It is indeed a fine feeling to discover a film on home video that you never even knew existed until you popped it in the ol' DVD player and lay eyes upon your idiot box. Knowing now that Night Train had made it's festival circuit run, I really wish it would've played here in Philly, what a treat it would have been to see this one with an audience. Synapse Films has taken a virtually unknown piece and given it a much more respectable home video release than anyone could have ever asked for. Night Train is a brooding, dark and disturbing homage to the film noir - before you choke down your own disgust, hear me when I say that it's absolutely like no other, and never once does it wink at the audience in an inappropriate manner.

Truly a visual film in every sense of the word, you won't have an appreciation for what Night Train really has to offer until you actually take a peek. With a great visual style and some sets that look as if they could have fallen off of a truck belonging to Robert Wiene himself, Night Train is a lot of fun. I should've known with Synapse Film's track record that we were in store for a real treat, but how much I actually enjoyed Night Train in the long run is what really caught me by surprise.

Night Train centers on an unkempt lowlife named Joe Butcher (John Voldstad who you may remember as the "second Darryl" from Newhart) who travels to Tijuana to find his apparently equally as unsavory brother Zack (also played by Voldstad). Once he arrives in Tijuana, Joe is immediately swept up by a dirty world of greed, corruption and just plain ugliness. Joe discovers that his brother is dead and he alone, must now get to the bottom of things. The only real source that Joe has to stand by is an alcoholic buddy by the name of Sam (Barry Cutler). What follows is a delirious and quite often unpretty homage to the classic film noir, as Joe tries to make it day to day, he attempts to relive the time of his brother's untimely passing.

Along the way, Joe finds plenty of time to drink and "make it" with as many ladies (prostitutes included) as time will allow. Joe spends his days stumbling through alleys as well as enjoying the finest in Tijuana's burlesque circuit. Things only go from bad to worse as Joe finds himself involved with a bizarre underground snuff ring, which ultimately leads us to a finale, that really needs to be seen to be believed.

There really are many reasons to like Night Train, most of which lies within its fantastic visual style. Shot on B&W film, Night Train is probably one of the most visually accurate homages to noir that I've ever had the pleasure of seeing. With a great gritty look about it, director Les Bernstien (veteran Visual Effects DOP) makes excellent use of shadows, superimpositions, mirror images and swirling segues. The look and feel of Night Train is old school noir all the way. While evidently shot on quite a low budget, one would really never know, as the output far exceeds the films actual budgetary limitations. Visually, Night Train is all across the board, so major kudos to Bernstien for managing to pull it all off. Styles and genres are mixed in a delicious stew, it's quite fascinating to watch it all unravel. The film jumps from crime-drama with frightening visuals to just plain gory mayhem (a young girl is hacked to pieces in one grisly scene) yet throughout, Night Train manages to retain a wicked sense of humor and is never too "heavy" for its own good.

Performances are all on target and truly lend to the films exceptional outcome. Voldstad is simply fantastic as the disconnected Joe Butcher. He's quite a mess (to say the least) as he slinks around town in a quite often disgusting manner, it's simply pure pleasure! He's fascinating to watch, likeable in a very disturbing and upsetting sorta way. Constantly running into a host of wretched loonies along his journey, he's complimented by an almost always entertaining supporting lineup. At times the film plays off almost like an Alice in some kinda demented Wonderland.

This full frame presentation of Night Train is quite pleasing. It's very difficult to shoot B&W as it is, and Synapse faithfully recreates the look that Night Train was evidently after on this DVD. Black levels are exceptionally solid (which is very important) and print damage is really minimal. It's a fantastic transfer all around. Audio is presented in an equally impressive stereo track with nice clear dialogue and fine separation among the front speakers.

Extras include bios for Bernstien and Voldtsad, storyboards, a music video and the short (about 20-minutes) that was used to acquire funding for the feature. The final extra is a running feature length commentary with director Les Bernstien, Editor George Lockwood and John Voldstad that is quite informative. Also, be on the lookout for an easy to find, nifty easter egg as well.

This is an overall slick (and more importantly fun) presentation from Synapse Films. Night Train is a visually stunning low budget triumph. Both the flick and the DVD offer up a solid evening of cinematic entertainment.

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