Product Details

• Actors: Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Alberto De Mendoza, Juan Olaguivel
• Format: Full Screen, NTSC
• Region: All Regions
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Digiview
• DVD Release Date: April 4, 2004
• Run Time: 85 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0009JNI0G
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #144,444 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

A mysterious creature has been discovered frozen in the depths of Manchuria. Experts hypothesize that this creature may be the missing link, as an English anthropologist seeks to study the frozen specimen. He transports the creature on the trans-Siberian Express. But when the creature reanimates, terrorizing the train's unsuspecting passengers, the anthropologist must now put a stop to this priceless menace. Digiview 2004 DVD in a thin Black DVD case. Interactive Menus / Scene Selection / Previews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A memorable journey with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, September 25, 2005

By 

Daniel Jolley "darkgenius" (Shelby, North Carolina USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Horror Express [Slim Case] (DVD)

Horror legends Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee are booked on the Trans-Siberian Express? There's a beautiful Countess onboard, too? And Telly Savalas shows up and absolutely steals the show? You'd better believe I bought my ticket for this wild ride. Despite a really, really hokey premise, a rather dark movie print, and a lack of major special effects, Horror Express somehow comes off quite well as a traditional sort of horror film with a quality all its own. The setting is the winter of 1906; Sir Alexander Saxon (Christopher Lee) has discovered a two-million-year-old "man" in the frozen wastes of China that may very well be the crucial "missing link." Before his men can even get the precious cargo loaded on the Trans-Siberian Express, a nosy little thief ends up dead, his eyeballs completely white. It just so happens that a Dr. Wells (Peter Cushing), a scientist not unknown to Saxon, is also a passenger on the train, and his curiosity about the strange crate leads to the baggage man's death. When the remarkably living creature escapes and begins a real killing spree aboard the train, rivals Saxon and West team up to try and stop the rampage of the monster. After they saw the heads off of several white-eyed victims, they are amazed to find brains that are wholly smooth. You know what this means, of course - the creature is somehow sucking the very thoughts out of his victim's brains through their eyes. This helps explain the bleeding from the eyes that also seems to accompany death. Just for kicks, the two scientists take a look at a sample of eye fluid from a victim - and what should appear on the slide but the spitting image of the last thing the victim saw. Then they look at a sample from the monster's eye (the monster has transferred his consciousness to another human being by this point, having had his initial host body pumped full of several holes); visions of ancient creatures and a vision of earth from space leads to the obvious conclusion that what we are dealing with here is a living intelligence who came to earth eons ago. In the movie's defense, the idea that the last image a person sees before he dies would be imprinted upon his eyeball was actually entertained by some thinkers as late as the early twentieth century.

From here on out, it's basically a struggle for all the panicked train riders to avoid meeting up with a pair of glowing red eyes until such time as our heroes, Saxon and West, can identify and kill the creature in whatever form he now possesses. A gorgeous Countess and her annoying Rasputin-like associate add to the fun, but it is the appearance of Telly Savalas in the role of Captain Kazan that breathes new life into the final half hour of the film. Savalas gives an unforgettable performance, obviously enjoying the role of the campy Cossack to the hilt. He doesn't appear for very long, but he packs loads of entertainment into that short time period, doing everything but bringing out a lollipop and asking someone "Who loves you, baby?"

In a sense, this is not one of Cushing's or Lee's better performances, in my opinion. Together as allies for once, though, their dual presence carries this film on its shoulders. Other than a filthy creature sporting the worst case of pinkeye you've ever seen, many shots of "ping-pong ball for eyes" victims, and a couple of cranial autopsy procedures, there's not much gore to be found here. The story sounds rather weak but holds itself together quite well, thanks largely to the inestimably grand performances by the great Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Horror Express, aka Panic on the Trans-Siberian Express, is definitely a ride worth taking.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Horror Express aka "Thing on a train" deserves a better WS release, November 10, 2010

By 

grafdog - See all my reviews

This review is from: Horror Express [Slim Case] (DVD)

This movie is super hard to beat for sheer creepiness in any format.
I first saw Horror Express on a 12 inch BW tv on creature features and it gave me nightmares for a week. This full frame dvd (slim case)while watchable, is very muddy and looks like my original vhs tape. It's also available in one of the 50 horror movie packsChilling Classics 50 Movie Pack

Like its closest horror rivals "The thing from another world" and "Alien" the Horror Express journeys through a harsh environment. The true origin of the protagonist is never definitively determined and the religious superstition vs science controversy over what "it" really is creates an ambiguous uncertainty in the viewer well after the movie is over. Fortunately Cushing and Lee are there for the 89 minute trip helping you to keep your composure, and Mr Savalas gives a brief glimmer of hope when things are getting grim. The Horror Express however keeps chugging along, and its eerie whistle continues long after the original whistler has gone.

5.0 out of 5 stars Monster in a Box!, October 5, 2009

By 

Bonnie Cotman (Bronx, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Horror Express [Slim Case] (DVD)

I love this movie. Telly Savalas stole the show in his very brief appearance, but the priest was the whole show! Man, he was a trip! This movie is just good old fashioned extra terrestrial fun! The flick cost only a buck brand new, so just grab up some popcorn and beer and enjoy! My baby niece calls it "Monster in a Box." The story line and everything about it is unique and interesting, but it would have been better if the alien was a bit more intelligent. He made himself too easy to kill. That for me was a bit of a turn off because the alien is supposed to be smarter than people and this one wasn't. Get it!