OVERLOOKED FILM: HORROR EXPRESS (1972)

British specialty publisher has been issuing a series of "Midnight Monographs" for some time now, each focusing on a specific horror movie.  The seventh in the series featured Horror Express, and was written by one of my favorite authors, John Connolly, and is a book I've long wanted to read.  Connolly's latest book, Night & Day, is a collection of short stories, plus a newly revised and expanded version of his Horror Express monograph, which I devoured instantly.  It made long to see the original movie, so here it is.

.

Make no mistake about it, Horror Express is not a great movie.  It's a bottom of the barrel, cheaply mad programmer that does not come close to pretending its fine art.  But it has a certain, undefinable something that makes it special.

"Set in 1906, the film's storyline follows the various passengers aboard a European-bound Trans-Siberian Railway train.  They are soon stalked, one by one, by an alien intelligence inhabiting the frozen body of an ancient primitive humanoid brought onboard by an anthropologist."

Do we need to know any more?

Although the maker of the film did not acknowledge John W. Campbell, Jr.'s "Who Goes There?", which was filmed both as The Thing from Another World and The Thing, the influence is obvious.

Featuring Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, and an over-the-top Telly Savalas.

Enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LCtzLEebBI