The Death Train (1978 TV Movie) User Reviews

"You see, people in this town take this train very seriously".

[lost-in-limbo · 7/10 · 29 June 2020]

Do you fancy yourself a glass of carrot juice? Well, that's the hospitality our insurance investigator gets from the quirky and unusual Australian made-for-TV mystery "THE DEATH TRAIN". This mystery angle with supernatural hints and kooky humor is very old-school in its storytelling and this is driven by a captivating Hugh Keays-Byrne performance. Those might know him for his part as "Toecutter" a year later in "MAD MAX".

On this occasion he plays the klutzy straight-man Ted Morrow caught up in a peculiar mystery amongst a country town that lives it as normality. This would drive any sane person loopy. Each time he goes looking for answers the ghost train keeps popping out of their mouths. But he believes there's something much more shady at work. As he intends to uncover the truth of how his company's client was hit by a train in a place where there wasn't any tracks. But in doing so himself he slowly starts acting unorthodox in his attempts figure it out.

How things do pan out is like a Scooby Doo episode, but even so the supernatural currents are still left ambiguous at the end with a fitting choice of dialogue. The mystery is at times overshadowed by the always amusing irrational character interactions, but it only adds to the fun. Tone-wise it's very lighthearted and care-free, however this compliments the oddball characters and their mannerisms. The local cast featuring the likes of Ken Goodlet, Brian Wenzel, Max Meldrum and Ingrid Mason as the infatuated Hippie love interest do an excellent job bringing their characters to life.

Pardon Me, Boy, Is This The Crappanooga Choo-Choo?

[NoDakTatum · 4/10 · 10 November 2023]

Clematis, New South Wales has seen some problems, one of them being the script to this television film. Insurance investigator Morrow (Hugh Keayes-Byrne) arrives in town to look into the death of Herbert (Colin Taylor), one of the local men. It seems he was walking home one night when he was struck by a train- the problem is the closest set of train tracks is fifty miles away and Herbert was in his backyard. Herbert's lover, Johnny (Max Meldrum), mourns the loss and prepares to sell the house they shared to local construction company owner Murdoch (Brian Wenzel). Morrow begins checking into the case and finds out Herbert's father and grandfather also died under mysterious circumstances. Also, when Morrow arrives in town, entire crowds of townsfolk appear and disappear right in front of his eyes. With the help of convenient love interest Vera (Ingrid Mason), Morrow and local cop McMasters (Ken Goodlet) set their sights on Murdoch.

Morrow is a quirky enough detective, trying to quit smoking by never lighting the ever present cigarette in his mouth. He must catch rides with Vera because he cannot afford the taxi service in the small town. However, the screenwriter and the director never address any other supernatural goings-on except the ghost train. There's an unexplained seance, Herbert's dead ancestry- nothing is covered in the finale, the film just ends. "The Death Train" plays like an unsuccessful pilot for a "The Night Stalker"-type show, it came out in 1978. It is also an hour long crime drama stretched beyond its comprehension limits to ninety eight minutes. It was solid average until I started questioning the wheres and whys when the thing ended. You won't die if you watch "The Death Train," but you will experience motion sickness. This is just another lazy effort, and surprising that no one bothered to read the script closely or edit it correctly. Leave it at the station.

A fun little film

[udar55 · 8/10 · 11 February 2006]

This Australian TV movie is a fun little watch. It is a mystery with supernatural overtones as insurance man Ted Morrow (Hugh Keays-Byrne) shows up to investigate the unusual death of a man who was apparently run over by a train in a place where there are no train tracks. What really makes this movie enjoyable is the lead performance of Keays-Byrne, he of "Toecutter" fame from MAD MAX fame. He plays the character as a bit of an eccentric and really adds a lot to the role. Director Igor Auzins bends the mystery to leave both the logical and supernatural options open at the end of the film. This is wonderful in the sense that you can imagine Morrow as being completely insane with the way he unravels the mystery.

Delightful spectacular film!! A must-see for anyone who enjoys good cinema!!

[zvezdochkapetrova · 10/10 · 17 February 2019]

This movie is absolutely amazing. It takes its' time unwinding an extraordinary plot centering around Ted Morrow (Hugh Keays-Byrne) as he investigates a death of an insurance client in the small town of Clematis. This film is delightful and well-told, the actors and actresses are natural and realistic. This would be an ideal film to sit down and watch alone, watch with friends, or even your kiddos, especially since it has absolutely zero violence or depravity. I really adore this film.

Worth the 96 minutes.

[Jethroangel · 8/10 · 11 September 2003]

I found a copy of this film on the $2.99 rack of a video store. They were selling it, I guess because no one was renting it anymore. Concidering it was a television movie, I thought it was done very well. The advertisements (for other films) that came before the feature film where aweful, worst I've ever seen. However, the film was alot better. The director, Igor Auzins, makes use of a somewhat cheesy, but stylistic technique in the begining, by zooming out then freeing a single frame with zoom blur for dramatic effect. Other than that I thought the film was done very well. After the cheesy zoom blur effect, the film had an almost dark feeling, but not quite. The main character, Ted Morrow, was done very well. His character development was exactly what you needed/wanted to see. Most television movies look as if they are for television. I was suprised to find out this was a television movie. I would recomend this to anyone, who can not only find a copy of it, but enjoys a good old fashion character developing suspense story that is unlike post-Blair Witch Project suspense/horror films that have no endings and don't have enough story to even be called nonsence.