The Sleeping Car (1990)
Dir. Douglas Curtis
Written by Greg Collins O’Neill
Starring David Naughton, Judie Aronson, Kevin McCarthy, Jeff Conaway
This is a minor, harmless little movie about what at first appears
to be a haunted train car, but turns out to be just a haunted couch, I think.
Only a few people die, and the ghost doesn’t even show up much until the very
last act. Mostly it’s a movie about David Naughton (AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN
LONDON) being a recently divorced guy who goes back to college to try and get
his journalism degree. I don’t know if director Curtis (who directed only one
other movie in the late 70s, but produced a bunch of fun horror stuff including
FREDDY VS. JASON and SHOOT ‘EM UP) had just gotten divorced, or if he was just
were trying to tap into the zeitgeist of the late 80s, or what, but the movie
definitely thinks this guy is awesome and keeps him supplied with a steady
stream of lame one-liners which the direction seems to indicate are charming.
Just like Michael Caine in THE HAND, he also almost immediately starts
banging a beautiful sexually aggressive co-ed, so good on him, I guess. And
also just like Caine in THE HAND, he has some unusual off-campus digs, in this
case the converted sleeping car with a murderous past which for some reason is
the movie’s title.
The characters are nowhere near as funny and witty as the movie
seems to think they are, but they do have a certain good-natured chemistry
which makes spending time with them a passable diversion while we wait for the
murders. There aren’t many murders, but when they do come there’s a nice
gimmick in which the couch kills people using couch springs in a variety of
nasty ways. And when the ghost finally gets pissed, the movie successfully
converts its irreverent humor into a good high-energy funny/scary GHOSTBUSTERS
sort of small-scale effects show. There’s not a ton of tension since you know
the movie is never gonna kill its protagonists, but the offending apparition
has a nice design and a few tricks to put our heroes through the wringer before
they can win the day.
There’s not a whole lot of memorable material here, but it
certainly qualifies as a watchable, inoffensive late 80’s horror / comedy with
all the requisite boobs, blood, and banter. By far the most memorable thing,
though, is Kevin McCarthy (INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS 1958 VERSION) as
Naughton’s oddball “white shaman” neighbor. Unlike the other leads, who all
seem to be clamoring to see who can say the most "witty" lines the
fastest, McCarthy boldly plays it totally deadpan, resulting in easily the most
laughs of the film. The other characters don’t seem to have learned this
lesson, but in general the film plays it like McCarthy does: not too pushy or
flashy, but odd enough to be memorable and competent enough to get the job
done.
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