TERROR TRAIN. Twentieth Century Fox, 1980. Ben Johnson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Hart Bochner, David Copperfield (as The Magician). Director: Roger Spottiswoode.

   For the first forty-five minutes or so, Terror Train doesn’t disappoint. True, it’s a derivative slasher film with a plot that’s none too surprising and an urban morality tale about how it’s not always wise to play cruel pranks on people, particularly if your victim is later found out to have homicidal tendencies.

   Terror Train benefits from an above average supporting cast and from a quasi-noir claustrophobic setting in which college air partygoers in elaborate costumes ride an old train that chugs along through the wilderness on a cold, dark night. And then there’s the scream queen – Jamie Lee Curtis – who bellows out at least two absolutely memorable shrieks during the film. Because, you know, there’s a masked killer on board and he’s wearing – at least for a while – a super creepy Groucho Marx mask.

   That said, the last half-hour of the film really veers off track. After the suspenseful wind-up and the background story of who the killer might turn out to be, the film loses its focus and requires such a suspension of disbelief that makes it a lot less thrilling than it could have been. Making matters worse, by the time the whole affair ends, the train’s conductor, portrayed by Western film legend Ben Johnson, looks worn out from a long night’s work. I, for one, enjoyed the beginning of the journey but was disappointed when I arrived at the final destination.