The Train Killer (1983)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Don't listen to the negative reviews

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

This movie is based upon the true story of Szilveszter Matuska, a man who derailed trains in 1930-1931 in Austria. His motive is uncertain. Some say it was political, others claim he was a religious fanatic (aka Christian terrorist) while he may have gotten paid. The film shows why there was confusion. In this drama Matuska (Michael Sarrazin) leases a quarry in order to have access to explosives.The film is foreign and dubbed. It has the look of a low budget foreign production. The train wrecks are not spectacular. The dubbing makes the acting look bad. The action and drama move a bit slow which is why they show you the ending of the film first then jump to the beginning, although that is not made clear until you see the same part played over. It is a film that could easily be redone and better. It is okay for an historical drama.Parental Guide: No f-bombs. Sex and nudity (Constanze Engelbrecht, Herlinde Latzko)

Always wondered what happened to the 'boy-wonder' of They Shoot Horses Don't They. I'd see him here and there occasionally in parts that he could do blindfolded. However, here he has a part worthy of his talents and he makes good use of it. No longer a befuddled young man or some other sort of idealistic type, here he gets to be a villain, but not an ordinary cardboard stereotypical villain, nor an over-the-top role that an actor can ham, but a real person with all sorts of convolutions and character flaws and good points as well.In this film, a rather well-done portrayal of the true-life Train Killer who caused terror on the tracks in 1931 Europe, all participants seem to be giving their best effort, including the bit-part players. While there is no typical build of tension and melodrama, the study of a man who desires to wreak havoc due to some sort of warning from God that he must deliver is quite absorbing. The possibilities of political unrest are all explored in the pre-WW2 Europe, and the fact that he might have been duped by the fascists who want things to appear as if the destruction was caused by communists is also explored.But his warning was that he was directed to present to Europe a vision of the future, and that certainly was true enough. You will be intrigued if you do not expect the deafening slam-bang action of Hollywood presentations. There is good action here, but all within the size and scope of the drama, not overboard. A thoughtful rendering of a bizarre man, and you will be amazed at his life story beyond the train wrecks he caused.

This movie came in a box of four CDs with four movies on each. A bargain at under $20 for all sixteen. The surprise is that many of them are quite good. If Hollywood's version of the Trojan War (vapid CGI, stars that can't act, gratuitous sex, ten years of war compressed into two weeks) leaves you disappointed, you might try fare like this --- well recommended by its lack of mass appeal.In this case.True story, strong conflicts, real motivations, real complexities, real trains. The first derailment is positively the real thing. If you ever wondered what a derailment might look like, then this is it. The final derailment off a bridge looks real too, although can't be sure. If it is a model it is way better than the crummy model-based train wreak in For Whom the Bell Tolls.If you ever wondered what life was like in eastern Europe in the thirties, here is a little window, better than the Sound of Music, in this regard.And you get a glimpse at train killer's motivations and techniques as well as the police's.

I watched this on videotape, but it is out on DVD both by itself and in one or two cheap DVD sets from Platinum and/or Brentwood.I didn't find it very involving. It would have helped a little bit if it were in Hungarian with English subtitles, but unfortunately it was dubbed. It was also full-screen, and I suspect it looked a lot better in widescreen given that it deals with wide things like trains, and bridges and so on; the color was nice.I think a documentary about the real-life subject of this film would have been more interesting. Oh well.As the English title The Train Killer suggests, the subject is a man who compulsively derails trains by various methods. Why he does so is not clear. There are a couple brief sex scenes which do feature some nudity.