Horror Express
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
Horror Express (Pánico en el Transiberiano) is a 1972 science fiction horror film directed by Eugenio Martín. It stars Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, with Alberto de Mendoza, Silvia Tortosa, Julio Peña, George Rigaud, Ángel del Pozo, and Telly Savalas in supporting roles.
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.
Plot
In 1906, Professor Sir Alexander Saxton, a British anthropologist, is returning to Europe by the Trans-Siberian Express from Shanghai to Moscow. With him is a crate containing the frozen remains of a primitive humanoid that he discovered in a cave in Manchuria. He hopes it is a missing link in human evolution. Doctor Wells, Saxton's friendly rival and Geological Society colleague, is also waiting to board. Also waiting is Polish Count Marion Petrovski and his wife, Countess Irina. With the couple is their spiritual advisor, an Eastern Orthodox monk named Father Pujardov, who proclaims to Saxton that the contents of the crate is evil. Additional passengers include Inspector Mirov and a squad of soldiers.
Saxton‘s eagerness to keep his scientific findings secret arouses the suspicion of Wells, who bribes a porter to investigate the crate. The porter is killed by the defrosted humanoid within, who escaped the crate after picking the lock and kills several more passengers. Wells performs an autopsy and deduces that the creature absorbs the skills and memories of its victims. When the humanoid is gunned down by Mirov, the threat seems to have been eliminated. Saxton and Wells discover that the real threat is a formless extraterrestrial that inhabited the body of the humanoid. Unknown to them, the creature has transferred itself into Mirov.
The extraterrestrial has been stranded on Earth for millions of years. It kills passengers with specific knowledge that could help it build a new spaceship. Eventually, Cossack Captain Kazan stabs and shoots Mirov. With Mirov dying, Pujardov, believing the creature to be Satan and having pledged allegiance to it prior, allows it to possess him. The passengers flee to the brake van while the alien murders Kazan, his men, and the Count. Saxton, having discovered the creature cannot use its powers when it is exposed to light, blinds it. The alien bargains with Saxton, tempting him with its advanced knowledge of technology and cures for diseases. When Saxton refuses, it resurrects all its victims as zombies, and has them attack Saxton.
Saxton and the countess fight their way through the train until they reach the van, where the other survivors have taken refuge. Saxton and Wells uncouple the van from the rest of the train containing the alien. Kazan's superiors send a telegram to a dispatch station ahead, instructing them to destroy the train by sending it down a siding overlooking a gorge. The survivors watch as the train crashes down the gorge and goes up in flames.
Cast
- Christopher Lee as Professor Sir Alexander Saxton
- Peter Cushing as Dr. Wells
- Alberto de Mendoza as Father Pujardov (dubbed by Robert Rietti)
- Silvia Tortosa as Countess Irina Petrovski (dubbed by Olive Gregg)
- Julio Peña as Inspector Mirov (dubbed by Roger Delgado)
- Telly Savalas as Captain Kazan
- George Rigaud as Count Marion Petrovski
- Helga Liné as Natasha (dubbed by Olive Gregg)
- Alice Reinheart as Miss Jones (dubbed by Olive Gregg)
- Ángel del Pozo as Yevtushenko
- José Jaspe as Conductor Konev
- Víctor Israel as Baggage Man
- Faith Clift as Miss Bennett
- Juan Olaguivel as the Creature
- Barta Barri as First Telegraphist
- Hiroshi Kitatawa as Grashinski, the Thief
- Vicente Roca as Stationmaster
- José Canalejas as Russian Guard
- José Marco as Vorkin
- Allen Russell as Captain O'Hagan
