Horror Express 1972

We go to Spain for this next film that goes all the way back to 1972.  Now Horror Express is a film that is near and dear to my heart as well as my Horror Homie Rickster Rick who if I can twist his arm just might be ghost writing a few entries here for the Halloween season.  Anyway, Horror Express is actually a British/Spanish film directed by Eugenio Martin, and features a few big names.  We got Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, and Telly Savalas and that's not counting the names that were big in Spain.  Horror Express, although not big on box office or with critics, was included in Fangoria magazines list of 101 Best Horror Movies You've Never Seen.

Christopher Lee plays an anthropologist who discovers what he believes to be the Missing Link in the evolution chart in Manchuria.  He books passage back to Europe by way of the Trans-Siberian Express from China to Moscow.  Peter Cushing plays a friendly rival colleague who is so intrigued by what is inside the crate he gets the ball rolling on the whole mess by getting a porter to have a look inside.  What Lee really has in the crate ends up not being from this earth and when it's victims start piling up things really become disoriented on this express.  See what I did there?  With two big names from the Hammer family people often mistake this as being one from Hammer Studios.

     The sets are exquisite and while it was rumored they were leftovers from Doctor Zhivago.  In reality they were from Pancho Villa, a movie which was also directed by Martin and also happened to star Savalas in the title role.  Horror Express is classic 70's horror with atmosphere to spare.  OK, the microscope parts are a little ridiculous but sometimes you get stuff like that in a low budget 70's horror film.  Alberto de Mendoza, who plays the monk, and Savalas, playing a Captain of the Cossacks, both try to steal every scene they are in and succeed in doing so more often than not.  If an episode of the X-Files took place on the Orient Express and you sprinkled in a little of John Carpenter's The Thing this is close to what you would get.  I also read another review where they said the movie was a little Hammer, a little Argento, and a little Corman which is also a good way to describe it.  

For being a low budget affair, the movie isn't short on gore, just see the scene where Cushing saw off the top half of a victims head for proof.  I almost forgot to mention the best part, as a fan of horror from all time periods it was nice to see a film where Lee and Cushing were working together for a change trying to keep people alive.  There's also that ending and at risk of spoiling anything I feel the need to mention the moment this film goes from a Sci/Fi Creature Feature to nearly a zombie movie is down right creepy.  All those bloody eyes!!  There's also a touch of humor and sometimes I wonder if it was on purpose or accident but either way it works.  Sure it's not a masterpiece and it's not perfect but what it is is pure 70's cult horror and sometimes that's all you need.  I give it 3 and a half Bloody White Eyeballs out of 5.  As this was the first time Denise saw this movie she was in complete agreement even if she did come away from it a bit confused which is OK.