[7]

Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing play rival scientists trying to contain a defrosted prehistoric creature aboard the Trans-Siberian Express in this moody, well-paced midnight horror flick. You’ll have to suspend your disbelief where science is concerned, and also in the casting of Telly Savalas as a crazed Cossack, but the film has quite a bit to offer otherwise — including Lee and Cushing at the top of their game, nifty miniature photography, narrative pacing that well exceeds most Hammer and Amicus fare, a fairly nifty creature, a modest amount of gore, and a spooky score driven by a haunting whistling motif. You’ll find countless home video releases available (it’s a public domain film), but Severin Films’ 2011 blu-ray and dvd release is by far the best-looking and, I believe, the only transfer of the movie in its original aspect ratio.