The group of high school thugs intercepts two elementary school brothers in the railway tunnel, but the classic teenage bullying turns into tragedy when the older of the brothers, in an attempt to free himself, runs into the knife that one of the goons holds in the hand. At that moment the train comes and runs them over. 27 years later, killed teenagers come back from the dead to get revenge on surviving brother. The film is well-written, directed and acted and builds distinctive King's atmosphere. It would be one of the better adaptations of the King of Horror, if they didn't, as usual, spoil it with two completely redundant elements. At one point thugs, who seemed normal all the time and led us to wonder if everything was just in the mind of the main character, decide to take on the faces of rotting zombies, and thus a very tense atmosphere is spoiled by ridiculous visual effects. Another, perhaps worse, mistake is the pathetic dialogue at the end of the film, which replaces the impression that you have after watching horror with the impression that you have after watching teenage drama.5,5/10

One of them perfect late 80's/ early 90's horror films set in small town America, great story, great acting from the main cast, great pacing and tension, effortlessly cool, there aren't really many special effects to speak of, apart from when the bad guys show their demon faces, the bad guys are cool thou, the epitome of a 50's greaser, complete with flick knife and Johnny Cash hair, and their car is cool as anything, a hot rod with flames roaring out the back of it, the ending is a bit rushed and a bit schmaltzy but it made me cry (because I could identify with it) and is another great King adaption, which is saying a lot as most King adaptions are a bit hit and miss, and the endings always seem rushed, just like his books, definitely a must see if you like small town American horror type films.

Based on the short story by the same title by Stephen King, the short story itself was going to be part of the stories featured in Stephen King's Cat's Eye, but producer Dino De Laurentiis felt that the story would make it on its own.Plot: Jim Norman, a high school history teacher, moves back to his old hometown to teach after being offered a job there. He moved from the town after he witnessed his brother, Wayne, murdered by a group of thugs in 1963. The murderers themselves were killed shortly afterward by an oncoming train, having parked on the tracks.He has nightmares about his brother's murder as he starts teaching in the town. Students close to him start to be involved in various accidents that look like suicides. One by one enough students are slain so the thugs, disguised as living teens, can return to class.They plan to kill Jim in the same way they murdered Wayne in order to keep themselves out of Hell. They intend to have a child witness the event, leading them to try to kidnap Jim's son Scott. Jim finds out that there is a way to let his own brother come back. The gang also needs the remaining living member of their gang, Carl Mueller, who left before the train struck. Jim finds Carl, who panics, thinking Jim wants revenge. He runs back to town, fulfilling the gang's plan for a reunion.The gang harasses Jim's family at their home to ensure Jim's compliance in reenacting the murder. After the gang releases the family, Jim hides them inside a church, which the demonic gang cannot enter. Jim tries to bring his brother back in the church's graveyard as the gang lures his wife and son outside and hold them hostage. Jim finds that something is blocking Wayne's return, and must cooperate with the thugs in reenacting the murder. He returns to the train tunnel in which the first murder took place, though both he and Carl change their dialogue and actions from those taken 27 years before. Frustrated, the gang leader stabs Carl, which allows Wayne to come back. Wayne distracts the gang members while Jim gets his family out of the gang's car. As the family runs, the gang tries to escape in their car, only to have it stuck by a ghost train which sends them back to Hell.Wayne offers to have Jim come with him to the afterlife, which Jim refuses. Wayne says he can move on to heaven and see his parents because the greasers are no longer a threat. Wayne goes back to the afterlife as Jim's family heads home.Verdict: top-notch supernatural horror film with enough scares to make you jump out of your seat. Add it to you Stephen King Collection.

I am a Stephen King fan, and it is rare that I find any of the TV adaptations good. This one seems to be the exception. This is the first King Adaption that I actually liked BETTER than the short story. It is a rather emotional story about a man having to face his demons both figuratively and literally. The movie adaptation is very different from the real story, however I find it tells a more complete story. It allows you to feel the sadness Jim feels regarding the murder of his older brother when they were kids. Through a series of flash backs you see how his brother was murdered and by who. In the movie, the punks seem to kill his brother Wayne by accident. However, in the Short story version they deliberately stab him once in the chest and once in the groin. In the book they also did not die in the train tunnel, they died years later in a car accident when running from the police. I think the way they wrote it for the movies makes more sense for the story line. The "ghosts" have more of a reason to come back and haunt Jim, because in their eyes he is the reason they are dead (he has the car keys). In the book, it does not seem clear why they come back, other than he returned to the town?Also, in the Original King Version his wife Sally is killed by the ghosts and they do not have any children. In the book, Jim actually uses Dark magic to conjure up a spirit that helps him to return the ghosts to the after-world.He actually cuts off two of his fingers so that the dark spirit will help. The spirit takes the form of his brother, but really is not. Where as in the movie his Brother Wayne's Spirit actually comes back and helps. The movie ends on a happy note. The bad ghosts return to where ever they came from and Jim and his dead brother (Wayne)get closure. The Book version ends with the Spirit he conjured following him and Jim remembering the warning he had read regarding Black magic which was, "sometimes they come back". The special effects are a bit corny, however the actors do a decent job and it is a creepy enough ghost story (with minimum gore) to entertain you on a rainy day.