(2008)
directed by Ryuhei Kitamura
review by Jonathan Rocks
11.03.2008
These days it seems like certain films
achieve a "cult" status before they've even earned a legitimate
fan-base. I'm thinking of films such as "Donnie Darko", "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" and
"Hatchet." I'm not saying
they're not good films-- but they seem to bestow the cult status upon
themselves before audiences have a chance to decide that on their own and in
the case of "Midnight Meat Train",
before audiences even get to see the
film.
The film is an adaptation of a short
story by horror legend Clive Barker. And I think therein lies the problem.
Sometimes a story is written in short form because that is simply the correct
format for it. For "Midnight Meat Train"-- there simply
wasn't enough, uh, meat to
fill out the story.
The plot is simple enough-- a late night train, usually only inhabited by one
or two commuters, has become the slaughter-ground for a silent maniac (Vinnie Jones) whose weapon of choice is a brutally blunt
meat tenderizer. Oh, and some meat sure gets tenderized, believe me. In fact,
the gore factor is probably the saving grace of this film for many horror fans.
But in this reviewers opinion, the filmmakers fell victim to the trap of using
CG gore and blood effects all too often. I would like to think that most true
horror fans would rather have a good film that may have a few questionable
practical effects, rather than a mediocre film that uses shiny digital blood
for most of its real money-shots. But, we live in the digital age, and I guess
digital gore is going to be increasingly prevalent in the genre-- let's just
hope it improves... soon. As far as the story itself... it was okay. The
main character, Leon (Bradley Cooper), is a photographer, which has now become
a rather tired cliché in horror films. And, when the silent killer
inadvertently becomes the subject of the photographer's work, he's drawn into
trying to discover exactly what's going on in the late night train this strange
man takes every night.
Now, without treading into spoiler territory, I'll just say that the ending of
the film was somewhat rushed, and a bit vague for my liking. I don't need
everything laid out for me, but I do want a reasonable amount of time devoted
to ending a film in a satisfying way.
Overall, the film was a disappointment. Was that because of the months and
months of waiting for its release? Probably. Had audiences never heard of this film, and just
picked it up on DVD, they may have a different reaction. But that's not how the
distribution of this film was handled. However, if you're looking for something
creepy that you haven't yet seen, this movie may do the trick. But I do believe
I'm justified in telling most horror fans out there-- don't believe the hype.
My rating: 2.5 out of 5