Retro Review: The Midnight Meat Train

I’ve always been fascinated and disturbed by the underground subway train systems. It’s a subterranean world that holds many mysteries, dark secrets, and legends. Clive Barker’s short story, The Midnight Meat Train (from his Books of Blood collection) is a brutal and unflinching look into such a world.

What I loved about the original story was the ending and how Barker went from telling a pretty straight forward slasher tale (ala Jack the Ripper) to something that was otherworldly (ala H.P. Lovecraft). It was such a cool twist that you didn’t see coming.

When I heard that a film version was on the way I got really excited. I followed the film’s production through genre magazines like Fangoria and Rue Morgue and felt very confident that the film version would live up to the story. Then when I watched Saw V in theaters I saw the trailer and I knew the film was going to be something special. I couldn’t wait for the movie to come out!

But when the film didn’t meet its initial release date I was confused. Then I heard rumblings that the studio couldn’t cut together a trailer for the movie? But they already had one! None of this made any sense. Eventually what it came down to was bullshit studio politics and satisfying one’s ego. Everything I hate about Hollyweird. Eventually the film got dumped into a hundred theaters across the country and never had a chance to reach the audience that it should have. Clive Barker had this to say on the whole fiasco:

“The politics that are being visited upon it have nothing to do with the movie at all. This is all about ego, and though I mourn the fact that The Midnight Meat Train was never given its chance in theaters, it’s a beautifully stylish, scary movie, and it isn’t going anywhere. People will find it, and whether they find it in midnight shows or they find it on DVD, they’ll find it, and in the end the Joe Drakes of the world will disappear.”

Well said.

The film adaptation takes the basic framework established by Barker and adds more (no pun intended) meat to it. Writer Jeff Buhler does a wonderful job of creating a world that perfectly matches the tone of the story that Barker created on the page. It doesn’t paint a glamorous look of big city life.

The casting of Leon and Mahogany was very important and luckily the filmmakers were able to get two great actors to portray them. Bradley Cooper gives a determined and passionate performance as Leon. His passion with wanting to capture the city like no one has ever done before eventually leads to him meeting Mahogany, which is the beginning of his downfall and decent into another world. Vinnie Jones plays Mahogany with a quiet charismatic appeal that I liked even though he’s committing these horrible murders. My favorite moment with the character is when he gives the two kids money for some candy. It shows that Mahogany has his own personal code that he follows. But when it’s time to do his job he’s as ruthless as they come.

The characters are also beefed up substantially from the short story by giving them new backgrounds and motivations that work perfectly fine. By making Leon a photographer, the viewer is able to follow him on his journey into a world of madness. The camera he uses is also a great way to pull the audience in as well. It was also smart to make Mahogany a butcher that worked at a meat packing plant. Like Leon, Mahogany is an artist too, but instead of photography he deals in butchery. Even though he’s fulling a duty that’s been assigned to him I believe it’s a obsession that’s goes much,much, deeper. He enjoys the act of murder and how it allows him to express himself.

Director Ryûhei Kitamura and director of photography Jonathan Sela give the film a gritty and polished look that reminded me a lot of Se7en. I especially enjoyed the blue lightning during the subway and meat packing plant scenes. They had a very Ninth Circle of Hell feel to them that I thought was disturbing.

And if you want lots of gore in your horror film Kitamura serves up plenty of that as well. Mahogany puts all of his killing utensils to great use, especially his big meat hammer. Heads are caved in, hearts and tongues are ripped out, eyes pop out of sockets, and bodies are bled dry and hung up on hooks. Make no mistake the film lives up to its title for sure.

Kitmura also shoots the subway action scenes between Leon and Mahogany with an energy that’s in your face. I love the moment when both men size each other up right before they begin to battle one another. It’s the classic Mexican standoff but instead of cowboys it’s butchers. Which I think is a lot cooler anyway.

The film did add some new characters to the story that I felt were unnecessary. Leon’s girlfriend Maya came off very contrived as did his best friend Jurgis. They didn’t add anything to the story other than to move the plot along. I will say that Brooke Shield’s character Susan Hoff was a nice addition though, and she brought a bitchiness to her role that was fun.

And even though I enjoyed the film’s bleak ending, it still didn’t live up to what Clive had created for the original story. Once again the filmmakers were constantly having to fight with people who didn’t understand the material and unfortunately the ending feels like a compromise and the film does suffer for it.

The Midnight Meat Train is a tour de force of violence and madness. Even though the finale comes up short and some of the side characters were a waste at the end of the day I was happy with this adaptation. Bradley Cooper and Vinnie Jones more than make up for the films faults. I highly recommend revisiting it if you get the chance.