Review: Midnight Meat Train
At the first glance of the enticing poster for Midnight Meat Train, I was intrigued. A blood splattered train car, Vinnie Jones’ name and writing credits to Clive Barker. “This could be good,” I thought. So with high hopes I made my way to the local cinema. The film centers on photographer Leon Kaufmann (Bradley Cooper), who is trying to capture the heart of the city through his lens, when an opportunity to present his portfolio to high profile gallery owner Susan Hoff (Brooke Shields) arises. Though somewhat interested in his work, she requests that Leon capture a grittier reality and if done well enough, the results could secure a spot in one of her upcoming prestigious shows. Baited by her offer, Leon crosses paths with a butcher (Jones) whom he takes a mild interest in at first; that is until he learns of his subjects gruesome evening activities. Then he rides the rails to hell.
Theater to myself, I was nestled in hoping for high “creep-age”, which the first half of the film certainly provided. I found the storyline somewhat unique, if not a bit refreshing, given the sea of zombie / torture films that have been recently churned out by the dozens. Vinnie Jones gave a chilling performance as the quiet, steely-eyed sociopath. His direct and unyielding stalking of victims was unnerving to say the least, but it was his methodology that had the horror fan in me clamoring for more. There were some squeamish moments with high gore, but not too overindulgent. I found myself wincing a couple of times and was so extremely affected by one gory scene, that I carried it with me all the next day.
The film wasn’t without its problems. I didn’t really connect with the characters and found it hard to sympathize with them. Leon’s girlfriend Maya was a major irritant to me. When confronted with Leon’s suspicions about the butcher’s activities, she became very dismissive and patronizing, redirecting him to stay focused on obtaining only the shots he needs for the show. Already thinking he’s crazy, Maya still isn’t convinced when a bloodied Leon stumbles into their apartment after an encounter with the butcher. Realizing that Leon’s camera’s been stolen, Maya automatically becomes obsessed with the butcher herself. There didn’t seem to be a natural progression for Maya, it’s like ‘Oh, he’s crazy…what? His camera’s missing? I’m gonna hunt this mother down!’ There were also a few foreshadowing moments that seemed significant but were never visited again and it left me just completely bewildered.
Let’s not derail this puppy yet, there were a few interesting revelations. If you pay attention to detail, one should be able to figure them out about halfway through the film. Without revealing too much it was the final revelations that hearkened back to a combination of the films Mimic and C.H.U.D. It was interesting alright, but just not the ending I was expecting and from that point on, I was somewhat detached from the story.
Overall, the film presented some fun grizzly gore and a couple of tense moments that can all be attributed to Jones’ performance. I found the film quite memorable but not great. If you’re in the mood for Mr. Jones’ menacing antics and a couple of creative dismemberments, then you’ll be sure to have a bloody good time, excuse the pun.
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