THE GHOST TRAIN (1941) **
A group of vastly different strangers are dropped off at a deserted train station and are stuck there overnight. The gloomy station master warns them that the place is haunted by a spectral locomotive and advises them to scat. The group sticks around though and is menaced by eerie noises, murdered corpses, and of course, the titular train. As it turns out, the “ghost” is just a legend perpetrated by some Nazi smugglers to keep people out of their business.
The Ghost Train is a comedic horror movie that was originally a stage play. Director Walter Forde builds up a modicum of suspense during the early train sequences. The camerawork is surprisingly fluid in these scenes and prevents things from getting too cramped and claustrophobic. Once the action shifts to the abandoned train station however, the proceedings start to feel more and more stage-bound and the movie begins to flag. Most of the middle section of the flick has the cast sitting around and waiting for something to happen. Unfortunately, so does the audience. The ghost story the station master orates is pretty creepy though as is the final shot of the “real” train running off the tracks.
Comedian Arthur Askey stars and is kinda funny, although he does sing a thoroughly annoying song. At least he gets some pretty good lines like, “Why should I get old-monia? I’ve already got pneumonia!”