Terror Train 2 (2022) – Canadian Horror Film Review

Terror Train 2 is the sequel to the Tubi remake of the 1980s slasher film Terror Train. Tubi released its remake on October 21, 2022. Two months later, on New Year’s Eve, it released the sequel, so the two films must have been made back to back.

Terror Train 2 picks up the story just over a year after the first film. This time, instead of a Halloween party, the same “Terror Train” is the venue for a New Year’s Eve party.

This second helping of death on the rails features many of the Halloween party survivors including, Alana (Robyn Alomar), Sadie (Nadine Bhabha), and the magician (Tim Rozon) whose self-confidence and magic act appear to have taken a nosedive since his near-death experience onboard the train.

Terror Train 2 also introduces a few new characters including XNDR (Ess Hödlmoser), a security officer hired to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself, and Claudia (Nia Roam), Alana’s new best friend and roommate.

The party is the idea of the fraternity president (Dakota Jamal Wellman), also a survivor of the Halloween party. He has organized th event to help the other survivors put the past behind them and aid the healing process. However, although his intentions are honourable, two of the other survivors, Pet (Romy Weltman) and Merry (Tori Barban), see the party as an opportunity to become social media stars and spend a lot of time posing in front of their phones.

Like the magician, Alana has been hit hard by her earlier experiences on the Terror Train and, be it a supernatural encounter or a hallucination, when the cadaver she is supposed to operate on in a classroom setting morphs into her dead friend Mitchy, she cannot proceed and has to flee the class.

Well aware of her friend’s problems, Claudia, who is somewhat pushy, encourages Alana, who knows nothing about the event, to face her fears and take a second trip on the now-infamous Terror Train. Alana is shocked to learn of the plans and doesn’t want to attend but Claudia cleverly manipulates her into doing so.

Survivors and newcomers alike are surprised to see Alana and her presence knocks Pet’s nose out of joint because, with Alana on the scene, she’s not got a chance of being the star of the show.

 

As with the first film, it takes a while before people realize there is a killer on-board and, when they do, some of them wonder if it could be Carne, the killer from the first film, making a return. Although everyone believes she is dead, the body was never found.

It’s certainly a plausible theory. However, this time around, the killer isn’t just targetting the fraternity and sorority members, suggesting that, unlike last time, it may not be someone who has an axe to grind.

Like the first instalment, Terror Train 2 is a poor choice for anyone who doesn’t enjoy slasher films. It’s also not a good idea to watch it before seeing Tubi’s original Terror Train. If you do, it will make it harder to connect with the characters and appreciate what they have been through.

If you have seen the first film, don’t expect anything overly surprising and new. All you are getting is a second slice of the same pie, with a few tweaks to the recipe.

Nevertheless, if you liked Tubi’s first Terror Train film, the chances are good you will enjoy this second instalment. It’s not bad at all and has enough new characters and subplots to keep things interesting but fingers crossed Tubi doesn’t try to exploit the idea any further by making additional sequels. The Terror Train ride has been done to death now. To try and stretch the idea any further would be a colossal mistake.