girl's parents for Christmas. The killers are two street thugs and a sadistic woman that they hook up with on the train. The girls switch trains in Austria and so do these folks. If you've seen Virgin Spring or Last House, you know what will happen.It seems to try to keep the shock value up, but doesn't deliver highly on the watchability. The first half is rather boring (it tries to set up what is going on, but is really more trouble than it's worth). Granted, there is some sadism, sex and violence, but it's not that shocking or really necessary. Last House was considered to be very shocking when it came out. This film seemed to be playing off of that success and throw in some more shocking things. This formula didn't make it good, or even enjoyable. It seems like they were just shocking to be shocking.Don't waste your time.

Prof-Hieronymos-Grost Laura and her friend Irene are travelling back to Italy on the overnight train from Munich for Christmas, also on board are two pickpockets Curly a heroin addict and Blackie on the run from the German police for mugging Santa Claus…HOHOHO!. All seems well on the over crowed train and the girls kick up a rapport with the boys and help them avoid the ticket collector, Macha Méril plays a seemingly respectable lady passenger content to discuss social issues with other seemingly respectable passengers until that is she meets Blackie in a toilet where he forces himself on her meeting little resistance, and after an unprovoked attack on another passenger by the two boys she seems hooked on the seedier side of life.The train is stopped in a deserted station after the police receive threats that there is a bomb on board…The two girls see this as there chance to rid themselves of the troublesome boys and as luck would have it there is a direct train leaving shortly for there home town. The girls enjoy a candlelit lunch on board the dark and cold train which is lit only with a blue light, they seem relaxed until they realize the boys have also jumped trains with their lady friend in tow. The trio force themselves into the girls compartment where they subject them to demeaning sexual acts which go a little too far resulting in one of the girls being killed in a hideous manner,the other fleeing half naked jumps from the moving train as she is chased by the two boys,she falls to her death. Laura's parents await her arrival at the train station but the only people there are the murdering trio, who seek assistance from Laura's father as he is a doctor and the lady passenger has an injured leg that requires treatment.The trio return to Laura's house where they rest up and have dinner,unaware of who's house they are in. The parents become suspicious of the boys and after they hear that two girls bodies have been found beside the railway line, Laura's father seeks revenge on the boys, whom he dispatches in a very bloody way, the respectable lady escapes scott free pleading innocence. A very gritty film that rips off Last House on the lefts idea of revenge, although Lado claims he hadn't seen it at the time. Lado's film is supposed to an indictment on violence and other social issues and to be fair he doesn't show too much gore and also doesn't resort to unneeded nudity, while I found the film interesting there wasn't enough tension for me….maybe it was down to Lado's laid back way of telling the story which was very matter of fact. Exploitation fans will probably love it.