10 Best Horror Movies That Take Place On A Train

9. Horror Express - 1972

Train to Busan
Gala Film Distributors

Horror Express gives us both Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, two legends of British horror cinema. The movie is based on a story by Joseph Campbell called 'Who Goes There?' (which was also the source material for a little film John Carpenter made called The Thing.)

Lee's Professor Saxton is transporting the frozen remains of a primitive human that he believes is an evolutionary missing link. As happens in these films, the humanoid thaws out and begins killing passengers on the train, leaving them with blank, white eyes and a zombie-like demeanour. He and his rival Dr Wells, played by Cushing, have to not only figure out what the humanoid is, but how to stop it.

As with several other films in this list pitting a monster against our heroes, the train gives very little space to move or hide. Add to this the fact that the humanoid creature can take on the form of anyone, and it becomes a fantastic game of cat and mouse between Saxton, Wells, and the monster.

Although the alien shape-shifter idea and effects are not as fully formed as Carpenter would make them ten years later, Horror Express is a creepy film that features a surprising amount of blood and gore for an early '70s mainstream film.

It's an underrated classic British horror and one of Cushing's and Lee's best films together.

Contributor

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