Sun 15 Jun 2014
Movie Review: HORROR EXPRESS (1972).
Posted by Steve under Horror movies , Reviews , Science Fiction & Fantasy[17] Comments
HORROR EXPRESS. Benmar Productions/Granada Films, 1972. A Spanish/British production; released in Spain as Pánico en el Transiberiano. Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Alberto de Mendoza, Telly Savalas, Julio Peña, Silvia Tortosa, Ãngel del Pozo, Helga Liné, Alice Reinheart. Director: Eugenio MartÃn.
I’m sure I’m not the only one, but I love movies that take place on trains, and all but one half of one percent of this one does, so what does that tell you? And any movie with both Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing in it has got to be worth watching, and doubly so when they’re on the same side — well, friendly rivals, I would say.
Christopher Lee plays Professor Saxon, a British anthropologist, on board the Trans-Siberian Express from China to Moscow, along with the frozen body of a monstrous-looking humanoid discovered in a remote Manchurian cave (as if remote and Manchurian never appeared in the same sentence before). A colleague, Dr. Wells (Peter Cushing) is also on board, but only fortuitously so.
Or even luckily so. Both men are needed, as it so happens, since the creature in its sealed crate must be responsible for the series of mysterious deaths that quickly ensue — but how? — even before the train starts off on its long trek through the isolated snow-covered Siberian wasteland — the eyes of the victims sucked purely white, their brains wiped clean, as smooth as a baby’s bottom. (We get to view the makeshift autopsy on the moving train.)
There is an explanation, a science-fictional one, but the real fun is watching a pair of true professionals (Lee and Cushing) enjoy themselves immensely, or so they make us believe. (Cushing’s wife had died just before filming began, and he nearly backed out of his role.) As for Telly Savalas, as a loudly flamboyant Cossack officer (to put it mildly), the less said the better, at least by me.
NOTE: The video link above is of the final four or five minutes only. To see the movie in its entirety, go here.
June 15th, 2014 at 9:55 am
I also like movies that take place on trains. I’ve seen this one a couple times and enjoyed it. Time to see it again.
June 15th, 2014 at 10:13 am
I’m pretty sure the movie is in the public domain. There’s definitely a wide variety of selections available on DVD and of differing quality I am sure. There’s a recent Blu Ray/DVD release of the film, which I haven’t seen but would like to, which is probably the best in terms of visual quality and color
June 15th, 2014 at 12:44 pm
I don’t know this picture but based on the comments I get a sense of The Lost World in terms of set up.
June 15th, 2014 at 12:59 pm
No, not if you’re referring to the Conan Doyle novel. (Insert Plot Alert Warning here.) What it has is an H. P. Lovecraft motif, with the solution to the mystery being a strange alien being who has come to Earth from outer space, and ending up being stranded here. Not being much of a Lovecraft fan myself, I didn’t bring it up in my original review, but on that level, my sense is that it’s nicely done.
June 15th, 2014 at 1:36 pm
I was referring to the Conan Doyle novel and especially the character and introduction of Professor Challenger. Thanks for setting me straight.
June 15th, 2014 at 5:31 pm
I love this movie. The brain-draining, body swapping alien is a delight, and the plot is interestingly worked out (although there are still one or two things at the end that are never really explained). The producers got the railway carriages from another movie, and they do make things look a lot more expensive than they were. In the end though, the two thing that lifts this movie are Cushing and Lee.
Favourite dialogue: Upon being told that the monster could be either him or Lee, Cushing replies in incredulity “Monster? We’re BRITISH, you know!”
Lee remembered a chat he and Cushing had whilst making the movie. Lee launched into a long and detailed moan about the shortcomings of the production company, the catering and accomodation. After Lee had finished, Cushing stopped peeling the apple he had been working on, said “Well, there’s no point in grumbling, is there?”, and started peeling again. Somehow that sums up both their characters perfectly.
June 15th, 2014 at 8:22 pm
I agree. The movie wouldn’t be what it is without the duo of Lee and Cushing.
The music is very atmospheric as well. John Cacavas, who did the music for Kojak and Hawaii Five-O, created a very memorable Euro-horror soundtrack.
The director, Eugenio Martin, also did some Spaghetti Westerns. I’m looking forward to seeing what he came up with in that regard.
June 16th, 2014 at 3:16 am
For a film where Telly Savalas plays a Cossack Cop, it’s surprisingly intelligent.
June 16th, 2014 at 11:03 am
The film’s story was based, on part, on John W. Campbell’s “Who Goes There”
June 16th, 2014 at 1:05 pm
From
http://www.denofgeek.us/movies/18189/hp-lovecraft-and-his-lasting-impact-on-cinema
a couple of interesting paragraphs:
“Carpenter’s The Thing is an unmistakeably atheist creation, full of angst and existential coldness. When the luckless survivors, Childs and MacReady, sit utterly defeated outside the burning wreckage of their shelter, they don’t pontificate about divine providence, but simply take a swig of Scotch and wait for the inevitable end. There’s an astral chill here that’s straight out of Lovecraft’s At The Mountains Of Madness, which Campbell once admitted was a direct inspiration for Who Goes There.
“Like The Thing, At The Mountains Of Madness sees a group of scientists discover an ancient alien menace in the Antarctic, and both stories share a remarkable similarity in atmosphere and tone.”
June 16th, 2014 at 3:53 pm
What is interesting is that neither Lee nor Cushing exactly plays it heroic, though I see where Barry might have gotten the idea of a Challenger/Summerlee setup. It’s a different kind of rivalry though. At times it is as if they are both playing different aspects of their own film versions of Sherlock Holmes.
It is nice to see both of them in good guy roles for a change, and just the fact of casting them lets the viewer worry that one of them might be the creature despite being British.
This is clearly influenced by Lovecraft, though it is handled with more subtlety than might be expected. The train setting contrasted with the vast inhospitable Siberian steppes is well conceived, and while the creature is out of Manchuria I always feel that the shadow of Tunguska falls over the film as well.
This plays much more like a British film than a largely foreign one, with something of the feel of the better Hammer’s though with mad monks and mad Cossacks, they may have thrown in one too many elements.
Any film or book set on a train at least has my attention, and when it is handled as well as this, much more than just my attention. There is no reason this should be half as good as it is, but we can be grateful that it is.
June 16th, 2014 at 8:35 pm
Speaking of Hammer Films and mad monks. Christopher Lee had portrayed the most infamous mad monk of them all in “Rasputin, the Mad Monk” (1966) directed by Don Sharp
June 16th, 2014 at 9:12 pm
Hammer Films always aroused my curiosity based on casting, subject matter and art work. Haven’t seen enough, but they were essentially disappointments. To me.
June 17th, 2014 at 12:34 pm
Barry: Might just depend on the ones that you’ve seen. I think that DRACULA (1958), THE BRIDES OF DRACULA, REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN, PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES, THE DEVIL RIDES OUT, KISS OF THE VAMPIRE, NIGHT CREATURES and a number of others are pretty damn good. On the other hand, anyone watching THE REVENGE OF SHE, CURSE OF THE MUMMY’S TOMB, SCARS OF DRACULA, THE TWO FACES OF DR JEKYLL or LUST FOR A VAMPIRE might well find themselves put off movies for life….
June 17th, 2014 at 6:18 pm
I’d add the original Mummy and The Abominable Snowman as two Hammer films worth watching. Peter Cushing is the lead in both
June 17th, 2014 at 6:19 pm
Hammer also had a good run of films noir in the 1950s
June 17th, 2014 at 11:28 pm
I don’t watch horror films at all, my reference was to the fifties film noir that were often co-produced with Lippert and featured fading stars of the previous decade. I was always curious to see the players and ended by wishing better for them.