Midnight Meat Train | Review

Among the more cherished tales in Clive Barker’s Books of Blood short story collection is a tale about obsession, precision and a society shrouded in secrecy. Scribe Jeff Buhler’s adaptation of a fan favorite tale is an elongated, follow the trail of a psycho killer type of portrait, but in a post 9/11 world where conspiracy theories are a dime a dozen, this regular horror narrative has got a humorous, story concluding punch line that confirms that those inside the circle have the advantage. Japanese filmmaker Ryuhei Kitamura’s English language film debut isn’t particularly stylistic, and both the atmospherics and the CGI depreciate over the film’s run, but the kill fest that squishes and splats its victims will tickle the fancies of those who like an antagonist with a specialized criminal intent and modus operatus. Running out of gas before getting to the refueling station, or in this case the final subway stop, Midnight Meat Train is a horror movie that simply won’t get the same shelve life as other works with the Barker trademark.

The subway systems of the world serve as perfect backdrops for the horror genre (Kontrol, Creep), but the train cars that come with them contain a unique, constraining playing field for unwanted human interactions. For the better part of the film, this pits a butcher with a mean streak and accompanying skin problems versus a wannabe street photographer on a freshly new winning streak. Both characters make their hobbies into their full time job, and a couple of feet underground are where this pair do their signature work.

Sporting business suit gear and keeping an old-fashioned doctor’s bag concealing his weapon of choice very close to his side, in a mostly non-speaking role, Vinnie Jones plays a lone wolf who works the slaughter house both night and day, and by accident becomes the focal point of Bradley Cooper’s character’s photo-lenses. For the most part, Cooper’s protagonist comes from a believable, scraping for the future background and as a starving artist it is easily understandable how obsession ultimately makes him jump the tracks. As an R-rated film, the corn syrup plays less of a role in the film’s set up, but when Kitamura introduces detached body parts is where the film’s minor jolts of interest – at best this might serve as an interesting discussion in what we do to animals called livestock. Murder scenes are visually articulated will cool angles and original murderous techniques, but there is no mincing words here – it is graphic, not in a gory manner, but in a jokingly fashion.

The problems with a short story being adapted into a full length feature is that the filler in the middle usually derails the film, but with less than 90 minutes to work with and an underwhelming fright element, the low budget Midnight Meat Train succeeds in keeping the lid shut and keep viewers interested, in a non-panting manner until the film’s final death blow scene. The picture has been a long time coming, unfortunately, with a dry attempt at creating a moody tonality, this despite, some cool neon lite action will assure a prosperous homevid run rather than, a theatrical release.

Reviewed on June 11th 2008. Fantasia Film Festival.

Rating 1.5 stars