On Christmas Eve, two schoolgirls,
Margaret (Irene Miracle) and Lisa (Laura D´Angelo), are traveling home by rail from Munich
to Italy to spend the holidays with Lisa´s parents at their splendid villa. Lisa is a truly innocent young woman whose only vice is a cigarette once in a while – she is even still a virgin! Her friend is more versed in the ways of the world.
On the train the two girls run into two young punks and a nameless, decadent “Lady On the Train” (Macha Meril). The punks, who go by the names of “Blacky” and “Curly” and are on a random crime spree, sneaked aboard the train after manhandling and robbing a vendor at a market in the heart of Munich. Lead on by the “Lady”, the men start to harass the girls, but
Margaret and Lisa manage to escape unharmed when the train is stopped at Innsbruck because of a bomb threat.
In an attempt to avoid the ensuing delay, the schoolgirls cross the platform and transfer to an empty
compartment on the “Last Train of the Night” (literal translation of the movie´s original title “L´ Ultimo Treno della Notte”).
This arbitrary transfer proves to be a fatal mistake, because the three degenerates follow them and force their way into the girls´ compartment just minutes later. Now Margaret and Lisa are in for a nasty surprise. For starters, the decadent Lady forces them to watch her have sex with Blackie. In the meantime Curly wanders of to shoot some smack in the bathroom. Upon his return he gives Margaret a savage beating when she resists his sexual advances. Rape and a host of other perversions ensue.
A drunken businessman notices the goings-on and lingers outside the window of the compartment, silently taking a peep.
When the criminals spot the voyeur, they invite him to join their little “party”. The man agrees, rapes the dazed and confused Margaret and then just goes on his amoral way.
Discovering that Lisa is still a virgin, the evil and demented Lady restrains her so the smacked-out, utterly psychotic curly can rape her with his knife...(!) (This has to be one of the nastiest scenes ever). As Christmas Day sheds its first light outside, Margaret manages to escape the clutches of her tormentors and jumps to her death from the window in the train´s bathroom compartment. Lisa dies as a result of the knife rape, and the criminals throw her body out of the window after her friend.
In the aftermath of their horrible deeds, the criminals start blaming each other. Blackie turns on the manipulative Lady and kicks her in the kneecap, screaming “It´s all your fault!”
The culprits leave the train at the same stop where Lisa´s parents are waiting to pick up the girls. The Lady smooth-talks Lisa´s father, who happens to be a doctor, into harbouring the fugitives at his house while he bandages her knee. By chance, the parents become aware of their daughter´s murder and the identity of the responsible parties. After learning of his guests´, the father attempts to strangle the Lady. She, however, manages to convince the revenge-crazed man that the two no-good “drug addicts” committed the crime – she was just an helpless witness.
The doctor buys this crap and goes after the two young men, skewering Curly repeatedly with the business end of a metal IV stand and shooting Blacky with a shotgun.
The end sees the Lady, a veiled hat covering her face, standing unharmed beside Lisa´s parents as police cars arrive.
You think that the story sounds familiar? You are absolutely right! “Night Train Murders” is the earliest example of the “Last House on the Left” copycat phenomenon. Though being a more professionaly mounted production than “Last House..”, it lacks the sense of humour and the style of Craven´s take on Ingmar Bergman´s “The Virgin Spring” (Jungfrukällan).
P:S:: Most of the movie´s original score was composed by Ennio Morricone!