If you haven't seen this movie yet, then by all means rent or buy it ASAP.  Until recently, this film was known only to horror/sci-fi cognoscenti. Since its release on DVD, it has gathered a good deal of above ground word-of-mouth praise and appreciation. To even guess a movie like this without having seen it is not impossible. Heck, it took me less than 15 minutes, and I swear that I have never seen the film before. First, you have to notice that the top frame has been captured from a DVD player. Although there are laserdiscs out there which rival/surpass the clarity of this snapshot, image analysis proves that it comes from a DVD source. Don't ask me to get into the technical details, just trust me. Pay a visit to DVD Express and do an advanced search for all 1.66:1 AR movies. You don't even need to know this is a horror movie. After a few minutes of browsing around the covers and back sides of various discs, you will find a close match to Christopher Lee's jacket, shirt, and tie. This is all you need to zero in on the right answer. Then you can pay a visit to TV Guide's site to read the detailed review.

Most of the film takes place aboard a model of the Trans-Siberian Express. The suspense builds up masterfully, as victim after victim succumb to an alien creature, whose power to kill is coupled with an uncanny ability to survive through countless eras of earth history. The closing scenes are demonic in scope. Cossack captain Kazan (Telly Savalas) is not the kind of man anyone dares mess with. He's not afraid to be sent to Siberia, damn it, because he's already in Siberia! Yet the alien creature reduces Savalas and his men to dog meat in the dark. The sound of randoms shots fired into space, the glowing red eyes of the creature, and the screams of men about to die is so brilliantly orchestrated, it is the very apotheosis of the term killing frenzy.

Notes: The other movies of the week were easy to guess once you either recognized an actor or a plot setting/situation. Heathers could be deduced by recognizing Winona Ryder, and The Time of Their Lives can be guessed by identifying Lou Costello. The scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail is set in the middle-ages and juxtaposed with modern day bobbies and a Scottish police officer. Just read Danny Peary's Cult Movies 2 to refresh yourself on this contrivance.

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