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"Not even the darkest side of Welles' Touch of Evil could prepare us for Bernstien's visceral shocker!"
Thomas Ethan Harris |
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"A beautiful example of true American Independent Cinema."
Denis Cote |
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"I search for opportunities to transcend the average narrative into the hypnogogic world of dreams and semi-abstract montages, and Night Train provided the ride."
Eric Oberthaler |
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"Through the use of brilliant camera work, shadows and haunting music, the dusty, dangerous world of underground Tijuana is evoked."
Susan Woods |
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Joe Butcher is a man... a big man... a big CONFUSED man, who is looking for his brother, a criminal named Zack who is hiding out in sunny, friendly Tijuana and left for his sole sibling a solitary clue... A key. Joe decided to catches a night train into the chaotic, sun-stroked Zona Norte section of Tijuana, discovering amongst other things the joys of random, endless alcoholism while attempting to find clues on his lost brother. It appears that Zack was wrapped up in some unpleaseant dealings, a snuff movie ring run by a laughing fedora-capped midget gringo who wants a certain box of money that has disappeared with the brother. Joe then embarks on a journey that drowns him in a film noir world of sordid debauchery and torture.
This first feature from Les Bernstien is a low-budget film noir satire shot on location in Tijuana and captured on gorgeous high-contrast black and white film. Equally inspired by Orson Welles' TOUCH OF EVIL, 60's grindhouse exploitation films like H.G. Lewis' BLOOD FEAST, and flowing with its own sordid cynicism and beauty, NIGHT TRAIN is a hilarious and sardonic film that announces the arrival of a major new talent. Bernstien also graces the film with pounds of saucy music that compliment the moist journey of Joe Butcher, and elaborate optical camera dream sequences that add a level of surrealism to the matter that occassionally seems like THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI mixed with David Lynch's early pictures. Always conscious of its hommages and insanity, Bernstien manages to plummet the viewer into a strange bucket of drunkenness that makes one want to go to Tijuana and never come back...
Karim Hussain |
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The main character in "Night Train" is a tubby, half-bright mouth-breather named Joe Butcher (John Voldstad). Joe's just out of prison, and everyone he meets makes him as an ex-con within seconds.
Limited as he is, Joe's full of fraternal feeling for his brother, Zack. Zack was supposedly killed in an accident in Tijuana while his brother was doing time, and Joe wants to find out more about what he was doing in the border town. All he has to go on is Zack's mention of a guy there named Don Alameda (Pedro Aldana) and a woman named Regina (Nikoletta Skarlatos). Nonetheless, equipped only with these two names and his own brand of imperturbable determination, he lumbers down to TJ to track down the truth. Director/co-writer Les Bernstien's compelling black-and-white, low-budget thriller follows Joe through the streets and crummy dives of a nightmare Mexico that's two parts "Touch of Evil" and one part "Under the Volcano." It's all ultra-gritty, darkly comic and culturally incorrect. Joe never gets any smarter (or cleaner), but, as played by the wonderfully shlumpy Voldstad, he's an endearing character. As Joe indulges various physical appetites and follows the increasingly disturbing clues about Zack's activities, he meets up with any number of classically sinister border types. He skirts the edge of a dreadful crime (graphically depicted on screen), and we fully expect something awful to happen to him at any moment. Mostly because he's too obviously inept to threaten anyone, Joe eventually does solve the mystery while avoiding serious physical damage. And, in a manner of speaking, he even gets the girl. Improbably, "Night Train" winds toward a happy ending for Joe. Even more improbably, we care. This is Bernstien's first feature film as a director, but his credits as a visual effects director of photography include "Small Soldiers," "City of Angels," and "The Game." His expertise shows: "Night Train" is a visually interesting and accomplished film.
Renee Downing |
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