Ever since first hearing about how Clive Barker’s beloved short story entitled, Midnight Meat Train from the first volume of his Books of Blood collection was finally getting out of development hell and getting a theatrical release after many years of negotiating, I was thrilled.  However, with Lionsgate constantly pushing back Midnight Meat Train’s release date, I had thought I would never the see the anticipated and shocking tale of the deadly subway rides hit the big screen.  Thankfully, at this year’s Fantasia Film Festival, I jumped at the opportunity to view the world premiere of the film.  So did Midnight Meat Train live up to much worked up hype, or did it up end up being a bloody mess? Read on to find out!

The film revolves around a struggling photographer named Leon, (played by Bradley Cooper) who unknowingly stumbles upon a mysterious man simply known as “the butcher.” (Played by Vinnie Jones) When he starts following the man he’s deeply intrigued by, he uncovers a deadly secret when he sees what “the butcher” has been doing on the late night subway trains…and what he discovers is unthinkable.

Midnight Meat Train will make people fear the subways as much as Jaws made people fear the water. Visionary director Ryuhei Kitamura (Versus, Alive)  shines in his American directorial debut as he stuns viewers with his no holds barred terror-filled horror film bound to be talked about for many years to come.  Kitamura delivers gory visceral goods with this shocking horror movie and each of them is a hard punch to the cerebral.  Gore hounds will be pleased Kitamura kept the spirit of the death scenes from the short story alive, was actually able to go beyond expectations in terms of the uniqueness of the kills. Most of them are so elaborate and so visually stunning, that you will find it hard to turn away, even though you want to. The audiences are witness to decapitations, slit throats, and bashed in faces guaranteed to make you gasp in fright.

As well, Vinnie Jones proves that he can play a chilling antagonist in this brutal horror film. His expressionless manner only increased his menacing demeanor. Every scene with him was a worth-while experience and it was the perfect casting decision to get him to play the prolific butcher.

Now as much as I loved the film on an aesthetic level, I didn’t care for it on an emotional level.  Midnight Meat Train opens up with a gruesome and strong thirty minutes, and then slowly descends into a slow moving and dragging experience.

First of all, I was not invested in any of the characters, because they all kept making insanely dim-witted moves. I especially hated the relationship between Leon and his supportive girlfriend, Maya. (Played by Leslie Bibb) Although both are fairly credible actors, every scene with them felt forced and convoluted. They lacked any chemistry with one another, and I truly didn’t like where the film took these two characters. (Why, oh why are studios obsessed with love stories in movies that don’t need them?)

Maya kept making incredibly unbelievable mistakes, and after that, I really didn’t care what happened to her character.  Leon (the film’s lead) starts out as a likable protagonist that gets pulled into the butcher’s world. However, his role takes a vampiric turn that just didn’t fit the somber tone of the film (or the story) had set in its strong first act.

There were also a few things that stuck out which I found unintentionally funny.  A woman is almost gang raped and seems oddly unmarked by the experience afterwards. A victim is reported missing in the newspapers after only being missing for 4 hours.  Most importantly, the meat train did not pull into the station every night at midnight, but rather at 2’ o clock in the morning. (I guess 2am meat train didn’t have the same ring to it.)  Suspension of disbelief can only go so far.

Sadly, the film’s climax is also very weak, and for those who read the short story will know the back story behind it. However, those watching the film without reading the story will find themselves scratching their heads afterwards, because the film does not even attempt to explain the seemingly, unexpected “twist.”

Midnight Meat Train is a film with great kills and great tension, yet sadly it fails to accomplish what it had primarily started to set out for….a good ol’ midnight movie experience.  Like a raw piece of meat, Midnight Meat Train is bloody and raw…yet far too undercooked to leave a good taste in your mouth.