Horror Express

Oh yeah, this is my jam. This is an interesting mish-mash of ideas that somehow works. Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing as frenemies, investigating why a fossil has come to life and is killing people by draining their brain of their identity. Telly Savalas as a Russian soldier, and he gives less of a damn about trying an accent than Kevin Costner in Robin Hood. Taking place on a train, which brings claustrophobia into the mix. Taking place in turn-of-the-century Siberia, which means Tsarist Russia as secondary antagonists. A second secondary antagonist that's pretty much just Rasputin. A touch of sci-fi. A touch of slasher, in that victims are picked off one by one. Great pacing that wastes no time, gets right to the story, and never even considers stopping. Gorgeous, lush set design. A fun score that bounces between early 70's funk and gothic and thoroughly English. A touch of camp, even, although nobody ever plays to it, which is all the better. It'll never be anybody's favorite movie, but it's just a damned fun one. Hooptober 2022 movie #25/31.