Trackman, Eyeball Collector in the Subway

From Russia, a gratuitous tale of a pick-axe wielding maniac. Shot in Moscow it is nice to see that our comrades there were also influenced by "My Bloody Valentine." Instead of a mine in Nova Scotia, this film is set in abandoned subway tunnels under Moscow. Take heart...the pick-axe is the same...and in 2007's "Trackman," our fiend also has a flamethrower...and he collects eyeballs!

Stupid Russian criminals come up with a fool proof plan to pull off a bank robbery and getaway. We've heard that before. Grom (Dimitriy Orlov) leads the idiots into the bank. Guess what...a bunch of heavily armed cops just happen to be doing their banking at the same time. A shoot-out occurs, two cops are killed and the robbers run out with the loot, a policeman hostage (Igor Shavlak) and two Russian babe bank employee hostages, Olga (Yuliya Mikhaylova) and Katya (Svetlana Metkina). Part two of the brilliant plan, disappear into a shaft leading to abandoned subway lines. Now in the subway, our crooks will soon find out that a Chernobyl survivor, turned mutant, lives there. One by one, the robbers and hostages are hunted down and have their eyes plucked out.

Olga and Katya are dolls and run for their lives clad in some nice heels and tight get-ups. The fiend, or trackman (Alexsey Dmitriev) gets a look at Olga and her shiny pantyhose and falls in love. Unfortunately, he doesn't like Katya and her heeled boots and keeps pursuing her. Grom, however, falls in love with Katya and will try to keep her alive. As the pick-axe and assorted surgical tools make minced meat out of the intruders, one of the gals will meet a very sad fate. Now armed with a flamethrower, as well, the trackman seems to have all the advantages. Grom, who probably has never had a bright idea since Communism died, must smarten up if he plans to preserve Katya and both of her eyes.

This is a gory one and Olga's death is very difficult to watch...as her legs really captivated us. Is this film a metaphor for the deterioration of public transportation in Moscow since the Berlin Wall fell? Does Olga's death make this  film a misogynistic parable about the evil influence of alluring Western fashion trends which Russian women gravitate to? Or, is this Moscow's attempt to show the West that they too can make a film of the caliber of "My Bloody Valentine." Brutal and gory, "Trackman" is a terrific Russian slasher film, directed by Igor Shavlak.