Creature (Horror Express)

The Creature is a monster from the low-budget 1972 sci-fi horror movie Horror Express. It should be noted that the Creature is never actually given a name or title in the film.

Description
The Creature was actually an amorphous alien entity composed purely of energy. It was capable of inhabiting the bodies of other beings, including humans, and thus had several different appearances throughout the movie. When first encountered, its form was that of a hairy humanoid, although this is more than likely simply the last body that it possessed before being frozen in ice.

History
After discovering the remains of what he hoped to be a 'missing link' between humans and apes frozen in a cave in East Asia, Professor Alexander Saxton transported the Creature to Europe via the Trans-Siberian Express, hoping to bring it back to Europe. On the trip however, the warmer temperatures caused the monster to thaw out and begin to stalk and kill those on the train one by one. As the remaining passengers and crew began discovering the bodies, they mounted a hunt for the Creature, but each time they managed to corner and kill it, it simply switched bodies without the knowledge of its pursuers.

Meanwhile, Saxton and his rival Dr. Wells, who was also on board the train, conducted a crude autopsy on the original body and those of the Creature’s victims. From this they deduced that the Creature was in fact some kind of alien being who had survived on earth since before the time of the dinosaurs, switching bodies periodically, and that it killed its victims by draining their minds of knowledge and memories.

After news of the murders reached Moscow, a militia captain and several of his men boarded the train to investigate, but ultimately they too were dispatched by the Creature. The few survivors attempted to flee to the caboose whereupon the Creature reanimated the bodies of those it had previously killed in an effort to catch them. However, Saxton and Wells managed to separate the section containing the Creature and its undead minions and send it hurtling off the edge of a cliff to to a fiery demise.

Powers
Bodily Possession: As stated previously, the Creature had the ability to switch between bodies at will, although it seemed to require the death of the bodies’ previous owner to accomplish this.

Longevity: Due to the above ability, the Creature was functionally immortal; its energy-form did not appear to age during the billions of years it had been stranded on Earth, and it would simply move to a different host if its current one was damaged.

Superior Intelligence: As the Creature gained the accumulated knowledge and experiences of each and every one of its victims, it was an incredibly intelligent life-form.

Reanimation: As seen during the film’s climax, the Creature possessed the power to reanimate the bodies of those whose minds it had already drained, employing them as zombie-like servitors.

Weaknesses
Glowing Eyes: The current body in which the Creature resided could be identified by plunging it into darkness; its eyes would then emit a demonic red glow, giving away its true identity.

Energy-Form Vulnerability: It was stated that the Creature was vulnerable whilst switching between hosts, as its true form could only survive without a physical body for a matter of moments. However, this was never shown on-screen.