En voyageant à bord du Transsibérien Express, un anthropologue et son rival doivent contenir la menace posée par la cargaison: un singe préhistorique qui est l'hôte d'une forme de vie qui ab... Tout lireEn voyageant à bord du Transsibérien Express, un anthropologue et son rival doivent contenir la menace posée par la cargaison: un singe préhistorique qui est l'hôte d'une forme de vie qui absorbe l'esprit des passagers et de l'équipage.En voyageant à bord du Transsibérien Express, un anthropologue et son rival doivent contenir la menace posée par la cargaison: un singe préhistorique qui est l'hôte d'une forme de vie qui absorbe l'esprit des passagers et de l'équipage.
- Réalisation
- Scénario
- Casting principal
- Récompenses
- 1 victoire et 1 nomination au total
- Prof. Sir Alexander Saxton
- (as Cristopher Lee)
- Yevtuchenko
- (as Angel del Pozo)
- Maletero - Baggage Man
- (as Victor Israel)
- Natasha
- (as Helga Line)
- Konev - Conductor
- (as Jose Jaspe)
- Creature
- (as Juan Olaguibel)
- Russian Guard
- (as Jose Canalejas)
- Vorkin
- (as Jose Marco)
Avis à la une
In Siberia, 1906, anthropologist Alexander Saxton (Lee) finds a frozen creature which he believes to be the Missing Link. He transports the being back to western Europe by trans-Siberian train. Aboard the train are the usual assorted types:- a Polish countess (Silvia Tortosa); her husband (Jorge Rigaud); a mad monk seemingly modelled on Rasputin (Alberto De Mendoza); and a fellow scientist and long-time rival of Saxton's, the charismatic Dr Wells (Cushing). Midway through the journey, as the train passes through a desolate snowscape many miles from civilisation, the creature thaws out and begins killing the passengers. Wells carries out an autopsy on the corpses and realises that they are not up against the Missing Link, but a weird alien organism which inhabits the bodies of its victims and steals their memories. As the finger of suspicion falls upon each character, the scientists try to figure out which passenger is "carrying" the shape-shifting monster, while trying to keep everyone safe and alive.
Horror Express has its share of dumb moments (what horror film doesn't?) but in the main it is quite an intelligent and original piece. Some of the supporting actors are quite amateurish, too, giving performances that distract one's attention for the wrong reasons. However, Cushing and Lee are believable as always, and it's their straight-faced conviction which makes the story as spine-tingling as it is. There is also a well-developed subtext in the film condemning religious fanaticism, with Mendoza's character shown to be so unreasonable and misguided that his "Christian" rantings are every bit as disturbing as the teachings of a heretic. The atmosphere is spookily maintained, with lots of eerie scenes (which probably got many a heart fluttering back in 1973, in the pre-Exorcist days of the horror genre). In particular, the climactic sequence in which Cossack soldiers, led by Telly Savalas, board the train only to be zombified by the deadly alien, is a chilling episode. You may need to be a fan of old-school horror flicks to enjoy Horror Express, but if you are it's definitely one worth seeking out.
The film was a surprise at its premiere, getting a large international cast, starring the two most representative actors of Hammer Films and obtaining great success at the global box office, dealing with a ferocious prehistoric monster that is transported on the Trans-Siberian train, when the monster awakens and comes to life, subsequently running rampant around the train and causing an astonishing carnage. Well directed by Eugenio Martin, specialized in this type of genre productions, he makes an impressive film, knowing how to use very well the train where the action takes place, the models, the characterizations of the actors, as well as the special effects with lots of guts and gore. The film not only has nothing to envy, but also resembles the Hammer productions at the time. It displays lots of guts and blood but it seems pretty mild compared to today's gore feasts. It's an unrelenting shock-feast laced with nice acting by the two Hammer genre's stars that deserves its cult status. Furthermore, magnificent Telly Savalas , before Kojak, as a crazed Cossack commander and Alberto De Menzoza as a Rasputin-style monk. Lively secondary cast is frankly cool, so the supporting cast is downright great, made up of well-known Spanish actors, such as: Alberto De Mendoza, Silvia Tortosa, Angel Del Pozo, Víctor Israel, Helga Liné, José Jaspe, José Canalejas, José Marco, Barta Barri, Jorge Rigaud, among others.
This unfolds a bone-chilling and suspenseful musical score by John Cavacas. Next to a lush photograph with juicy atmosphere by Alejandro Ulloa, but unfortunately it becomes too murky in some edited prints. Good work by makeup supervisor Julián Ruiz and evocative sets by Ramiro Gómez. The film was well and competently directed by Eugenio Martin or Gene Martin. He was an expert in horror films (Hypnosis, A Candle for the Devil, The Fourth Mrs. Anderson) and Spaghetti Westerns (Pancho Villa, Bounty Hunter, The Bad River Man). Rating: 7/10. Above average. It is a relentless feast of shocks with enjoyable performances by the two stars of the Hammer genre, well worth seeing. A very decent horror film that seems pretty tame compared to today's gore feasts.
At the one hour mark, Savalas shows up as a power-mad Cossack with his soldiers, ready to kick everyone to hell and back. He manages to make quite an impression in the next 15 minutes as the death toll escalates. He and the two leads (British all the way) sort of ham it up, as if knowing they're in some crackerjack cheesy horror material, but there's also quite a bit of eeriness to the proceedings. The filmmakers managed to get the nice train set from an earlier big budget production and made good use of it. The train itself becomes nearly another character, hurtling through the dark with snow and a chill wind all around, and the interior set design is quite good. The musical score is also unusual; when one expects ominous tones during some sequences, instead we get a kind of tuneful melody. But the best thing about this is the concept itself - this thing, this form of energy, having been around forever and theoretically capable of curing all our ills, contents itself with the easy kill. Boy, does it like to drain brains.
Le saviez-vous
- AnecdotesPeter Cushing arrived in Spain for filming and immediately told producer Bernard Gordon that he could not do the picture, as he felt it was too soon after his wife's death. Christopher Lee convinced Cushing to stay on by reminiscing with him about the previous movies they'd worked on together, much to the relief of Gordon.
- GaffesThe opening credits say the movie takes place in Peking, but all the railroad station sets have signs that say "Shanghai" in Chinese. The cast's dialogue also refers to their train trip starting in Shanghai.
- Citations
Dr. Wells: [entering Saxon and Mirov's compartment with a shotgun] Thought this might come in handy.
Inspector Mirov: [sarcastic] Oh, good idea. Two of you together - that's fine. But what if one of you is the monster?
Dr. Wells: Monster? We're British, you know!
- Crédits fousIn the opening credits of the English-language VHS version, Christopher Lee's name is misspelled as "Cristopher".
- Versions alternativesDVD by Image Entertainment is 88 minutes long, the original theatrical version. DVD by Simitar Video is 85 minutes long, the television version.
- ConnexionsEdited into Time Tracers (1997)
Meilleurs choix
Détails
- Date de sortie
- Pays d’origine
- Langues
- Aussi connu sous le nom de
- Pánico en el Transiberiano
- Lieux de tournage
- Sociétés de production
- Voir plus de crédits d'entreprise sur IMDbPro
Box-office
- Budget
- 300 000 $US (estimé)