Movie Title: Horror Express (1972)
Starring: Christopher Lee as Professor Sir Alexander Saxton, Peter Cushing as Dr. Wells, Alberto de Mendoza as Father Pujardov, Julio Pena as Inspector Mirov, Silvia Tortosa as Countess Irinia Petrovska, George Rigaud as Count Maran Petrovski and Telly Savalas as Captain Kazan
Written by: Arnaud d’Usseau & Julian Zimet
Directed by: Eugenio Martin (billed as Gene Martin)
Two of my favorite actors who are frequent participants in many a horror film are Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. Our latest October movie features both of them and for one of the few times, they are equals and are working together instead of trying to destroy one another.
In real life, Mr. Cushing and Mr. Lee were dear friends and enjoyed working together. Christopher Lee is best known for playing Dracula and Peter Cushing for playing Doctor Frankenstein for the Hammer studio. In Horror Express they play mere scientists and work together to hunt down a monster terrorizing the Trans-Siberian Express.
It’s the early 20th century and Professor Saxton (Christopher Lee), a prominent scientist in the field of archaeology has unearthed a humanoid creature, frozen in the Himalayas for millions of years. He believes the fossil will definitively prove evolution.
Countess Irina: I have heard of evolution. It’s… it’s immoral!
Professor Saxton: It’s a fact. And there’s no morality in a fact.
But before he can even get his find on the train, the dead bodies start appearing – the first right next to the crate containing his find. The local authorities know the dead man – he’s a well-known thief – but can’t explain why the man’s eyes have turned completely white.
Also traveling on the Trans-Siberian express is another prominent scientist, Dr. Wells (Peter Cushing). From the moment Dr. Wells steps into frame it is very clear that these two men share a mild animosity. Lee and Cushing play this perfectly and it’s a real shame that they couldn’t have shared more screen time as equals instead of mortal enemies.
Although the science is completely ludicrous, the sharp writing and superb performances by Lee and Cushing make this film a pleasure to watch. It also contains a few great quotes.
During the great monster hunt on the train, they deduce that the creature can actually body-hop and could be anyone. Saxton and Wells team up to look for the monster. Inspector Mirov walks in and finds them loading guns.
Inspector Mirov: The two of you together. That’s fine. But what if one of you is the monster?
Dr. Wells: Monster? We’re British, you know.
This movie is in public domain so beware of poor print quality. The best that we’ve seen so far is from Image, but that version is long out of print.
Rating: Eight Screaming Pumpkins out of ten.
Well, so much for my horror movie a day plan. I don’t want to do the whole making excuses thing because I really don’t have one – other than life.
Instead of doing another dedicated review, I thought I would make a list of horror movies I have seen and enjoyed and little blurb as to why they made the list. That way, if I flake out again, you’ll have a few movies to take a look at and maybe rent for yourself.
Mr. Sardonicus (1961)
From the back of the DVD box: Desperate to retrieve a winning lottery ticket, a greedy baron unearths his father’s corpse. An enormous jackpot is his reward, but not without a price: his face is frozen permanently into a hideous grin. He enlists his fiendish one-eyed servant to help him lift this horrible curse, but their schemes fail. Finally, he turns to a noted neurosurgeon – and his wife’s former lover – to cure him.
Based on a novella by Ray Russel and produced and directed by the legendary William Castle, master of ballyhoo.
I have only seen this movie once and it was a few years ago but I do remember that despite it’s simple shooting style and story, it is quite effective and the make-up for the grin still gives me the willies. (I won’t post a picture here. You’ll just have to see it for yourself.)
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The Wicker Man (1973)
A creepy, understated horror flick about a small community of druids lead by Christopher Lee and investigated by Edward Woodward due to a missing child that the community claims never existed.
I didn’t bother to see the remake. Subtlety isn’t common in modern film-makers’ vocabulary and I doubt this film would work without it.
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Horror Express (1973)
This would be a typical ’stuck on a train with a killer/monster’ movie but both Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee are thrown into the mix which instantly makes it a horror classic. Besides, it has one of my favorite Peter Cushing lines of all time which means nothing out of context.
And for all you Kojak fans, Telly Savalis appears as the arrogant Captain Kazan. Who loves ya, comrade?
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The Changeling (1980)
The Changeling is a chilling tale of the ghost of a wronged child haunting the house in which he was murdered. George C. Scott gives a splendid, understated performance of a man who, after losing both his wife and daughter in a car accident, moves into the large house and attempts to help the spirit find peace.
The ending of this movie can seem a little goofy, but the film up to that point is genuinely scary and just a touch heart-wrenching.
This movie has no overt special effects and relies on story, performances and sound effects to scare you and does so to great effect. I never thought I could be afraid of a little rubber ball, but apparently, I can.
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Legend of Hell House (1973)
Huh. It’s starting to look like 1973 was a good year for horror movies, eh?
Based on Richard Matheson’s novel Hell House – and fortunately, the screenplay was also written by Matheson – this film is about a group of investigators visiting a house that is no doubt very haunted. The leader of the group believes he has invented a machine that can de-haunt it. I doubt that it’s any great spoiler that it doesn’t work.
You can’t stop ghosts. You just can’t.
Purchase The Legend of Hell House
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Okay, there’s five movies for you sink your teeth into if you haven’t already. And if you have – enjoy them again!
I consider myself a big entertainment buff and have been since I was thirteen. I try to keep myself informed about what’s going on in the biz, read my entertainment sites, read the magazines, listen to the news. I’ve been this way since I was thirteen. In fact, I can even give you an exact date if you need it (August 30, 1985).
Before I saw Back to the Future on that fateful August night, I had my favorite actors – Shaun Cassidy was the first actor I can remember singling out and then Tom Hanks when he was on Bosom Buddies – but my ‘fanship’ of those two was nothing compared to what happened when I finally noticed Michael J. Fox.
If you don’t believe me, check this out. Yeah. That’s my website. I’m not ashamed of it – a little defensive, maybe – but never ashamed.
After becoming the uber-geek-fan of MJF back in 1985, I started reading every teen magazine my parents would let me buy, attempting to keep abreast of all things Michael J. Fox. As a result, I started following other ‘non-threatning boys’ careers such as Ralph Macchio, Ricky Schroeder and Kirk Cameron. I read most of those magazines from cover to cover and eventually started reading more grown-up, more reputable publications as well. I just wanted to know what was going on and after a few years, it wasn’t just those cute boys I was interested in.
However, my obsession with all-things-MJF did not stop just because my interests were expanding. Because of my teenage angst obsession, I started trying things those fan magazines said he liked. I even tried Linguini in Clam sauce, for cripes sake – and that was some of the nastiest stuff I ever tasted. Ugh!
He was often quoted as saying he was a big James Cagney fan. I had never even heard of James Cagney so I had no idea what he was all about. And so, one Friday night in Southeast Texas, the local t.v. station had a James Cagney film on their schedule – Something to Sing About. Fortunately, I wasn’t one of those kids that wouldn’t watch anything in black and white – I watched Mr. Ed every night on Nick-at-Nite – and I watched it. And loved it.
It snowballed after that and now I’m a huge fan of classic films of all genres – musicals, comedies, dramas, film noir, gangsters – you name it. If I happen across anything in black and white on television, I’ll stop to see what it is or who’s in it. I won’t always do that for color films.
I never really met many others who were into films, music, books and television the way I was. I feel extremely lucky that I met a man who is just as interested as I am. I’m doubly fortunate in that we have a lot of the same likes, but we also have many different likes. Before I met my husband, I had never heard of Bruce Campbell and I wouldn’t have been able to name Peter Cushing or Christopher Lee if you showed me their pictures. Now, I can’t imagine my entertainment world without them. And while I’ll never really feel the need to ever see The Girl Hunters ever again, I am honestly glad that I at least saw it once.
It’s not the most important area of my life and I know that it’s not as important as trying to keep out economy out of another great depression but I’m glad that I have plenty of places to go whenever things get tough. I can watch a movie, read a book, listen to some music and even though the problems may not go away, I almost always feel better able to face that problem. Even though entertainment doesn’t rank up there with world peace, it’s still pretty consequential.
So, my thanks go out to Mr. Fox. He changed my life in many ways and for most of those changes, I’m still grateful.
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