IMDb > The Midnight Meat Train (2008)
The Midnight Meat Train
Quicklinks
Top Links
trailers and videosfull cast and crewtriviaofficial sitesmemorable quotes
Overview
main detailscombined detailsfull cast and crewcompany creditstv schedule
Awards & Reviews
user commentsexternal reviewsnewsgroup reviewsawardsuser ratingsparents guiderecommendationsmessage board
Plot & Quotes
plot summarysynopsisplot keywordsAmazon.com summarymemorable quotes
Fun Stuff
triviagoofssoundtrack listingcrazy creditsalternate versionsmovie connectionsFAQ
Other Info
merchandising linksbox office/businessrelease datesfilming locationstechnical specslaserdisc detailsDVD detailsliterature listingsNewsDesk
Promotional
taglines trailers and videos posters photo gallery
External Links
showtimesofficial sitesmiscellaneousphotographssound clipsvideo clips

The Midnight Meat Train (2008) More at IMDbPro »

Photos (see all 25 | slideshow) Videos (see all 13)
The Midnight Meat Train (2008) -- A man and his mistress are blackmailed.
The Midnight Meat Train (2008) -- Midnight Meat Train - Trailer
The Midnight Meat Train (2008) -- Trailer for this film about a photographer who becomes obsessed with a subway train killer
The Midnight Meat Train (2008) -- Trailer 1
The Midnight Meat Train (2008) -- MattTrailer.com - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
6.4/10   14,973 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 6% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers (WGA):
Jeff Buhler (screenplay)
Clive Barker (short story "The Midnight Meat Train")
Contact:
View company contact information for The Midnight Meat Train on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
7 August 2008 (Russia) more
Tagline:
The most terrifying ride you'll ever take
Plot:
A New York photographer hunts down a serial killer. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
4 wins more
NewsDesk:
(148 articles)
User Comments:
One of the best adaptations of Clive Barker's stories more (126 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Bradley Cooper ... Leon

Leslie Bibb ... Maya

Brooke Shields ... Susan Hoff

Vinnie Jones ... Mahogany

Roger Bart ... Jurgis

Tony Curran ... Driver

Barbara Eve Harris ... Detective Lynn Hadley
Peter Jacobson ... Otto
Stephanie Mace ... Leigh Cooper

Ted Raimi ... Randle Cooper
Nora ... Erika Sakaki (as NorA)
Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson ... Guardian Angel

Dan Callahan ... Troy Taleveski
Don Smith ... Station Cop (as Donnie Smith)

Earl Carroll ... Jack Franks
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Also Known As:
Clive Barker's Midnight Meat Train (USA) (promotional title)
more
MPAA:
Rated R for sequences of strong bloody gruesome violence, grisly images involving nudity, sexual content and language.
Runtime:
98 min | USA:100 min | France:85 min | USA:103 min (unrated version)
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
USA:R (NO. 44086) | South Korea:18 | Singapore:R21 | Netherlands:16 | Singapore:M18 (edited for re-rating) | UK:18 | Ireland:18 | Australia:R | Finland:K-18 | France:-16 | Argentina:16 | Canada:18A (Canadian Home Video rating) (director's cut) | New Zealand:R18 | Australia:MA (Cable TV rating)
Filming Locations:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Vinnie Jones and Bradley Cooper were born exactly ten years apart on January 5th. Vinnie in 1965, and Bradley in 1975. more
Goofs:
Crew or equipment visible: When Maya is searching through Mahogany's bathroom, at one point the white t-shirt of a crew member is visible in the mirror. more
Quotes:
Mahogany: Welcome. more
Movie Connections:
References Forrest Gump (1994) more
Soundtrack:
Insomnia more

FAQ

Is this movie based on a novel?
Why does this movie keep on getting pushed back?
What is going on in this movie (aka What the hell did I just watch)?
more
54 out of 90 people found the following comment useful.
One of the best adaptations of Clive Barker's stories, 14 August 2008
7/10
Author: movedout from http://thescreenbug.blogspot.com

Clive Barker's more sanguinary inclinations are paid tribute here through a hulking golem, a malevolent meat merchant in his dapper best, named Mahogany (Vinnie Jones) who smashes, eviscerates and cleaves through unsuspecting commuters on the last train home. Adapted from Barker's seminal anthology, "Books of Blood", the similarly named "The Midnight Meat Train" is more than just an opportunity for some sophomoric snickering over its title but one of Barker's most revered short stories about a supernatural serial killer that ekes out fascination, fear and obsession from a lone photographer, Leon Kaufman (Bradley Cooper) stumbling upon the butcher's late night deliveries.

Director Ryuhei Kitamura (of "Versus" and "Azumi" fame) offers up one of the year's most brutally alluring gore fests in his American debut. With the gritty and detailed hard-edge of early 70s horror films (why, hello there Lucio Fulci!), his flair for CGI augmented visuals and the intense seduction of experimental camera-work in a cinematic environment so increasingly sanitised of actual visceral terror, Kitamura refreshes the genre's ability to unsettle and provoke audiences and jolt jaded horror enthusiasts out of their PG-13 apathy.

Kitamura works with a modest but shrewd sense of space in the decaying subway, the claustrophobic train and the creeping gloom of the city. There's a certain simpatico between Barker's distinctive tone and Kitamura's balls-to-the-wall film-making that compliments each other to the benefit of the film's atmospheric resilience. The unvarnished horrors cooked down deep in the gallows of the tunnels, plunged into darkness form the basis of Kaufman's terrible fixation on the disappearing passengers and that indescribably malicious man who stalks the shadows. Mahogany is the film's myth, the legend of The Butcher. Prepossessing the exactitude of traits essential to the character, Jones has the nasty glint in the eye, the mysterious swagger of indestructibility and the imperative of consuming evil, as well as having the benefit of looking like the quiet guy in the corner of the bar who could take out an entire gang of hoodlums without spilling his drink.

Kitamura's modulation of the material's emotional stakes and his slow-burn style of ratcheting up tension gives the story further layers to plunge into, not withstanding Cooper's unlikely presence as the film's corruptible protagonist. Jeff Buhler's screenplay from Barker's 25-year-old story is uneven at times but keeps an atmospheric dread of hopelessness. Supporting characters include Kaufman's wife (Leslie Bibb), a counterpoint to the man's wavering sanity and a threadbare characterisation of his good-humoured pal Jurgis (Roger Bart) who stands to represent Kaufman's humanity. But even if these emotional contrasts don't work, the film itself is a tidy and effective meta-slasher that resonates beyond corporeal carnage. Kitamura's subtextual ingenuity is shown through macabre imagery of animal carcasses hanging off meat hooks as Mahogany tenderises, disembowels and stores his victims just like the morsels of flesh they are.

Clive Barker's fantastical and mad blend of visceral shocks and profoundly unsettling explorations of worlds coexisting and buried deep within the one we think we understand has become an important component of our contemporary literary and filmic universes. While "The Midnight Meat Train" never hits the spasms of metaphysical despairs in "Hellraiser" or the diabolical mind-warps of "Candyman", this is forthright horror – simple, powerful and unadulterated.

Was the above comment useful to you?
more (126 total)

Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for The Midnight Meat Train (2008)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
WORST MOVIE IVE EVER SEEN DareToDream81
What was the train driver? Knismo
100 Things I Learnt from 'The Midnight Meat Train' shottiee
Australian DVD Question.... samurai-penguin
Theatrical Release? Pammies_Socks
for the Goofs people Berylkh
more

Recommendations

If you enjoyed this title, our database also recommends:
- - - - -
Night Train Creep Friday the 13th Non ho sonno Saigo no bansan
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
Show more recommendations

Related Links

Full cast and crew Company credits External reviews
News articles IMDb Crime section IMDb USA section
Add this title to MyMovies

You may report errors and omissions on this page to the IMDb database managers. They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update. Clicking the 'Update' button will take you through a step-by-step process.