Six people on a Marseilles-Paris sleeper carriage. One murder on arrival. Then a killing spree by an unknown assassin bent on wiping out all remaining passengers.
The Sleeping Car Murders is a French Hitchcockian thriller. It presents a pretty interesting puzzle to be solved, a mystery with a quite satisfying, clever resolution. In some other ways, aside from the Anglo-American Hitchcock influence it's a movie that also contains elements of the Italian giallo, what with its black gloved killer who prowls around bumping off each subsequent victim. It isn't as violent or salacious as the gialli though but it does have the sense of style associated with them. Although this one has a definite Gallic flavour with its Paris setting. It also has a very cool swinging 60's theme tune which adds to the overall chic value. Its plot is admittedly a little muddled at times and it's not always obvious who is who and what they are up to. But things do become clearer as the flick proceeds. It's certainly an interesting obscurity and should be of value for fans of post-noir. Look out too for an appearance by a young Jean-Louis Trintignant.
