Horror Express

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Eugenio Martín directs. Alejandro Ulloa behind the camera. John Cacavas scores. Robert C. Dearberg cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Spain, United Kingdom. Dialogue in English, Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 187 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
• 2Shot for just $0.3M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 354 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 4Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.
• 5International production across 2 countries: Spain, United Kingdom.
• 6Directed by Eugenio Martín, shot by Alejandro Ulloa. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 7Original score by John Cacavas. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 8Editor Robert C. Dearberg shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 9Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing and Telly Savalas carry the top of the cast.
• 10Marketing tagline: "A nightmare of terror travelling aboard the Horror Express!".
• 11IMDB entry: tt0068713 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 12Classified under 19 themes, including "monster", "based on novel or book", "loss of loved one", "monk".

The technical file

Cinematography

Alejandro Ulloa

Original score

John Cacavas

Editing

Robert C. Dearberg

Production design

Ramiro Gómez

Makeup / hair

Rafael Berraquero

Runtime

87 min · 1h 27m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$300,000

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

R

IMDB

Horror Express (1972) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

80% 🍅 Fresh

Metacritic

68/100

IMDB rating

6.5/10 · 13,285 votes

MPAA

R

Also by

Eugenio Martín

• 
  Conqueror of Maracaibo

  1961 · ★ 9.0
• 
  Golden Goddess of Rio Beni

  1964 · ★ 8.8
• 
  Despedida de soltero

  1961 · ★ 8.0
• 
  No quiero perder la honra

  1975 · ★ 8.0
• 
  La sal de la vida

  1996 · ★ 8.0
• 
  Tengamos la guerra en paz

  1977 · ★ 8.0

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Pánico en el Transiberiano (1972) Original Trailer [HD]

  Trailer
• 

  ▶
  Joe Dante on HORROR EXPRESS

  Featurette

Community reviews

What people are saying

• John Chard2015-11-28
  ★ 7.5/10

  One of our links is missing! It's as nutty as a Dundee Cake is Horror Express, but a wonderful slice of horror it is. Boasting Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing as a twin elegant force that are fighting evil, pic is in safe hands. As the title suggests, story takes place on a train, a Trans-Siberian Express no less. Anthropologist Prof. Sir Alexander Saxton (Lee) has discovered a creature frozen during one of his mountain expeditions, and has it safely locked up during the train journey. Yeah, right! Pretty soon grisly deaths start occurring so Saxton and Dr. Wells (Cushing) must find out what the beast is and how to stop it - if it can be stopped that is... It's a splendid amalgamation of films like And Then There Were None and The Thing from Another World. Although it's often cheap looking, the modest budget actually makes the "B" movie roots engage rather than hinder. Telly Savalas' introduction late in the day doesn't make a lot of sense, and he hams it for all he's worth, but again there's a horror charm about it as the blood does flow and eyeballs do pop. While the revelation and modus operandi of the creature, the science aspects of it, contains good thought and doesn't insult the viewers in spite of the nuttiness of it all. Great fun, so go buy a ticket and get on board. 7.5/10

  Read full review ↓
• Wuchak2019-03-16
  ★ 7/10

  Originally titled "Panic on the Trans-Siberian Express" A British anthropologist (Christopher Lee) discovers a frozen prehistoric “missing link” in 1906, Manchuria, and transports it to Europe by train. All hell breaks loose when the eerie thing escapes and preys on the passengers. Peter Cushing plays a colleague while Telly Savalas hams it up as an intimidating Cossack officer in the last act. A joint UK/Spanish production, “Horror Express” (1972) isn’t a Hammer film, but it has the aura of one, and I love Hammer films. The best way to describe it is as a meshing of "The Thing,” "Murder On The Orient Express," “Ten Little Indians,” "Trog," "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" and a few Hammer flicks with Lee & Cushing. The horrific creature obviously influenced Chris Claremont’s Proteus, aka Mutant X, in the X-Men comic seven years later. You might be curious as to why I included "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" in the list; it's because the quality score by in John Cacavas will bring to mind that popular Western composition, except that it's a more eerie and fitting for early 70’s horror. Another highlight is that it features two gorgeous redheads: Helga Line, who was 39 years-old during shooting, and 24 year-old Silvia Tortosa as a Countess. In its time "Horror Express" was cutting edge horrific entertainment. It may be dated now, but the film at least takes its subject seriously and is never campy. I’d give it a higher rating except that it loses its mojo in the last act and becomes dull. Up to that point, though, this is stellar early 70’s Gothic horror. The film runs 88 minutes and was shot in Madrid, Spain. GRADE: B

  Read full review ↓
• CinemaSerf2023-05-28
  ★ 6/10

  Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and Telly Savalas - yes, Kojak himself, star in this Anglo-Spanish horror flick about a beastie unearthed in China that wreaks havoc on the train that is bringing it back to Europe. The story is actually quite good; though the quality of the print I saw was pretty dreadful so sadly it became more of a perseverance exercise, than one of enjoyment. The direction is quite taut, and it builds to quite an exciting crescendo. As you'd expect, the music and dubbing are not quite what they might be, and the exterior sets could do with some more glue - but that isn't too off-putting. Give it a go.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• BE

  Benmar Productions

  GB

• GR

  Granada Films

  ES

Key crew

• ProducerBernard Gordon
• Associate ProducerGregorio Sacristán
• EditorRobert C. Dearberg
• Production DesignRamiro Gómez
• Set DecorationRamiro Gómez
• Production SupervisorJosé María Ramos
• Assistant Makeup ArtistRafael Berraquero
• Makeup ArtistFernando Florido
• Assistant HairstylistRomana González
• Makeup SupervisorJulián Ruiz
• HairstylistMaría Nieves Ruiz
• Unit Production ManagerJuan Gracia
• Assistant DirectorGil Carretero
• Second Assistant DirectorVicente Escrivá hijo
• PropsJohn Chisholm
• DecoratorJesús Mateos
• Assistant Art DirectorRafael Pérez Murcia
• PainterJulián Martín
• Boom OperatorManuel Ferreiro
• Sound SupervisorAntonio Illán
• Sound RecordistLuis López Díaz
• Sound MixerEnrique Molinero
• Special EffectsPablo Pérez
• Special EffectsFernando Pérez

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• monster
• based on novel or book
• loss of loved one
• monk
• expedition
• cossack
• alien
• train
• creature
• alien invasion
• gothic horror
• stockings
• anthropologist
• whipping
• siberia
• fossil
• hidden identity
• pair of evil eyes
• crate

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1973-12-03R

Also known as

International titles

• Panic in the Trans-Siberian TrainUS
• Экспресс ужасаRU
• Das Grauen fährt 1. KlasseDE
• Horror-Express - Das Grauen fährt 1. KlasseDE
• Der Tod fährt 1. KlasseDE
• Horror Express: The EnigmaUS
• Expresso do HorrorBR