#28 - Horror Express (1972)
Most Spanish horror I've seen (at least from the 60's/70's) is pretty similar to Italian horror, but this one is much closer to what was going on in Britain at the time. This one feels like a Hammer film crossed with The Thing From Another World. Set in 1906 and featuring some elements of cosmic horror, this reminds me a lot of stories from early "weird" fiction like H. P. Lovecraft or Ambrose Bierce. It's not quite like anything else I've seen from the 70's, sort of a hybrid of sci-fi, a period horror film, and a healthy dose of fun campiness.
A British anthropologist (Christopher Lee) discovers the frozen body of a neanderthal-like creature while on an expedition in China, and has to transport it across Siberia via train to get it back to Europe for study. Unfortunately, despite being frozen for 2 million years (!) it isn't quite dead, and it gets loose from its crate and begins to terrorize the passengers. It has the ability to suck the knowledge right out of its victims' heads and absorb it into its own, getting more intelligent with each person it kills.
I really liked this one. Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing are the highlights of the cast, but the acting is really strong from everyone. The makeup effects, both on the creature and its victims, are also really good and much better than I would expect. The production values are generally just through the roof - I'm guessing this was a relatively low-budget film, but it feels like a much more expensive one.
Very highly recommended to fans of classic horror and/or sci-fi. This is one of the best and most fun films I've watched so far this year.
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