Horror Express (1972)

An English anthropologist has discovered a frozen monster in the frozen wastes of Manchuria which he believes may be the Missing Link. He brings the creature back to Europe aboard a ... See full summary »

Director:

Eugenio Martín

Writers:

Arnaud d'Usseau (screenplay), Julian Zimet (screenplay)

Stars:

Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Alberto de Mendoza

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christopher Lee	...	Prof. Sir Alexander Saxton
Peter Cushing	...	Dr. Wells
Alberto de Mendoza	...	Father Pujardov
Silvia Tortosa	...	Countess Irina Petrovski
Julio Peña	...	Inspector Mirov
Ángel del Pozo	...	Yevtushenko (as Angel del Pozo)
Telly Savalas	...	Captain Kazan
Helga Liné	...	Natasha
Alice Reinheart	...	Miss Jones (as Alice Reinhart)
José Jaspe	...	Conductor Konev (as Jose Jaspa)
George Rigaud	...	Count Marion Petrovski (as Jorge Rigaud)
Víctor Israel	...	Maletero - the Baggage Man
Faith Clift	...	American Passenger (as Faith Swift)
Juan Olaguivel	...	Creature (as Juan Olaguibel)
Barta Barri	...	First Telegraphist

Storyline

An English anthropologist has discovered a frozen monster in the frozen wastes of Manchuria which he believes may be the Missing Link. He brings the creature back to Europe aboard a trans-Siberian express, but during the trip the monster thaws out and starts to butcher the passengers one by one.

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Plot Keywords:

monster | anthropologist | china | train | fossil | 

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Taglines:

Your Non Stop Ride to Hell Boards at 8 P.M.

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK Spain

Language:

English

Release Date:

December 1973 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Possessor

Filming Locations:

Estudios Madrid 70, Daganzo, Madrid, Spain

Company Credits

Production Co:

Benmar Productions, Granada Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Peter Cushing arrived in Spain for filming and immediately told producer Bernard Gordon that he could not do the picture, as he felt it was too soon after his wife's death. Christopher Lee convinced Cushing to stay on by reminiscing with him about the previous films they'd worked on together, much to the relief of Gordon.

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Goofs

The cave where the creature is discovered is identified as being in Manchuria, the far north eastern region of China, but is also identified as Szechuan province which located far from Manchuria in western China.

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Quotes

Father Pujardov: Forgive me, your Excellency. In my concern for the spiritual welfare of the countess, I forgot myself. I will pray for humility.
Count Petrovski: Pray hard, Pujardov. Or you'll find yourself praying for a job, too.

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Connections

Featured in Svengoolie: Horror Express (1997)

User Reviews

Red Eyes, White Eyes - on a Train,Draining Brain

All aboard the Trans-Siberian Express - non stop to the shores of hell. That's the interpretation of the priest character on board. But he's off-base; it's an alien monster that's causing all the trouble - a monster derivative of "The Thing" story, but about 10 years before John Carpenter presented his version. The creature is literally millions of years old, having passed through various forms as life evolved on Earth; then someone makes the mistake of storing it on board in a frozen apelike fossil. Next thing you know, certain individuals are behaving strangely, with glowing red eyes, and others turn up dead with eyes whited out (and brains drained). This, of course, benefits from the umpteenth pairing of Lee and Cushing; Lee is the arrogant scientist here and Cushing is again a doctor. Much of the entertaining dialogue stems from the conflict between science and religion, during the transitional phase of the early 20th century. The priest rants on about Satan; Lee calls it rubbish. Here's a typical quote from the priest: 'There's the stench of death on board this train; even the dog knows it.' The dog belongs to a couple of aristocratic Russians on board.

At the one hour mark, Savalas shows up as a power-mad Cossack with his soldiers, ready to kick everyone to hell and back. He manages to make quite an impression in the next 15 minutes as the death toll escalates. He and the two leads (British all the way) sort of ham it up, as if knowing they're in some crackerjack cheesy horror material, but there's also quite a bit of eeriness to the proceedings. The filmmakers managed to get the nice train set from an earlier big budget production and made good use of it. The train itself becomes nearly another character, hurtling through the dark with snow and a chill wind all around, and the interior set design is quite good. The musical score is also unusual; when one expects ominous tones during some sequences, instead we get a kind of tuneful melody. But the best thing about this is the concept itself - this thing, this form of energy, having been around forever and theoretically capable of curing all our ills, contents itself with the easy kill. Boy, does it like to drain brains.