Horror Express (1972)

Another edition to my Helga Line catalog of reviews is an early 70's monster horror entitled Horror Express. To my dismay Miss Line only has a brief appearance before her character meets an untimely demise, but there are a few other recognizable faces that certainly make this film worth checking out.

Horror Express stars veterans of the genre, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, two scientists stuck aboard a trans-Siberian express with an prehistoric beast on the loose. The adventure begins when English anthropologist Professor Alexander Saxton (Lee) stumbles upon a creature in the frozen caves of Manchuri which he believes might be the missing link. But upon the trip back to England, Saxon learns he's not only unearthed a prehistoric creature but awakened an alien being which has taken over the creature. It's a being that has the capabilities of absorbing the knowledge from the human brain through the eyes and leaving in it's wake a mindless corpse.

One thing I've learned from horror films is nothing good comes of anything discovered in the arctic climates. How many films have circled around the idea of reawakening something that's been frozen for thousands of years? You think people would learn by now! Horror Express is certainly a B-movie in style and execution but it's definitely a higher quality of B-movie than most, due mostly to the cast. Both Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing are considered pioneers in the classic horror genre in the 50's, 60's and 70's doing more than their fair share of monster films. An added bonus is the brief appearance of Telly Savalas near the film's conclusion which makes adds a bit of purposeful comedy in the mix. Overall I went into Horror Express to quench my Helga Line thirst and ended up coming out with a decent campy horror film complete with a rather interesting and outlandish twist to it. I don't have much more to criticize about this, once you've seen enough B-movie horror films you truly begin to turn your brain off and enjoy the ride, and this one is definitely worth checking out if the opportunity presents itself because of the classic cast.

7/10