Horror Express (1973)

This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

"Pánico en el Transiberiano" its one of the best films I have seen that stars Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, its on the level of even the best Hammer movies. I found it to be quite interesting that this is my favorite adaptation of "Who Goes There?" while many people prefer "The Thing" movies I think this one's better by a huge margin.Our beloved horror duo certainly elevate the material, but that's not to say that the movie would have been sub par without them, there's enough good elements in the movie itself to make it worthwhile. This is such a fascinating concept, it lends itself for many twists and turns.I really love how weird it got, it touches subjects such as the usual religion vs Science debate, the unknown and it even has some political overtones, and at the same time it features a silly ape-like creature with glowing red eyes attacking people. I wouldn't dare to call this a B movie, given that for many people that's a pejorative term, but lets just say that people who like bizarre monster movies wont have a hard time enjoying this.

Well, some writer's imagination was working overtime on this one. The story posits an elaborate theory of an organism or energy form entering a host body two million years ago, which now transfers from host to host when the prior one dies. Once situated, it claims further victims by sucking out their brains through their eyes. Yikes! This must all have been very confusing to Father Pujardov (Alberto de Mendoza) because he thought this was a vampire flick, exclaiming at one point - "Beware the Law of Satan". You really can't blame him though, there was plenty of confusing stuff going on.One of those confusing things was Captain Kojak showing up about an hour into the flick. I know, I know, it was really Captain Kazan, but Telly Savalas was just about ready to begin his run as the lollipop sucking detective of the popular TV series in a short while. He really did look fine decked out in that bright red Cossack costume, no wonder he was such a hit with the ladies.Considering this wasn't a Hammer film, it was a treat seeing Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing team up to solve a problem here instead of being adversaries. For a horror movie, I thought it was a bit surprising that the monster creature was done away with after about forty five minutes, but as I mentioned earlier, the life force kept hopping around to take advantage of whoever came it's way. Which led to a puzzling question - since the monster wanted Professor Saxton (Lee) to set him free inside the body of Pujardov, why wouldn't it have simply taken off earlier when it was atop the train's baggage car after taking it's first victim? Seems like a little plot hole there.What I got the biggest kick out of though was when the professor addressed the assembled passengers aboard the train, warning them all that they should remain situated in groups or pairs so as not to be left alone. So what does he do in the very next scene? - He's wandering around alone investigating things by himself - that just cracked me up. Almost as much as when he explained to Dr. Wells (Cushing) and the Countess (Silvia Tortosa) that his autopsy of the first victim revealed that the man's memory was removed! What!?!? How could he figure that one out? Well, I like to pan these flicks for their pseudo-intellectual babble, but all in all, this wasn't such a bad little horror film. It had an interesting cast and as I say, a lot of pains were taken to fabricate the wild story line. I tell you what though, by the end of the film, it'll make you think twice about booking your next red eye flight.

This superb Spanish horror-cum-thriller features one of my very favourite pairings of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, in one of the rare instances where they team up on the same side and fight for good together! Other than that, this film has an original and interesting plot which is totally at odds from the kinds of Gothic films that Hammer and other European film companies were making at the same time. The setting of a high-speed train is a good one, and there are lots of scenes in murky carriages which bring out the claustrophobia of the situation.The other main areas of horror that the film taps into are fear of the unknown (you never know the location of the killer, or what he/it/she is doing) and paranoia. Paranoia because halfway through the film becomes a kind of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS variant, with the alien intelligence swapping bodies at the point of death. One of this film's key highlights is the eerie whistling on the soundtrack which is repeated throughout the film - this serves to make the hairs rise up on the back of your neck every time it pops up and is one of the spookiest sound effects I've ever heard in a film.The cast is a varied one. Aside from the three imported stars, the supporting cast is composed of Spanish actors and actresses who are all believable and act well in their roles. However acting honours must of course go to the inimitable team of Cushing and Lee who are once again excellent here. Cushing plays a gentle-mannered doctor on the train who is required to perform a couple of autopsies in the baggage carriage! This leads to some classic scenes which recall his old Frankenstein days as he carefully saws the heads off corpses and examines their brains! Lee, on the other hand, is very good as the arrogant professor, in a role which I feel is well-suited to his personality! If Lee is a little stiff (but still great) as the professor, then Telly Savalas occupies the other end of the spectrum with his hilariously over-the-top role of the cossack leader who beats and shoots his way through a number of suspects! His performance is aptly described by the phrase "scenery chewing". I love the moment where he throws a knife in a victim's back before shooting him twice just to make sure he's dead! One other actor of note is the one playing the mad monk, who makes Rasputin look sane in comparison! For the time this was made, this seems to be a fairly grisly little chiller. Aside from the aforementioned brain removals, the numerous victims suffer bleeding from the eyes, nose, and mouth, and have their eyeballs turn white (they've been boiled you see). On top of all this, there is some ludicrous mock science which reaches a laughable high-point when Cushing and Lee discover an image of the Earth from space imprinted in the creature's eyeball fluid! This film's low budget (most of which probably went on getting Cushing and Lee all the way to Spain from Britiain) is cleverly hidden via the use of plenty of simplistic yet startlingly effective special effects. The simple white contact lenses give the dead bodies a really macabre look, while the killer's glowing red eye seems to have been a definite inspiration for the look of THE TERMINATOR. And of course, there's the use of the model train which is shown repeatedly throughout the film, and crashes and explodes at the very end - they certainly wring every penny out of it, that's for sure! The biggest complaint about this film seems to be that it has pacing problems, but after watching a number of films from this era which are much worse, this doesn't bother me at all - especially when horror legends Cushing and Lee are on screen and giving it their all.At the film's very end, it changes track (rather like the train itself...) and becomes a zombie movie, with all the dead bodies of the cossacks coming back to life and seeking victims! This is a pretty scary scene, only hampered by some slapdash editing in the moments where Lee and his pretty female accomplice have to fight their way through the zombies. The ending ties everything up nicely, too. With an intelligent, original plot, great acting and effects (aside from the rather dodgy ape man suit!) this is one of my very favourite horror/science fiction B-movies and should be seen by all fans of older horror films. It's downright classic!

I really like this movie...BUT - "What if one of you is the monster?" "MONSTER!?!? We're British!" :D That was Peter Cushing's reply to that question concerning himself and Christopher Lee. :) You see, normal laws of physics and physiology, nor, those of morality, sociology, and, foreign influence, ever applied to the British...hee-hee! :DThe script 'did' get it right about the married Polish Royal couple - Count Marion Petrovski; and, Countess Irina Petrovska (the Polish feminine of such a name ended with 'ska,' and, not 'ski')...but, IMDb managed to get it wrong!?!?Then, there's the 'arrogantly-yet-cowardly-and-supposedly-tough' American' woman who takes a stand (against Captain Kazan - Telly Savalas)...but, then blames it upon another!?!? Very gutsy!?!? :DThen, Telly has a Tokarev pistol...that didn't come out until the 1930s!?!? Maybe it was an American 1911 ACP .45 pistol that came out in 1911...this movie is of 1906. The synchrony is wrong!AND, BEST OF ALL...THERE'S THE DEVOTED FATHER PUJARDOV who wished to be so pious by opposing evil! He's God incarnate; devout to the scriptures and a follower of God...yet, "he agrees to help the 'monster!?!?" Typical of religious leaders, especially those who swear to celibacy, and, then, lay with little boys!?!? He's the BIGGEST HYPOCRITE on the train! "I will teach to end pain; disease; hunger!" Says the devout priest!?!?"Moscow" says to stop the train!?!? In 1906, wasn't St. Petersburg (later. Leningrad) where 'Russian' national/governmental orders originated from?Either way...WHO CARES? I like this movie, and, I just love Silvia Tortosa and Helga Liné the same as I did as a child...SO SEXY! I give this movie TWO STARS for scaring me as a child; and, FOUR MORE STARS for Silvia Tortosa and Helga Liné arousing me! :)