Horror Express

On an expedition to the arctic, Professor Sir Alexander Saxton discovers the nearly intact frozen remains of a prehistoric ape-like creature. The ice is melting, however, and soon the creature revives and is loose on the train. As people begin to show up dead, it appears the creature is more than a prehistoric man, but a creature not of this world.

Loosely connected to the story, “Who Goes There?” by John W. Campbell Jr., Horror Express is a science fiction horror film from the 1970s. With ninety percent of it taking place on a train, the set is limited to a few very decorative cars that you will see over and over again, but there is no problem with that. The film gets almost all of its mojo from the great acting of its cast.

Horror Express’ leads include Christopher Lee (The Lord of The Rings, Horror of Dracula) as Professor Saxton and Peter Cushing (The Curse of Frankenstein, Star Wars) as Dr. Wells in one of the few films where they are working together and not trying to kill each other. Their chemistry is fantastic and their banter is entertaining throughout the film. Alberto de Mendoza (Adam and the Serpent, Kill and Be Killed) plays a monk who is a little unbalanced at the beginning of the movie and gets worse as the story progresses. He does a phenomenal job with the role.

Telly Savalas’ (Kelly’s Heroes, Birdman of Alcatraz) role in Horror Express is a bit more than a cameo, showing up about halfway through the movie and being killed off a short time later. As a Russian police captain, his performance is spectacularly over the top, a bit deranged, and immensely entertaining. The performances of the other actors, including Silvia Tortosa (The Girl from the Red Cabaret) and Julio Peña (Horror Rises from the Tomb), were all good and I could spend most of the review talking about them, but let’s move on.

The creature spends his time body-hopping in the film. So while there is a monster on the train, most of the time he is in a human form (except when the lights go out). This adds to the suspense because until the main characters discover this, only the audience knows who the monster is. He stands near and converses with the people looking for him and hears all their plans to find him and foils them. It keeps Horror Express from getting dull as you keep wanting to yell at the screen, “Stop talking about your plans! He’s the monster!”

Makeup effects are simple but work well for the time. Victims of the creature have pure white eyes with blood streaming from the eyes, nose, and mouth. The blood is that ’70s bright red color that falls just short of resembling paint. The victims are said to be blinded at death. At one point they arise from the dead, being controlled by the monster, and stumble around trying to kill. With the prosthetics they had to wear, there was probably little need for acting blind. The creature’s iconic red eyes appear to be the same prosthetics in red. Other bits of gore exist in the film. Especially while Lee and Cushing are investigating the creature’s remains and performing autopsies.

The frozen creature in Horror Express looks pretty good. There are some issues with the make-up quality that can be overlooked (eye-lids behind the bone of the eye socket for example). It looks good enough for the short time it is on screen. The creature’s decayed look, both when frozen and while roaming the train cars, would be considered grotesque in 1972. However, it is still passable in the present day. His menace is established right away, but a short scene with sleeping children emphasizes it. Even though nothing happens to the kids, the potential danger from the creature (who is in the room with them while they sleep), lets us know that this monster could strike anyone. That feeling stays with you throughout the rest of the film. Adding to that distressing feeling is his body-hopping, giving the film a lot of tension with little work.

When you measure this film against its contemporaries, it won’t be the best looking or scariest thing out there, but Horror Express is a campy, fun, and catching horror film. It contains some great performances by some talented people and will stick in your mind as solid entertainment. It may be a low budget, but it holds itself up high and for that reason, you will not regret seeing it. So pop it in your player, dim down the lights, don’t look in anyone’s eyes, relax on the couch and save me some popcorn!

Rating:

Jack Savage:

Horror Express builds itself on the talents of its actors and director. It takes a mediocre story with a low budget and raises it to cult horror fame. My first viewing of this was a bad transfer DVD. I am so glad it finally got a high-quality Blu-ray release.

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