Texas Night Train

Infobox Film
name = Texas Night Train


image_size =
caption = Poster art
director = Shanti Guy
producer = Shanti Guy
Kathryn Guy
Dan Huber
writer = Shanti Guy
narrator =
starring = Chuck Huber
Lydia Mackay
Lloyd W.L. Barnes Jr.
music = Time Starks/Byron
Richard Hood
Dan Phillips
release =
cinematography = Shanti Guy
editing = Shanti Guy
released = September 21, 2001 (USA)
runtime = 72 minutes
country = United States of America
language = English
budget =
gross =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
distributor = Dope Scope Productions
imdb_id = 0296893

"Texas Night Train" is a 2001 independently-produced horror film by Fort Worth, Texas-based artist and first-time filmmaker Shanti Guy.

Plot

"Texas Night Train" follows the odyssey of Jake (Chuck Huber), a hipster who becomes entangled with the voodoo witch Mae (Lydia Mackay). One night at a bar, she drugs his drink and he passes out. When he awakes the next morning, Jake finds one of his kidneys has been cut from his body. He is also handcuffed to a railroad track. Freeing himself, he hops on a passing freight train and encounters a mysterious hobo (Lloyd W.L. Barnes, Jr.) who shares the secret of Mae’s activities. Jake goes into seclusion for years, then returns to seek his revenge on Mae. [ [http://www.tvguide.com/movies/texas-night-train/135436 TV Guide Online review] ]

Production and reception

"Texas Night Train" was produced on a US$7,200 budget. According to the filmmaker, it was inspired by the rockabilly song "Moppin’ the Floor with My Baby’s Head." [ [http://www.tvguide.com/movies/texas-night-train/135436 TV Guide Online review] ]

The film had its theatrical premiere in New York City on September 21, 2001, and reviews were overwhelmingly negative. Rob Nelson, writing in the "Village Voice", called it "repugnant" and "a slow train to nowhere." [ [http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0137,nelson,28024,20.html Village Voice review] ] Lawrence Van Gelder, reviewing the film for "The New York Times", said the production "amounts to about 10 minutes of storytelling in 75 minutes of repetitive film, ill-defined characters, wretched acting and droning voice-over maunderings." [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E03E2DC113BF932A1575AC0A9679C8B63 New York Times review] ] Rob Firsching’s review at the Amazing World of Cult Movies web site stated: "Every copy should be destroyed and Shanti Guy should be legally prohibited from ever picking up a camera again." [ [http://www.awcm.us/ccc/0027.htm Amazing World of Cult Movies review] ]

Despite the negative critical reaction, filmmaker Shanti Guy told the media that audiences were more receptive. As he stated in an interview: “There are three standard reactions that I got. Number one: we are proud of you whatever you do. Number two: that was some much cooler than I thought it would be. And number three: so, what was it about? I plan to try the film in some festivals and see if it gets picked up there. If nothing happens with that, I will distribute it myself in the hopes that it will become an underground rockabilly cult film.” [ [http://www.filmthreat.com/index.php?section=interviews&Id=141 Film Threat interview with Shanti Guy] ]

To date, "Texas Night Train" has not been released on DVD.

References

External links

*imdb title | id=0296893 | title=Texas Night Train