Stars: Vinnie Jones, Bradley CooperBudget: 15 million
Directed By: Ryuhei Kitamura
When a photographer hoping to break it big is tasked
by a top art collector to capture the real streets he is drawn into a murderous underworld.
Except there's more to it than first meets the eye!
Like the poster says this is one of the best adaptation of a book i've seen. Ok it didn't do to well but that's probably because of the age rating at the time and it being a lesser known title from an ex mainstream author.
If released a few years back on the success of Hellraiser it may have well done better. Except this is now relegated to 'almost' B-movie status.
I say almost because it has a semi decent cast coupled with poor poor CGI effects and a great story to work from. I remember reading midnight meat train a good number of years ago, hot on the back of the damnation game (also a a fantastic story, probably my favorite Barker book ever) and i was well impressed with it even after the massive up that was Damnation.
So Vinnie Jones plays what first appears to be a crazy subway killer called Mahogany, albeit with super strength, un-killable and un-phasable.
Bradley plays a not well off amateur photographer (Leon) that is pretty new to the business but very good at what he does, except that he flees danger quite easily. Trying to break his trend in this one night he actually stops some thugs attacking a woman.
When she is later killed by the killer (Mahogany) her disappearance is all over the news the next day. Thinking it the gang he goes to the police but actually gets fingered as a suspect of sorts, when there's no solid evidence this pisses him off. He then goes about researching missing persons in the city, leading him to Mahogany who he proceeds to photograph and the police still don't believe his stories. They just suspect him even further for being near the murder scenes.
His following slowly becomes an obsession, not helped by an offer to to get into the higher ups of the art world spurns him on to keep photographing these scenes. He then witnesses lots of killings and mutilations on the subway one night and falls unconscious waking up in a meat processing plant with a weird arcane symbol carved into his chest. You see both mental and physical changes happen to him. One being at the beginning of the film he is a vegan and a very loving boyfriend to his girlfriend Maya. He starts to eat meat and act and have violent sex with Maya.
Maya finally has enough and goes with a friend to check out the killers apartment they find that everything Leon has said is true. Maya's friend is killed and she barely escapes herself. Going to the police they don't believe her story, it started around this time that we suspect the police connection goes a little further than we think.
Leon once and for all decides to properly confront the butcher, unknown to him Maya was also on the train. A big fight breaks out between Leon and Mahogany, as he tries to protect Maya. It's a good fight too. Mahogany using brute strength Leon more lithe and cunning.
They finally come to the end of the line and Mahogany is thrown from the train, when Leon finishes him off with a knife through the head we learn the deep dark secret that everyone has been trying to hide. Now you know i don't spoil stuff so i can't tell you. Because despite some very dodgy CGI and some iffy moments this is a great adaptation of the short story from the books of blood.
There's just enough difference and expanded things to make it it's own movie too, so by far a perfect movie but if you like suspense and mystery in your supernatural thrillers this is definitely worth your time to watch.
THN awards Midnight Meat Train 3/5 Stars with a recommend to watch.
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