Horror Express is hands down one of the best horror films ever to come out of the seventies, not because of some silly nostalgia from my side - it was a movie I saw very early on, rented it at Video Gott in Östersund and later actually bought the same copy when the store went bankrupt and put everything on sale. The same artwork was much later used on the Severin blu-ray, which I think was a very nice touch considering the rarity of it.
It quite perfectly combines the old-school horror of Hammer with the new, gritty and violent horror of the seventies, with clashing Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing against Telly Savalas. When I was a youngling it always boggled my mind how similar Alberto de Mendoza was to Robert De Niro, so similar it could have been De Niro under a fake beard and a wig. Anyway, all the actors are cool and the setting, a train - which I suspect is the Orient Express (not sure if it’s actually mentioned) - which makes like a sci-fi version of Murder on the Orient Express, even if there’s less a mystery here of course. Like G, my partner, just said; “Is it a Sherlock Holmes movie?”. Not a bad guess, but a Sherlock Holmes with a 2 million year old frozen alien instead of doctor Moriarty!
The script is wittier and smarter than it should be. The story says that the sole reason why this film became reality was that the producer had a train and some sets left over from another movie, also starring Savalas, and felt he could use them for something else. Like Friday the 13th, this is another perfect horror movie who sprung from a purely economical decision. I like that. It just proves that creativity is so much more than being a starving, poor artist with high ambitions - you can create just because you need to.
Who said making movies had something to do with glamour and art? Probably no one who actually knows that they’re talking about. Oh, back to the witty script. There’s a few details I noticed this time I haven’t thought about before. For example, the monster leaves the kids alone - and it’s not until now I understand he does that because they have nothing he needs. They have no usable knowledge. I also love the atheistic approach of the story, which first of all deals with an ancient evil who lived long before people claimed there was a god - and the best scene is when he refuses to take the intelligence from the priest, because the priest have nothing to offer him.
Ain’t that the ultimate diss of religion I don’t know what. But Horror Express is first of all a fantastic performance by buddies Lee and Cushing. It’s said that Cushing still was deeply depressed over his wife’s death, but Lee talked him in to do this film with him and the result is fucking amazing. It’s clearly one of the more inspired meetings of these giants - everything they say and do is absolutely electrifying. I would have killed to go back in time and hang out with them during this shoot. It must have been magic. Cushing also has one of the best lines of dialogue ever, when the police inspector on the train asks him a very important question:
- What if one of you is the monster?
- Monster? We’re British you know!
That’s hilarious and delivered with a deadpan timing. The whole movie is worth watching just because of that short scene.
Horror Express has tons of classic scenes, from the infamous eye liquid sequence to the brain scenes, the cossacks vs aliens, the beautiful score by John Cacavas and the freaky and downright disturbing zombie-esque finale when the alien force makes everyone who’s dead on the train come alive again.
This was a shitty review - more a collection of thoughts, which in my case is close to retarded - of a brilliant film. Buy Severin’s blu-ray, they’ve done a beautiful job restoring a film which have been mistreated on every kind of format until now.
Bye.
"It quite perfectly combines the old-school horror of Hammer with the new, gritty and violent horror of the seventies, with clashing Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing against Telly Savalas."
Yeah, you could be right about that...very oldschool.
"which makes like a sci-fi version of Murder on the Orient Express, even if there’s less a mystery here of course."
It must have been a inspiration for this film.....there are many similarities.
"There’s a few details I noticed this time I haven’t thought about before. For example, the monster leaves the kids alone - and it’s not until now I understand he does that because they have nothing he needs."
Damn....I must have missed that somehow....
"But Horror Express is first of all a fantastic performance by buddies Lee and Cushing."
Yeah, they are amazing here.
"- What if one of you is the monster?
- Monster? We’re British you know!
That’s hilarious and delivered with a deadpan timing. The whole movie is worth watching just because of that short scene."
ahhahahhahahh....how I miss Cushing.
"This was a shitty review - more a collection of thoughts, which in my case is close to retarded - of a brilliant film."
I thought it was a great review of a cool, Hammer horror production.
"Buy Severin’s blu-ray, they’ve done a beautiful job restoring a film which have been mistreated on every kind of format until now."
I might have to do that, thanks, Fred.
Posted by: Megatron | May 07, 2014 at 01:15
This is a true Classic, I don't know how many times I've watched it and I still regret not buying that poster when I found it for a fair price a few years ago.
Posted by: Mr Rubber Monster | May 07, 2014 at 08:21
I'm so impressed by the script. It's never boring, no unnecessary scenes and one money shot after another. Still a very creative and fresh movie.
Posted by: Fred Anderson | May 07, 2014 at 09:08
Except it's not a Hammer movie. I just compared it to Hammer :)
Thanks for reading!
Posted by: Fred Anderson | May 07, 2014 at 09:09
Fred: hahahhahhahhah...damn it!
I thought it was a Hammer production.....
Posted by: Megatron | May 08, 2014 at 00:36
It feels like Hammer though, just like Living dead at Manchester morgue did aswell.
I adore this movie. First time i watched it was on Ztv. Yes thats true. I discovered three of my favouritemovies on that little obscure "musicchannel" in the 90´s. This movie and Ugly, Dirty and Bad (Brutti, sporchi e cattivi) by Scola, and La grande bouffe by Marco Ferreri.
The best thing about this movie is the atmosphere. A train out in nowhere in Asia/Siberia, dark and ice cold. And with a monster onboard that literary stream the brain out of you. Superb!
Posted by: Tobe | May 12, 2014 at 20:01
I love Ex-Ninja Fred Anderson's reviews
Posted by: Blake | June 14, 2015 at 23:23