TERROR TRAIN 2 (2022)

TERROR TRAIN 2 (2022)

Tagline: Nope.

(Horror, Mystery, Choo Choo) [R]

Note: This movie was direct to Tubi’s streaming service. It was not given an MPAA rating, but would definitely have been an [R].

Maybe when she saw a sicko like you try to turn a tragedy into her own personal brand for some lame a-s murder app.  

This is the direct follow-up to TERROR TRAIN (2022). This time around they have turned the train where all of the murders happened over a year earlier into a train called “Terror Train”. The train will allow any passengers that are college seniors, but The Prez is encouraging the passengers that survived the original slashing to take the ride again as a method of “cleansing” their fears and traumas. The party is dubbed the New Year’s Eve redemption ride. It doesn’t take long before the bodies start piling up as a new sinister killer is terrorizing the ride, but who is it? 

It’s pretty rare for a movie to come out and in the same year, its own sequel comes out, but I decided to check this out because the remake of TERROR TRAIN was actually pretty good with a really interesting twist. I like that they brought back a few of the original characters, but they do a pretty good job of giving us a reason they would be interested. When I was younger I had a lot of idiot friends that would have gladly done an idiotic thing after it almost killed them the first time. That is part of why very few of them are “still” friends. I will say that none of my friends were murder or true crime obsessed. One thing this sequel does is keep the level of how morally debased people can be. There is a girl on the train named Pet (who was also in the first one) that is live streaming the ride poking fun at the events of the first train ride.

The tension this script creates between the characters is shockingly high quality for a horror flick that wasn’t going to theaters. Writers Aaron Martin and Ian Carpenter have a bit of an underground series of cult classics brewing here. Robyn Alomar crushes the role of Alana once again. She plays a more traumatized version of Alana in this one, but it makes sense given the events of the first one. Tim Rozon also returns as The Magician and is also good and slightly creepy in this one. We get Tori Barban back as Merry. She is just as dense as before. Dakota Jamal Wellman returns as The Prez and his character is more likable in this one even if his motives for doing a terror train are shaky. Romy Weltman returns as Pet and plays the role with the same consistency. She is the only one of the 4 acting talents I have mentioned so far that didn’t do a “Christmas” movie in between the TERROR TRAIN flicks. Nadine Bhabha returns as Sadie and is now actually the train's conductor. One of the few newcomers with a lot of screen time is Nia Roam as Claudia. 

Cinematically this is low-budget so walk into it like you would be watching something that doesn’t have big-time Hollywood production and you might be pleasantly surprised if you like old-school style slashers. The acting for the most part is pretty good, but there is one cast member that seems slightly out of place. I won’t go into who the cast member is, but it will be noticeable. If I have any complaints, it’s that there is at least one really unnecessary scene where a few characters end up kneeling at the altar of wokeness. On the upside, the scene is extremely short, so it’s not going to affect my score for the film. This one also has an outstanding score. 

A lot like the first one this one has a “really” unexpected ending. Both of these films feature master-class misdirection. Not sure if there will be any more films in this series, but the first 2 are both weirdly impressive. 

This one gets a 6 out of 7. 

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