MacKinnon, who played the masked killer, appears in 11 scenes in Terror Train, wearing a different costume or masked disguise in each scene, including his real character of Kenny. There was friction between director Spottiswoode and MacKinnon during the shoot, which Spottiswoode claimed was a result of his inexperience: "He wasn't an actor. He was a transvestite from the streets of Montreal, and he wasn't familiar with the concepts of a contract and showing up for work on time. In a strange way though he did a pretty good job. He was familiar with that world of cheap theater and was strangely effective". Release The film was purchased for theatrical release in the United States by 20th Century Fox, who had recently garnered attention with the release of Star Wars (1977). The studio spent an estimated $5 million on an advertising campaign for the film, which would be their only foray into the slasher film sub-genre during its peak years. The campaign included billboards and trade advertisements, as well as several posters: the first one-sheet featured the killer dressed in the Groucho Marx mask, brandishing a knife; a second one-sheet emphasized the film's college youth setting, including the same image of the killer in addition to a bonfire and a train in the foreground. Reception Box office Terror Train opened in the United States on October 3, 1980, and grossed an estimate $8 million at the box office on a budget of $3.5 million. Critical response Variety deemed the film "competent" in a mildly positive review, while Roger Ebert gave the film one out of four stars, writing: "The classic horror films of the 1930s appealed to the intelligence of its audiences, to their sense of humor and irony. Movies like Terror Train, and all of its sordid predecessors and its rip-offs still to come, just don't care. They're a series of sensations, strung together on a plot. Any plot will do. Just don't forget the knife, and the girl, and the blood". However, he conceded that "it's not a rock-bottom-budget, schlock exploitation film". Ed Blank of the Pittsburgh Press criticized the film for its lack of characterization, summarizing: "Terror Train. A neat name. A nothing movie". A review in the Los Angeles Times praised the film's atmosphere and characterized it as "stylish, scary fun". Richard Corliss of Time also praised the film's style, calling it "sleek and eerie". Bill