Coming out of the same studio that gave us RuPaul's Drag Race, and stacked with a whole crew of former contestants, Stop! That! Train! plays like RuPaul basically taking a bow for the entire franchise she's built. It's not really a gay film in the traditional sense, but with so many drag stars from Ru's shows popping up alongside a few cameos from well known out gay actors, I figured it earns a spot on this blog anyway. The whole thing is completely over the top, packed with GenZ slang, loud flashy visuals, and humor that's constantly winking at you knowing how ridiculous it is. Going in you'd assume it's meant to be a laugh riot, and a lot of critics online seem to be eating it up, but I just couldn't get into it at all. I've never really been someone who vibes with campy silly stuff like this, so honestly my reaction doesn't surprise me one bit. The setup follows Tess and DeeDee, two low level stewardesses who sneak onto the fancy Glamazonian E...
It is Ben's last night in town. He is moving to LA to become a gay porn star. On his last night, he parties with his closest friend, Dom, a straight guy who loves Ben in a profoundly platonic way. But Dom is also bit of a mess. He wants to send off Ben with some cash, so due to poor judgement from Dom, they both find themselves involved in smuggling of some dodgy looking parcels (that they are made to swallow) across the border. Turns out that the little slug-like thingies the boys swallow are not conventional drugs but living bugs that have aphrodisiac properties if harvested correctly, but which cause grave harm if they hatch while inside the couriers’ bodies. They find this out the hard way when they have an altercation with a gay bashing redneck who just hits Dom in stomach making one of the packets burst in his stomach. The du call for help to their supplier who forced them to do this and she takes them to her boss Rich's house, an older creepy man who will help but maybe after Ben gives him a taste of him. But the night turns out a fight for survival. Dom is in agony in pain with a hard dick and is being almost posted by Ben on force to get remaining packets out. Creepy Rich has eyes on Ben and when Alice tries to help them, they get shot. Now it's upto the simple yet hot Ben to save the night and get his friend out.
As I mentioned before, IMO the film doesn't strictly fall in the gay genre, but the makers very smartly add queer fantasies at every step. While Dom is straight, he also deeply loves Ben, who is secretly smitten with him. Both men get naked, but not in a sexual way. Not in a sexual way, but Ben can't help when Dom has a raging erection because of the worms, or even later when he has to pull things out of Dom's ass. The mandatory creepy older guy leering over Ben's hot body completes that cycle. The film is less horror , more thriller but this is genre that personally I am not a fan of. Ben and Dom have an amazing chemistry as friends and you a feel the sexual tension, but you also see how Ben needs to think quickly to save them out of this tricky situation. Sadly, the plot has plenty loose ends and how I wish the makers maybe reworked the script a few times. Characters continually do things that don't quite make sense, while the setting itself raises questions that go unanswered. Those expecting a more straightforward horror movie with gnarly body horror will likely come away disappointed. The film eventually becomes one of those campy gory thrillers, who have 'wannabe' written all over them. (3.5/10)
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