L'ultimo treno della notte
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''Night Train Murders'' ( it, L'ultimo treno della notte), also released in English-speaking countries as ''Last Stop on the Night Train'' or ''Late Night Trains'', is a 1975 Italian
revenge Revenge is committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Francis Bacon described revenge as a kind of "wild justice" that "does... offend the law ndputteth the law out of office." Pr ...
horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...
directed by
Aldo Lado Aldo Lado (born 5 December 1934) is an Italian film director, screenwriter and writer. Lado was born in Fiume, Italy (today Rijeka, Croatia). Lado wrote the screenplays for 21 films between 1968 and 2004 and directed 14 films between 1971 and 19 ...
and starring
Flavio Bucci Flavio Bucci (25 May 1947 – 18 February 2020) was an Italian actor, voice actor and film producer. Biography Born in Turin, Bucci began appearing in film and television in 1971, making his debut appearance in the film ''The Working Class G ...
,
Macha Méril Macha Méril (; born Princess Maria-Magdalena Vladimirovna Gagarina on 3 September 1940) is a French actress and writer. Biography Méril is descended by her father from the Russian princely house Gagarin and by her mother from a Ukrainian nob ...
, and
Irene Miracle Irene Miracle is an American film and television actress and director. Early life Miracle was raised in Oklahoma of "French Arcadian ... Scots-Irish, Russian, French and Osage" descent. Acting career Her first film appearance was as a murder ...
. Based on the plots of
Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film director, screenwriter, Film producer, producer and playwright. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time, his films are known ...
's ''
The Virgin Spring ''The Virgin Spring'' ( sv, Jungfrukällan) is a 1960 Swedish rape and revenge film directed by Ingmar Bergman. Set in medieval Sweden, it is a tale about a father's merciless response to the rape and murder of his young daughter. The story was ...
'' (1960) and
Wes Craven Wesley Earl Craven (August 2, 1939 – August 30, 2015) was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and editor. Craven has commonly been recognized as one of the greatest masters of the horror genre due to the cultural imp ...
's ''
The Last House on the Left ''The Last House on the Left'' is a 1972 American exploitation horror film written, directed and edited by Wes Craven in his directorial debut. The film follows Mari Collingwood (Sandra Peabody), a hippie teenager who is abducted, raped, and ...
'' (1972), the film follows two girls riding a train through Germany on
Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation ...
, who are brutalized by three criminals who eventually end up lodging in their parents' home. It gained notoriety when it was banned in the UK as a
video nasty Video nasty is a colloquial term popularised by the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association (NVALA) in the United Kingdom to refer to a number of films, typically low-budget horror or exploitation films, distributed on video cassette that ...
in the 1980s. Other alternate release titles include ''The New House on The Left'', ''Second House on The Left'', and ''Don't Ride on Late Night Trains''.


Plot

Two young women, Margaret and Lisa, are set to take the overnight train from
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
in
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
to stay with Lisa's parents in
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
for
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
. They find the train is full and are forced to sit in the corridor. Meanwhile, two petty criminals, Blackie and Curly, also board the train as it is leaving Munich to escape from a pursuing policeman. The two thugs come across Margaret and Lisa, who help them hide from the ticket collector. Blackie then encounters an upper-class blonde older woman whom he attempts to molest in the toilets, only for her to seduce him aggressively. As Curly gets into a fight, the girls become increasingly wary of the two thugs' behaviour and make their way further down the train to escape them. Arriving in
Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...
in
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, the train is stopped and searched following a tip-off that a bomb is on board. The girls decide to call Lisa's parents to tell them of the delay but can't get through. Meanwhile, in Italy, her parents are preparing for Christmas and hosting a dinner party for their friends, where Lisa's father, a doctor, decries the growing violence in society. Back in Innsbruck, the girls board a different train which will take them directly to their destination. However, upon boarding the new train, they find it is old, run-down, and virtually empty. Finding a compartment in the last carriage, they settle down for their trip, happy to have seats at last, and begin to eat a
packed lunch A packed lunch (also called pack lunch, sack lunch or brown-bag lunch in North America) is a lunch which is prepared before arriving at the place where it is to be eaten. Typically, it is prepared at home or at a hotel, or produced commercially ...
by candlelight. As the train travels into the night, the girls are alarmed to discover that the two thugs and the blonde woman are on board as well, and the three soon force their way into the girls' compartment. Blackie and the blonde then engage in various lewd acts while taunting the girls. Curly beats Margaret into submission and then forces Lisa to masturbate him. The blonde woman spots another passenger, a peeping tom watching them through the compartment window. Grabbing the man, the two thugs force him to rape Margaret, but they are distracted by Lisa vomiting, and he escapes. The blonde encourages Curly to rape Lisa, but he is unable to break her hymen. Although Blackie is growing concerned about how events are heading, the blonde holds down Lisa while encouraging Curly to cut her with his flick knife to help him. The blonde enthusiastically grabs the knife and forces it deeper into Lisa, causing her to hemorrhage and die. Margaret escapes and manages to lock herself in the toilet while the blonde orders the two thugs to bring her back; the blonde initially thinks Lisa is feigning death and slaps her body until realizing she is deceased. Frantic, Margaret climbs out the window and flings herself from the train, only to be killed in the fall. The men throw Lisa's body out the window, followed by their victims' luggage, stealing their tickets and other items. Arriving at the station to meet the girls, Lisa's parents are alarmed when they don't arrive. The stationmaster tells them that their train has been delayed, so the doctor and his wife elect to return home. As they are leaving, they come across the blonde and two thugs; Giulio agrees to take the three to his house so he can treat an injury the blonde woman sustained on her leg. Lisa's mother becomes suspicious of her houseguests when she spies Curly wearing a tie exactly like the one she was told Lisa had bought for her father as a Christmas present. The trio continue to act suspiciously, and Giulio elects to take them back to town and goes to fetch the car. While in the car, he hears a radio report naming his daughter as a body found near the train track. Realizing his houseguests are responsible, Giulio confronts the blonde outside, but she convinces him the two thugs had killed the girls and had threatened to do the same to her. Believing her, Giulio leaves her with his wife before heading off to find the others. He discovers Curly in his surgery room injecting heroin; he grabs Curly and forces the needle deeper into his arm, overdosing him. He then repeatedly beats Curly with various furniture and surgical instruments. Spying Blackie trying to flee, he grabs a shotgun and pursues him through the gardens. Curly manages to crawl into the driveway and tries to grab the blonde, only for her to kick him to death. Giulio wounds Blackie in the leg before shooting him at point-blank range. As the police arrive, the blonde woman's fate remains uncertain.


Cast

*
Flavio Bucci Flavio Bucci (25 May 1947 – 18 February 2020) was an Italian actor, voice actor and film producer. Biography Born in Turin, Bucci began appearing in film and television in 1971, making his debut appearance in the film ''The Working Class G ...
as Blackie *
Macha Méril Macha Méril (; born Princess Maria-Magdalena Vladimirovna Gagarina on 3 September 1940) is a French actress and writer. Biography Méril is descended by her father from the Russian princely house Gagarin and by her mother from a Ukrainian nob ...
as Lady on the Train *Gianfranco De Grassi as Curly *
Enrico Maria Salerno Enrico Maria Salerno (September 18, 1926 – February 28, 1994) was an Italian actor, voice actor and film director. He was also the voice of Clint Eastwood in the Italian version of Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy films, and the voice of Ch ...
as Professor Giulio Stradi *
Irene Miracle Irene Miracle is an American film and television actress and director. Early life Miracle was raised in Oklahoma of "French Arcadian ... Scots-Irish, Russian, French and Osage" descent. Acting career Her first film appearance was as a murder ...
as Margaret Hoffenbach *Laura D'Angelo as Lisa Stradi *
Marina Berti Elena Maureen Bertolino (29 September 1924 – 29 October 2002), known professionally as Marina Berti, was an Italian film actress. She was born in London from an Italian father and an English mother. Biography Her first screen appearance was ...
as Laura Stradi *
Franco Fabrizi Franco Fabrizi (; 15 February 1916 – 18 October 1995) was an Italian actor. Life and career Son of a barber and a cinema cashier, Franco Fabrizi started his career as a model and an actor in fotoromanzi. Fabrizi also starred on several rev ...
as Perverted Train Passenger *
Dalila Di Lazzaro Dalila Di Lazzaro (born 29 January 1953) is an Italian model, actress and writer. Life and career Born in Udine, Di Lazzaro started as a fashion model and was the subject of famous photographers such as Andy Warhol. She then gained attention i ...
as Party Guest


Critical reception

Adam Tyner of ''
DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...
'' wrote, "''Night Train Murders'' has a few redeemingly uncomfortable moments that make the numerous comparisons to ''
The Last House on the Left ''The Last House on the Left'' is a 1972 American exploitation horror film written, directed and edited by Wes Craven in his directorial debut. The film follows Mari Collingwood (Sandra Peabody), a hippie teenager who is abducted, raped, and ...
'' seem deserved. Still, it suffers from so many flaws—poor pacing, an anemic screenplay, weak overdubbed dialogue, and a tendency to flinch during the sparse brutality—that I can't recommend the movie on its own merits with any great enthusiasm." ''
DVD Verdict DVD Verdict was a judicial-themed website for DVD reviews. The site was founded in 1999. The editor-in-chief was Michael Stailey, who owned the website between 2004 and 2016, and the site employed a large editorial staff of critics, whose reviews ...
'' said, "If Wes Craven's train leaves Connecticut traveling east at 25 mph and Alan Lado's train leaves a station in Verona traveling west at 35 mph, then can a cheap imitation of a film actually be better than the film it's ripping off? Well, in this case yes. While ''The Last House on the Lefts success came largely from its grittiness, Lado proves that a professional sheen can be just as effective, and puts his film on the express track to success."


Controversy

The film was rejected by the
BBFC The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC, previously the British Board of Film Censors) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of f ...
when submitted for cinema classification in the UK in 1976. It was banned as a
video nasty Video nasty is a colloquial term popularised by the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association (NVALA) in the United Kingdom to refer to a number of films, typically low-budget horror or exploitation films, distributed on video cassette that ...
in 1983, though it was acquitted and removed from the list in 1984. It did not get a full release until 2008 when it was finally passed uncut and distributed on
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
by Shameless Screen Entertainment.


See also

*
List of Italian films of 1975 A list of films produced in Italy in 1975 (see 1975 in film): Footnotes References * * * * External linksItalian films of 1975at the Internet Movie Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Italian Films Of 1975 1975 Films A film al ...


References


Notes


Sources

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External links

* *{{amg title, 109235 1975 films 1975 horror films Italian horror films 1970s Christmas films 1970s Italian-language films Films directed by Aldo Lado Films scored by Ennio Morricone Rape and revenge films Italian serial killer films Films set on trains Italian Christmas films Films set in West Germany Films set in Austria 1970s Christmas horror films Video nasties 1970s Italian films