[Midnight Meat Train]
Plot: New York photographer hunts down a serial killer. Based on Clive Barker's short story "Midnight Meat Train".

Cast:Bradley Cooper, Leslie Bibb, Brooke Shields, Vinnie Jones, Roger Bart, Tony Curran, Barbara Eve Harris, Peter Jacobson, Stephanie Mace, Ted Raimi, Nora, Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson Dan Callahan, Don Smith, Earl Carroll.

My Thoughts:Finally, a Clive Barker adaptation that brings it!

Review:Clive Barker may be a great writer, and a good director...but honestly, his adaptations have for the most part, been disappointing. Which really haven't been his fault. It's the usual politics of Hollywood. Someone options your story, you get paid, and they hire someone to write the screenplay based on your novella. Of course their intepretation may be far different from the novel, and so your written work is turned into an ultra-crappy film, and because people don't understand the process, the book writer instantly gets the blame due to his name being attached to the films title.

"Clive Barker's:The Plague", was the last adaptation of his to be made, and it was pretty bad, atleast in my estimation. Then it was revealed that there's a whole nother version of the film floating around out there that strongly contrasts what was released straght to DVD. See where I'm going with this? At any rate, Barker's "Midnight Meat Train" brings it...PERIOD. The film isn't shy about anything. Not shy about blood, gore, carnage, destruction, etc. The film simply brings it's A game like star QB in the Superbowl.

The pic follows a New York photog. named Leon (Cooper) who lives with his girlfriend Maya (Bibb), and he is looking to get his work put on display. He goes around shooting anything and everything he can, including one night where he catches a group of thugs with bad intentions for a young lady. He rarely catches anything golden on his camera however. That is until he follows a strange looking, yet well dressed man named Mahogany (Jones), one night as he is leaving the subway. The man doesn't speak, and seems to know that Leon is following him. But Leon is so drawn in by his cold calculating persona, that he continues to follow and snapshot Mahogany anyway.

An act which eventually leads to a confrontation between the two where Leon isn't harmed, but is left sort of perturbed. He soon does some investigating on Mahogany, and discovers that he was a butcher who went on a killing spree many years ago. After learning this, Leon still continues to track Mahogany, even showing up at the meat-packing plant where he works. Mahogany eventually discovers Leon is still following him, and comes after him. Leon escapes, but still pursues Mahogany, desperate to know how Mahogany is still alive, and what he's up to.

Leon eventually gets his answers on a midnight subway ride one night, where he discovers Mahogany's second "occupation". Now...Leon has to find a away to stop him before he bcomes Mahogany's next victim. The thing to love about "Midnight Meat Train" above the great death scenes, the tons of blood and gore, and the tastefully twisted story...is the way it's shot and the overall look of the film. Director Ryuhei Kitamura does an excellent job of catching the action at incredible angles, and keepingmany of the films most intense sequences in the perfect focus so we can catch all of the action.

The films tone and look really has a classic New York feel to it, mixed with a hint of glossy steel and blood-splattered metal. Bradley Cooper carries this film exceptionally well as Leon, the photographer who never asked to be thrust into this situation, but is absolutely mortified when he eventually is. Yet at the same time, there's also an unexpected element of bravery added to his character in Jeff Buhler's script. Leslie Bibb is also good as Leon's girlfriend Maya, who begins to worry that her boyfriend is losing his mind when he reveals to her what he's seen on the midnight train.

But Vinnie Jones is awesome as Mahogany, a man of little to no words...a very villainous antagonist who is quiet one minute, and a butchering, slash-happy maniac the next. The pic really explores the title as well, putting alot of meat (human remains)and train action on display, connecting it all very well with the films story. The death sequences are very well shot and very intense. Especially because they come out of nowhere. Mahogany simply rides the midnight subway route, waiting for passengers to board, and when it's convenient for him, quickly disposes of them in very violent and brutal fashion.

And there's even one that stands out among the rest, where Mahogany doesn't exactly have an easy time with one potential victim in particular...a familiar face some might recognize. But that scene leads to a pretty cool twist. So why is Mahogany butchering people on the train? Why is there a Midnight Meat Train? What is the end result here? I won't give that away, but it's quite the twisted twist when all is finally revealed, and it's an ending that genre fans should appreciate, for the most part. "Midnight Meat Train" is one hell of a ride, that will chill you to the bone, make you naseous, and mess with your head...all in the same breath.

Positives:Great look and tone, very well filmed, a very interesting, intriguing, and badass villain in Mahogany, good performances, and lots of blood, gore, and carnage. One hell of an ending as well.

Negatives:Nothing in particular.

Overall:Four stars out of four.





( Talk about it in the Forums!)



( Back to the main page)