I can't say that I'm surprised by the unpopularity of this film, but I think "Amok Train" is lots of fun and though a lot of people may disagree, I actually think it has a few genuinely eerie moments and it is worth watching.
The story goes something like this: A group of American "teenagers" go on a school trip to a rural town in Serbia called Ufir, to witness an ancient ritual. One of the class mates is a mousy girl named Beverly Putnic, who is of Serbian ancestry, but she is not very excited about visiting her ancestors' native lands, because she doesn't get along with anyone. What Beverly doesn't know is that this trip is actually all about her, because many years ago, a cult of Serbian satanists chose her to become the Devil's wife and now that she is a woman, she is ready to meet her future husband.
When the class mates arrive to Ufir, they are welcomed by a local man, known as Professor Andromolek, who is also the cult leader (which is evident, since he uses a silver cane, a black cape, and he has a Satan-like goatee). On the first night, two of the cult members set one of the cabins on fire, where the class mates are sleeping and one of the boys is burned to death. The young students leave immediately and ask around for help, but the creepy locals don't seem to care one bit (after all, they are the ones who caused the fire in the first place). The desperate and confused teenagers decide to run away and jump into a moving train, which leads to a series of chaotic and gory murders that nobody can explain.
I may be a part of a really, really small crowd here, but I actually like this film and not in a patronizing way. Sure, there are a lot of ridiculous parts, but I actually think director Jeff Kwitny builds up a very eerie atmosphere. I find the Serbian landscapes to be very frightening and intimidating in a beautiful way. The elderly actors who play the cult members look very threatening with their zombie-like attitude, their black clothes, the sinister look in their eyes and the fact that they always appear out of nowhere from the trees, giving the impression that they're all together up to something horrible. The death scenes are very creative; some of them look outrageous due the lack of budget or maybe the lack of common sense, but overall, I found the deaths to be very original and enjoyable.
The characters are rather generic and one dimensional, which is basically mandatory in these types of films. We have the shy and innocent girl (the leading role), the handsome athlete, the nice guy, the dumb one, the beautiful, popular girl
and the list goes on. To my pleasant surprise, during the train ride, the class mates come across a local girl named Sava (Savina Gersak), who is not only a tough girl, she is also a thief
and she refers to herself in the third person too! ("Don't mess with Sava", "Sava is a thief, not a murderer!"). The acting is mostly plain, except for Bo Svenson and Victoria Zinny (who only appears for a few minutes), it is obvious that the rest of the actors don't have a lot of acting experience and that's forgivable.
The film reaches its peak during the well awaited ritual, in which Beverly is offered to the Devil to be his wife. By this point, it seems like poor Beverly is somehow willing to accept her destiny, and she even looks eager to finally meet her future hubby. I don't want to spoil the whole scene but I will say this: we actually get to see the Devil for a brief moment
and it's not bad at all! I have seen my decent share of b-horror movies from the 80s to say that the Devil's appearance actually looks surprisingly decent. I think it would have been better to keep the Devil off-screen to make him more mysterious and intimidating, but apparently, director Jeff Kwitny didn't feel the same way and he took the risk of showing him. The whole ritual scene is over the top and bizarre, which is mostly what one would expect from a b-horror flick like this, so there's no disappointment there.
"Amok Train" deals with the premise of being stranded in a foreign land, where nobody can understand or help the characters, which is something that I enjoy. There are several scenes where we only see the Serbian actors talking to each other and there are no subtitles, which alienates the audience too. I think the whole idea of being lost and helpless in a foreign country is terrifying, especially if the place is half as scary like the fictional town of Ufir that we see in this film.
"Amok Train" is definitely a fun ride and anyone who can appreciate b-horror movies from the 80s should be able to enjoy this film. I know I was pleasantly surprised myself.
