Horror Express (1972)

Horror Express
Starring: Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, and... Telly Savalas?
Director: Eugenio Martín
Genre: Horror
Year: 1972
My rating: 

HORROR EXPRESS (1972), also known as PANIC IN THE TRANS-SIBERIAN TRAIN, is an unbelievably hokey film with plot points that are unclear, character motivations that defy sense, and science that would make your sixth-grade biology teacher weep. Yet I really enjoyed the film, because it's genuinely creepy and contains a carefully constructed sense of menace. Yes, a lot of it doesn't make sense upon reflection, but it's fast paced enough that any story issues don't jar the audience out of the film's mood.

Apart from the establishing moments of the film's beginning, the action takes place entirely onboard a trans-Siberian locomotive. Anthropologist Christopher Lee is a passenger with a mysterious crate -- the contents of which have already raised the ire of the film's mad monk who warns that the deadly hand of Satan is nearby. Helping Lee ignore the predictions of doom is Peter Cushing, an English doctor with a morbid and overwhelming curiosity of Lee's business.

The contents of the crate, as revealed in the film's beginning, are the frozen remains of the "missing link" -- a two million-year-old half-man, half-ape creature who would represent a fundamental change in the scientific community (if the term "paradigm shift" has been invented at the time, they would have used it). But if you think that this specimen will simply remain a scientific curiosity or won't, for instance, wake up and begin a killing spree, then you simply don't know horror movies.

As the DVD box tells us, the passengers are now under attack from the awakened and angry ape-thing. I'd never seen a horror movie that used a train as its sole location, but I have seen a number of straightforward thrillers that have pulled off the same trick. And what made those films successful also works well here. The claustrophobic atmosphere is genuinely oppressive. There is no escape from this train (they're traveling through the wastelands of Siberia) and they are completely at the mercy of this horrific monster. The characters are also always important in such closed-set movies like this, and the fellow passengers are very entertaining here too.

Yes, on paper the plot of this movie is goofy as all get out. A two million-year-old ape-monster jumping about on a train (and did I mention that he can remove his victim's memories and thoughts?) and terrorizing a bunch of rich folks sounds wacky. I'm not going to assert that this is a film where you can take everything seriously.

But it is, in fact, seriously creepy. The manner in which the monster kills his victims is rather disturbing. And I don't want to give away any spoilers, but I was fascinated by the -- let's say -- relationship between the monster and its victims. I've seen this before in other genre fiction, yet it seems very fresh here, and it's a very spooky take on the concept.

Oh, and I haven't even mentioned Telly Savalas and his big red coat yet. They don't show up until the last twenty minutes or so, but in that time Savalas manages to gobble up all the scenery that he would have chewed had he been in the rest of the picture. He throws his arms around dramatically. He makes grand, loud speeches. He stops just short of twirling in circles and bursting into song and dance. He's supposed to be a Russian military Captain, but he makes no attempt at hiding his New York accent. He is marvelously, marvelously entertaining.

This is a solid, unnerving horror film whose small budget works to its advantage. We aren't overloaded with gory special effects, and the inexpensive tricks used work effectively. There were only a few scenes that I had to turn away from (I absolutely cannot stand to see any foreign object going into an eye, no matter how fake the effect). What the film can't provide in spectacle, it can more than make up for in sheer pizzazz.

And if you're familiar at all with horror films, you'll certainly recognize the names of the two stars: Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. They were more famous for appearing together in Hammer horror movies, but they don't miss a beat in this independent European film. Naturally, they have a lot of on-screen chemistry, which is perfectly understandable given that they had made about ten million pictures together before this one.

I'm reviewing the Digiview Production DVD edition. It's presented in full-screen, and while the picture isn't the greatest, it's a decent enough copy. This isn't really a film for close and careful study, so I didn't find any defects in the presentation to be overly distracting.

As I said, don't pay too much attention to the mechanics of the story (a major plot point from the beginning of the film is made inexplicable by the conclusion). Just enjoy this for some good healthy chills. This is a great movie for late at night when you want to freak yourself out.