A sequal in name only to Beyond the Door, Amok Train is nothing more than a mish-mash of ideas, thrown into a pot and simmered to nowhere near perfection. It's no surprise that just about everyone involved in this production hardly (if ever) worked again in the business.

A group of students (these people have to be in their late 20's early 30's) travel to Yugoslavia on a class field trip. Some sort of Pagan ritual is calling to one of the female students who also happens to have a birthmark that matches the Pagans corporate logo (we see this early on in a really unnecessary and uncomfortable nude scene). Well, to keep a really long story short, the students are almost burned alive by the Pagans (one student does burn, he could have easily escaped but doesn't... why?) and escape onto a train (well, all of them escape except for two of them). The train turns out to be possessed or something, it's never really explained. Needless to say, people just start dying, in real gruesome ways (that's a plus). Things are rounded out with another Pagan ritual of some sort for some reason or another towards the end. If you're confused, don't worry, cause so am I.

Amok Train fails miserably in just about every dept. The story (or lack there of) doesn't make a lick of sense. None of the characters are likeable from the get go, so let them all die a horrible death, I say. On top of all this, these people really can't act either. These "kids" just run around for 90 minutes getting on each others nerves (and ours) and it's all pretty pointless. There's really no sense of dread or terror for the viewer, so all you can really do is sit back and watch the brats get slaughtered. If I had to pull some good out of Amok Train, it would be the carnage. There is plenty of red stuff flowing, and most of the effects are creative and convincing. There are some interesting set pieces as well, and some shots of the out of control train are truly menacing. It's just a damn shame that there is absolutely nothing to tie all this together. It boils down to another wasted opportunity on a few interesting concepts. Should we really be surprised at this point?

Dragon Entertainment presents Amok Train in its original aspect ratio of 1:85.1 and the transfer is absolutely satisfactory for a title of this caliber. The picture is a bit soft, and at times colors are muted, but overall this is a fairly solid presentation. There is some minor print damage present throughout (it gets pretty bad during the last reel) mostly just some speckles and a few scratches here and there. Sound is presented in Dolby Pro-Logic Surround with effects and music doing really well while the dialogue exhibits some slight distortion (the letter S in particular). Nobody could have ever expected this title to surface on DVD and justice has been done (this is no top to bottom remastering job, but would that have really been necessary?). Extras are limited to a few filmographies so don't expect extensive behind the scenes material.

Amok Train is not a great film, heck it's not even a good film. With limited style, and a few good effects, it would be hard for me to throw out a blanket recommendation. Fans of the film (are you out there?) will most likely be pleased. Anyone else? Purchase your ticket at your own risk, no refunds.

Amok Train is a Region 0 PAL DVD. You will need a player that can convert PAL to NTSC in order to play this DVD in the USA.