Review by Peter Syslo
THE MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN (2008) is a film that everyone has been talking about: “Is it going to be released?”; “Is it in limited release?”; “Is it going straight to DVD?” were some of the questions on everyone’s mind. I think that we can all agree on the fact that the new Lionsgate exec. made a blunder with this one; it is similar to what happened with HATCHET, but even worse. I think that MEAT TRAIN could have been the Halloween hit of 2008 – yeah, we have SAW V coming out, and that will be enjoyable and entertaining and all, but I feel that MEAT TRAIN might have beaten it at the box office. Actually, it would have been perfect this Halloween, because, aside from SAW V, there are not many horror releases this season. Oh, I forgot to mention that I have the feeling that QUARATINE will utterly suck – the only thing saving that is Jennifer Carpenter. So, even though MEAT TRAIN is not a perfect film, I am going to make it my Halloween pick for 2008 and it, quite possibly, is one of my best picks for the overall year.
THE MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN is directed by Ryuhei Kitamura and the screenplay is adapted by Jeff Buhler, from a short story by Clive Barker. The film stars Bradley Cooper, Leslie Bibb, Brooke Shields, Vinnie Jones, Roger Bart, Tony Curran, Barbara Eve Harris, and Peter Jacobson.
The film is about a photographer named Kaufman (Cooper). Kaufman is trying to break into the art world and when his girlfriend Maya (Bibb) introduces him to an art mogul (Shields) through a friend (Bart), Kaufman’s whole life turns upside down. The art mogul tells Kaufman that she wants him to capture the true essence of NYC, which just happens to involve the subway. So, with vanity and fame at stake, Kaufman embarks on his own subway tour to capture the grittiness of the city. He finds a lot more than he bargains for, when he learns of a subway murder that occurred the night that he was photographing things down in the tunnels. Upon further investigation, Kaufman encounters the killer, named Mahogany (Jones), and things just get stranger from that point on. Very soon, Kaufman becomes deeply involved in the subway murders and he learns of his true purpose and his true nature (that’s kind of a theme this week).
THE MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN is a postmodern slasher film, in a way. Although, the story was written nearly 25 years ago, by Barker, it still seems fresh and relevant to today. There is a real ambiguity about the picture that some may find annoying and unfulfilling, but others (like me) may enjoy. There is a whole blurring of roles within the film and the hero is not exactly clear cut – it is not a “black-and-white”, “good-versus-evil” type of film. The film speaks to the potential monster inside each one of us and it says a lot about control, obedience, and flawed human nature, in general. For instance, Kaufman is so caught up in his desires to break into the art world, that he becomes obsessed with finding the “grittiness” and that obsession eventually leads to turmoil in his life. It also deals with the disturbing nature of the media, subversively; Kaufman is a witness to a girl almost getting raped (he does intervene ), he plays with fire when he starts stalking Mahogany at work (he’s a butcher), and he witnesses a brutal murder on the subway – yet he still takes his pictures. Maya even asks, “…and you were still taking pictures”. Also, the film becomes a clear case of “knowing too much” or the old “what you don’t know, can’t hurt you” idea – Kaufman starts digging, where he shouldn’t and the results are tragic.
This film was very interesting for several reasons. First, (I have talked about this before) the marriage of Asian directing with American/British writing and filmmaking is a great thing to behold. Kitamura has a very beautiful and stylish way in which he handled this film; I think that he brought out the best in it, with unique camera angles, atmospheric lighting, and over-the-top/vibrant scenes of gore/killing. Second, the film is a combination of a thriller, slasher film, and a conspiracy picture – this is not your average horror film, there is a bit more to it. The third thing that I find interesting is that everyone was great in the film: Jones was incredible as Mahogany – he was the silent, formidable presence (sort of like Michael Myers) who killed unwitting subway passengers with a big steel hammer (kind of like a large meat tenderizer). The other lead, Cooper as Kaufman, was perfect for the film and his naď ve quest for solving a mystery was a nice contrast to the patient and animalistic killer. The supporting cast was great and everyone played it with a degree of seriousness, much like in an Asian film. Finally, the other thing that I found interesting was that the film was a pretty damn good adaptation of the story. I read the story a few months ago and this movie captures everything in it, while at the same time adding pertinent and plausible material to flesh out the story – the film filled in some of the gaps, but it was done well (I was wondering how they were going to deal with the end of the film – I had a different picture in my head, from reading it).
Cutting to the chase: THE MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN is a very good film, which remains faithful to the story and adds a little bit to it. There are a few things that I didn’t like: at times, the subway action/killing becomes a little confusing – especially when Kaufman becomes a potential victim (I don’t want to spoil it). It took me a second viewing of that scene to know what happened. Also, when Mahogany is “operating” on his body (also the condition of his health), it is not that clear what is happening. But, that ambiguity may be good and it makes you wonder (I think I get it, though). There were several confusing shots, like when Kaufman was bathing in blood which made me wonder – maybe it was a little too much ambiguity at times. Though, that may be the beauty of this film – it didn’t have to explain everything away to the viewer. In short, I think that MEAT TRAIN lived up to the little hype that it had; it is scary , bloody (eyeball pop, a p.o.v. throat slice, a p.o.v. decapitation, etc.), and thought-provoking. I saw this on Fearnet On-Demand (they are showing it all this month) and www.fearnet.com is showing the film on October 30th . If you get a chance, watch it. It is more of a movie for horror fans and reading the story beforehand is actually OK, in this case. Sadly, I would not be surprised at a mainstream audience not liking this (it’s not a good choice of film to show the whole family), but the film should have been given a chance in the theaters. Here’s a message to film executives: wake up and listen to what people are saying! That’s called market research right? Christ, its basic business school stuff! I give THE MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN an 8/10.