By Geno McGahee
I know that you’re not supposed to speak ill of the dead, but I always hated Jeff Conaway. I first saw him in GREASE and he was annoying then, but I didn’t see anything yet. THE SLEEPING CAR brings Conaway in as a lady’s man that gets with incredibly hot college girls. How I kept down my dinner while watching this is anyone’s guess.
Jason McCree, played by David Naughton of AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON and singer of “Makin’ It”, breaks up with his girl and is now renting a room that used to be a car linked to a terrible train wreck. He goes back to college and is the oldest guy in the class but that doesn’t stop one of the girls in class from noticing him. His college professor, Bud Sorenson (Conaway), is supposed to be a cool guy that inspires younger people with his energy…sort of like Mark Harmon from SUMMER SCHOOL…why didn’t they cast Harmon? They put freaking Conaway in this role and they named him “Bud” too?! I’ve hated every Bud I’ve ever met. I wanted to shut this film off, but I made a promise to myself that I was going to be makin’ it to the ending. No more, no more, fakin’ it.
The very attractive Kim (Judie Aronson) must have daddy issues. She starts dating Jason after breaking up with Bud. Aronson had some horror credentials coming into this with her role in FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE FINAL CHAPTER. I’m sure kissing Conaway was scarier than Jason Voorhees. Anyway, Kim and Jason become an item and strange things begin to happen. Jason begins getting terrible visions and this decomposed ghostly image begins watching everyone in the train car. He just stands there with his hands up in a spooky way.
As in most horror movies, there is one person that knows what’s going on. Vincent Tuttle (Kevin McCarthy) lives in a trailer that is lit primarily by candles. He has images of evil images like Baphomet hanging everywhere and keeps warning Jason that he is in danger. After the visions and a lot of missing people, presumed dead, Jason teams up with Vincent to stop the madness. A former train conductor known as “the Mister” has come back in ghostly demonic form to kill for some reason. When the Mister was alive, he hated premarital sex. Perhaps that’s his beef.
We have a great conclusion where the Mister comes into physical form and takes on Jason, Vincent and Kim in a big showdown. The Mister looks rather good, but there is a focus on maintaining a comedic tone in this film and it hurt it, especially at the finale. It’s not surprising. At this time, Freddy was more of a joke than a horror force and we also had Chucky being silly. So, a lighter approach seemed like a good idea, but it didn’t translate into success. The film flew under the radar and never caught on. It had all the elements (minus Conaway) to be a good film and a potential start to a franchise but it was too silly in the end.
THE SLEEPING CAR had a lot going for it. Naughton gave an honest effort and was makin’ it, as far as I’m concerned. Aronson shined in this and played her role incredibly well and played well off of Naughton. Directed and produced by Douglas Curtis, a man known primarily for producing some great films like SHOOT ‘EM UP and CELLULAR, had some good ideas, but just missed the mark.
I do recommend THE SLEEPING CAR. If you can stomach Conaway, you’ll probably like this film, but you’ll be frustrated when you see the potential and the direction that it went in the end.
Rating: 6/10
