VideoXploiter With both Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee starring, we're already off to a great start. Next we have the creature, which is very compelling conceptually - it would have felt right at home in a classic Star Trek episode. As you can guess by the title, the setting is a train, which serves to heighten the tension. Musically, one could mistake this for a spy-thriller, which the film did borrow elements off. In addition you even get zombie elements thrown in. Horror fans, and even the casual, will find something to like with this one.

Kirpianuscus for actors more than for story. because it is the film of their. with few clichés and construct of terror, stereotypes and interesting solutions for a trip who is defined by mysteries in decent humor. for the portrait of characters and for the memories about similar films, about the same theme and not real different solutions. a film who preserves the flavor of a genre from a special period. and, sure, maybe, nostalgia.

Andrei Pavlov Good sides Location. The whole story happens on the train. It's peculiar. Remember "Blood" (the video game)? The most thrilling level (my opinion) was on the train that was running through the darkness. Music. It's impressive. Actors. They are grand and gorgeous. All the ladies and gentlemen are hoity-toity from top to toe. Cossacks. To witness this kind of cliché (in costumes and behaviour) is entertaining.Bad sides Cossacks. Yes, they are in a bad one too. They are not just funny but pathetic too. And they are speaking English which makes them unrealistic (couldn't they hire real Russian actors with minimum lines and maximum show-off?). Russian characters here DO look fake. Western audience will not notice it probably.Ugly sides Words. Too much explanation near the ending (by the beast itself). It spoils the enigma of the initial scary moments. Too many words in a horror flick should be avoided. And making speeches about the terror from the outer space is boring. Fake monk. Absolutely unrealistic and loony monk. Instead of battling the beast he kneels before him asking for power, but in the beginning of the movie he acts like a prophet. His way of behaviour and looks are very unorthodox for an orthodox priest (too much make up is used by the actor, by the way), so the director shouldn't have put him in the movie (or at least on the train) at all to keep this feature running in the right direction. In "Exorcist" the priest is credible and perhaps that is why that cinema became a worthy classic. And do you remember the priest in "Prince of Darkness"? He is depicted as a buffoon too. Can't put "a worthy classic" tag on it too.Verdict: being very well polished on the outside (costumes, music, scenery), the cinema is shallow in its impact upon the viewer, mostly due to unrealistic characters. And there is not a single tough screen guy or a memorable lady to rely on or to sympathize with - just cannon fodder.Sorry for this sketchy comment, much is left to be added still.The IMDb rating for this one is OK, - a 5 out of 10 from my side. Thanks for attention.

Leofwine_draca This superb Spanish horror-cum-thriller features one of my very favourite pairings of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, in one of the rare instances where they team up on the same side and fight for good together! Other than that, this film has an original and interesting plot which is totally at odds from the kinds of Gothic films that Hammer and other European film companies were making at the same time. The setting of a high-speed train is a good one, and there are lots of scenes in murky carriages which bring out the claustrophobia of the situation.The other main areas of horror that the film taps into are fear of the unknown (you never know the location of the killer, or what he/it/she is doing) and paranoia. Paranoia because halfway through the film becomes a kind of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS variant, with the alien intelligence swapping bodies at the point of death. One of this film's key highlights is the eerie whistling on the soundtrack which is repeated throughout the film - this serves to make the hairs rise up on the back of your neck every time it pops up and is one of the spookiest sound effects I've ever heard in a film.The cast is a varied one. Aside from the three imported stars, the supporting cast is composed of Spanish actors and actresses who are all believable and act well in their roles. However acting honours must of course go to the inimitable team of Cushing and Lee who are once again excellent here. Cushing plays a gentle-mannered doctor on the train who is required to perform a couple of autopsies in the baggage carriage! This leads to some classic scenes which recall his old Frankenstein days as he carefully saws the heads off corpses and examines their brains! Lee, on the other hand, is very good as the arrogant professor, in a role which I feel is well-suited to his personality! If Lee is a little stiff (but still great) as the professor, then Telly Savalas occupies the other end of the spectrum with his hilariously over-the-top role of the cossack leader who beats and shoots his way through a number of suspects! His performance is aptly described by the phrase "scenery chewing". I love the moment where he throws a knife in a victim's back before shooting him twice just to make sure he's dead! One other actor of note is the one playing the mad monk, who makes Rasputin look sane in comparison! For the time this was made, this seems to be a fairly grisly little chiller. Aside from the aforementioned brain removals, the numerous victims suffer bleeding from the eyes, nose, and mouth, and have their eyeballs turn white (they've been boiled you see). On top of all this, there is some ludicrous mock science which reaches a laughable high-point when Cushing and Lee discover an image of the Earth from space imprinted in the creature's eyeball fluid! This film's low budget (most of which probably went on getting Cushing and Lee all the way to Spain from Britiain) is cleverly hidden via the use of plenty of simplistic yet startlingly effective special effects. The simple white contact lenses give the dead bodies a really macabre look, while the killer's glowing red eye seems to have been a definite inspiration for the look of THE TERMINATOR. And of course, there's the use of the model train which is shown repeatedly throughout the film, and crashes and explodes at the very end - they certainly wring every penny out of it, that's for sure! The biggest complaint about this film seems to be that it has pacing problems, but after watching a number of films from this era which are much worse, this doesn't bother me at all - especially when horror legends Cushing and Lee are on screen and giving it their all.At the film's very end, it changes track (rather like the train itself...) and becomes a zombie movie, with all the dead bodies of the cossacks coming back to life and seeking victims! This is a pretty scary scene, only hampered by some slapdash editing in the moments where Lee and his pretty female accomplice have to fight their way through the zombies. The ending ties everything up nicely, too. With an intelligent, original plot, great acting and effects (aside from the rather dodgy ape man suit!) this is one of my very favourite horror/science fiction B-movies and should be seen by all fans of older horror films. It's downright classic!