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6.2/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.2/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. The Silk Express remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you love old B-movies that don't care about making sense, hop on. If you need a plot that holds together or dialogue that doesn't feel like it was scribbled on a napkin during lunch, you're going to hate it.
The Silk Express is one of those movies that moves so fast it barely has time to explain why anyone is actually angry. It's frantic. Almost dizzying.
Most of the action happens in narrow train corridors. People keep popping out of doors, getting startled, and then someone ends up dead on the floor. It reminded me a bit of the chaos in Alias Mary Flynn, though this one has way more silk and way less breathing room.
There's this one moment where a character is just standing by a window, and the background blur is so aggressive it looks like the train is doing 400 miles per hour. It’s hilariously fake. I kept waiting for the engine to just fly off the tracks.
Arthur Hohl is playing the villain like he’s trying to swallow the scenery whole. He’s got that sneer that says "I’m definitely going to lose, but I'm going to look grumpy doing it." It’s charming in a greasy, 1930s kind of way.
Honestly, the whole movie feels like it was put together with spare parts from other, better thrillers. It has that same vibe I got watching Fangs of Justice—plenty of motion, but not much meat on the bones.
It isn't a masterpiece. It's barely a cohesive story. But there’s something about the way these old movies just commit to the bit that keeps you watching. You don't ask why the killers brought a guy with a hat that big on a secret mission. You just go with it. 🚂