Midnight Meat Train Review 8-17-2009:
Midnight Meat Train came out during the Lionsgate higher-ups changeover and was just dumped in theaters with little promotion. For probably the only instance I can think of for a “major” release, it was actually premiered at many “dollar theaters” also known as the “second run theaters.” This was a major factor in it's poor opening weekend gross. I think the other factor... It sucked.
It is a movie that was directed by Ryûhei Kitamura of Versus fame based on a short story originally written by Clive Barker. I have not read the story, so I do not know how close it is to it, but the basic idea is that there is a killer on a train that gets “found out” by a local photographer that makes it his mission to follow the killer to try to get some shots to bring him fame. The movie started off interesting enough, but it then takes a twist at the end that I will not give away, but I felt came out of left field and really ruined things for me. It just did not fit the feel of the rest of the movie and instead of shocking me into awe, I just got even more angry at it.
Another aspect of the movie that really bothered me was that a lot of the blood and gore was done through CGI and not through traditional means which gave it a very cartoony look that really took me out of it. If the movie was made cheesy in every other aspect this could have made it funnier, but this was a very dark and very serious movie, so it also did not fit well with the tone of the flick. The final aspect of the movie that proves how much I did not enjoy it is the fact that I fell asleep during the movie. Anyone who knows me knows that there are two things that just do not happen when I watch a movie: I do not walk out on them in theaters/stop them on DVD, and I do not fall asleep. I fell asleep, I was that bored.
So as to not be negative a positive I will say that Bradley Cooper did the best he could with the material given to him. I felt his performance was rather good, and with his new found surge in popularity the movie may have done a bit better if released now. Then again, maybe it was for the best this was before, so he can continue to be popular.
I rented the movie on Blu-Ray and I do not know if the amount of grain was intentional, in which case I can't fault it, but if it was not the disc looked horrible. It was grainy throughout the entire movie, not just day and night, but I felt that it did not add to the feel of the movie, just made it look cheap and as if the company did not care about the movie at all. The sound mix was good though (I only listened to it on a 2.1 system, but the bass worked well and everything was clearly heard throughout).
In case you couldn't tell by now, this movie sucked, and should be avoided at all costs. This was the first movie in a LONG time that I rated the dreaded 1 star on NetFlix and is why I felt the need to post a review for it, I see too many people seeming interested in this movie. Stay far away.
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