HDC Halloween Special #1 - Horror Express (1972)
 

One of the best classic horror films ever made, and also one of the most underrated. The film has it all - three of the most finest and revered actors of that era headlining it, an out-of-the-top outrageous script, a monster/creature unparalleled and unique (perhaps to this day), two ravishing hotties, a Rasputin-lookalike, piles of dead bodies killed in one of the most unique of manners in horror film history, zombified minions, religious and scientific angles (although the sci-fi angle takes precedence here), an eerie-enough background score, dollops of atmosphere, and to top it all off, the whole setting on a train, more specifically an inter-country Express.


Which makes it one of the very few horror films...scratch that...very few films based entirely on a travelling train. There is a fantastic sequence in a train bogey when the possessed creature/monster attacks an entire army unit and kills them all in it's unique killing method. It has to be seen to be believed.


The film was first released as an official selection of the 1972 Sitges-Catalonian International Film Festival, where director Eugenio Martin won an honorary CEC Medal (Critics' Choice) for the film's unique script, then called Panico en el Transiberiano or Panic on the Trans-Siberian Express all over Europe.


Not many might know this, but Horror Express, was actually a box-office failure in it's native country of Spain upon release, despite it's comparatively modest production cost of $300,000. The film did more decently in it's subsequent release in the UK, US and later on, Australia.


Over the years, Horror Express has acquired a solid cult status among hardcore classic horror fans. The combination of Cushing + Lee + Savalas headlining a monster film, specially Cushing & Lee coming together after their famous stint in Hammer films, the excellent script and the atmosphere, all added to the legacy of this film, which has made it an undoubted classic of the genre today.


If you haven't seen it yet, you need to watch it ASAP. Too bad it never got a sequel, because this is one of those very few films which possesses a fantastic original script. With the Halloween season fast approaching, grab your copy of Horror Express and pop it in during a lazy afternoon. I guarantee you some really horror-ific entertainment!



Rated - a solid * * * * stars!


IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068713/

Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horror_Express

Rotten Tomatoes - http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/horror-express/

A Look & a Review - http://www.terrortrap.com/horrorexpress/

Blu-Ray - http://www.severin-films.com/2011/11/22/horror-express/

Sold. Definitely checking that out

Free on YouTube. AND NOTE WELL: this is NOT the only horror film that takes place on a train. See also Terror Train (1980) with Jamie Lee Curtis. Make sure you are watching the right one for this thread. Let's meet back after we've watched it and post out thoughts.

Looks interesting. Good cast. I love train films for some reason. Isolation is a powerful setting.

V, that's 4 stars out of how many possible?

Have to watch it again. It's on Hulu, so I'll watch tonight.

Hmm... I've had this on the shelf for a while solely because I'm not keen on the monster-on-a-train bit (there's a werewolf-on-a-train movie in the works). However, I didn't know about the zombie aspect, so I'll give it a watch.

Watching it right now

Great film. Full of twists and turns (one of them being Telly Savalas)!

Seen it once years ago and liked it! Besides Lee & Cushing, it's also always a treat to watch Telly Savalas on screen!

I give it a 6/10.

A few of my negative preconceived notions about it bore out: that the shaking of the train would make some scenes difficult to watch and that the narrow environment of the train would result in hiding the monster for the majority of the film. More exterior shots/mattes would have provided a nice contrast, but I'm sure the budget precluded them.

The film does have its merits. As expected, the main actors are at the top of their game and made the unnecessarily talky parts tolerable (Why talk about the creature when showing it is far more entertaining?). The creature design is fairly simple but effectively horrific, prompting the wish that you-know-who would undergo a full-scale transformation. What surprised me most was the monster's delightfully wacky m.o. Any kind of horror relative to the eyes always attracts my interest and is one of the reasons why I like such films as Anguish and the Black Xmas remake. A little splash of gore comes with the handling of the corpses, and humor finds it way into the mix via the character of Yev, who spits out such lines as "The stink of Hell is on this train".