Horror Express

Did You Know?

• The film's original Spanish title is Pánico en el Transiberiano.
• Eugenio Martín won the CEC Best Script Award for the film.
• A special edition Blu-ray/DVD was released in 2011 by Severin Films, and Arrow Films released a new Blu-ray edition on 12 February 2019.

Plot

In 1906, Professor Sir Alexander Saxton, a British anthropologist, travels from Shanghai to Moscow on the Trans-Siberian Express, carrying a crate with the frozen remains of a primitive humanoid he discovered in a Manchurian cave. Doctor Wells, a colleague, joins him, as do Polish Count Marion Petrovski and Countess Irina with their spiritual advisor Father Pujardov, who warns that the crate contains evil. Inspector Mirov and soldiers also board. When the humanoid defrosts and escapes, it kills several passengers. Wells performs an autopsy and learns the creature absorbs victims' skills and memories. The alien transfers into Mirov, then later into Pujardov after Cossack Captain Kazan kills Mirov. The alien kills passengers who can help it build a spaceship. Saxton discovers the creature cannot use its powers in light and blinds it. The alien resurrects victims as zombies, but Saxton and the countess fight to the brake van, where survivors uncouple it from the train. Kazan's superiors order the train destroyed by sending it down a siding over a gorge, and the survivors watch it crash and burn.

Production

The film was co-produced by American screenwriter/producer Bernard Gordon, who had moved to Spain after the Hollywood blacklist. Martin made Horror Express as part of a three-picture contract with Philip Yordan, and Savalas was under contract with Yordan. It was a co-production between Spain's Granada Films and Britain's Benmar Productions. According to Martin, a producer obtained a train set from Nicholas and Alexandra and conceived a script to use the prop. The credited writers, Arnaud d'Usseau and Julien Zimet, were American blacklistees who had relocated to Europe. Rumors that the train sets came from Doctor Zhivago or Nicholas and Alexandra were countered by Gordon, who said the model was built for Pancho Villa. Filmmakers used that mock-up for all train car interiors, shooting each car's scenes consecutively due to limited stage space. The story bears similarities to John W. Campbell's novella Who Goes There?, though Campbell is not credited. Filmed in Madrid between 1971 and 1972 on a budget of $300,000, filming began in December 1971.

Reception

Horror Express landed mostly favorable notices. On Rotten Tomatoes, 80% of 15 critics gave it a thumbs up, averaging 6.85 out of 10. Montgomery Advertiser critic Jery Tillotson praised its performances, direction, and action. Director Eugenio Martín noted the film bombed in Spain, both critically and financially, but found a warm reception in Great Britain, the United States, and Australia, where audiences were used to low-budget horror.

In popular culture

The film was used as a virtual reality experience in the 2021 television show Creepshow (season 2, episode 5: 'Night of the Living Late Show'). In the episode, inventor Simon Sherman, who had a childhood crush on Countess Irina Petrovsky, includes the film in his virtual reality invention. Archive footage of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing is used, while Hannah Fierman portrays the countess.