The Midnight Meat Train

Lionsgate

R1 DVD

The Midnight Meat Train is based on a short story by Clive Barker which was first published in the Books of Book Volume 1 published in 1986. It was on the basis on these three books that Stephen King stated that he believed Clive Barker was the future of horror. It is a dark and terrifying journey into madness, conspiracy and an ancient mystery. Directed by Ryuhei Kitamura, The Midnight Meat Train combines a superb plot with a stunning visual sense. The cinematography of a city at night with its brooding urban sprawl is evoking and suspenseful. The ferocity of the violence is intense with Vinnie Jones as Mahogany, a superbly horrific serial killer. Mahogany is reminiscent of the Tall Man in the Phantasm series but has enough unique characteristics not to be derivative. In many ways this could be said of the whole film; there are a large number of well used horror motifs but under Ryuhei Kitamura’s direction, they become novel and unique.

Photographer Leon Kauffman is on a mission to capture the heart of the city. He believes no one has ever really captured her soul before. After some prodding from an art critic he decides to explore its underbelly at night. After confronting a gang of thugs up to no good harassing a young beautiful woman, he finds that she is on the pages of the newspaper the next day as a missing person. He goes to the police with his photographs but finds them surprisingly unhelpful even belligerent.

When he returns to the scene the next evening he notices a large hulk of a man exiting the subway. Cold and imposing, he is dressed in a simple charcoal suit and tie carrying a suitcase. Kauffman is fascinated by this character and follows him, only to be violently confronted. He notices a strange ring he is wearing and realizes it is one that is on a photograph he took the night before when the woman went missing.

His fascination soon turns to obsession and he discovers that Mahogany works during the day at a meat packaging plant and at night travelling the subway. Soon Kauffman learns that he does not just travel the subway but at set times and in set locations slaughters his victims preparing them “butcher” style.

The depictions of the slaughter are powerful and visceral, they are also extremely innovative. In one scene the camera seems to bounce all over the place and then you realize you are seeing what is occurring through the eyes of a head which has just been decapitated! In another you graphically see teeth, fingernails and eyes removed as bodies are prepared as though they are cuts of prime beef.

Mahogany, however, is not just any other serial killer. He is part of an age old brotherhood protecting a secret which exists way below the subway. The final scenes of the story are compelling, creating a very different thought of climax to the one that one may expect from a traditional slasher or horror film. This is a Clive Barker tale!

The characters are well developed from the “way of out his depth” Leon Kauffman simply wanting to understand the city to his hapless girlfriend. Vinnie Jones is superb as a “coiled spring” of a man who simply lives to fulfil his mission and does what is required to get the job done with brutal and cold efficiency. Even the train driver is a superbly odd and perverse creature.

The cinematography is remarkable with the constant journeys into the subway mirroring the characters descent into madness. The music has been perfectly scored and really helps sustain the sheer terror of the more horrific killing sprees depicted in the film. The violence and gore is certainly extreme and the R Rated is more than warranted, what Mahogany can do with a meat cleaver and butchers tools has to be seen to be believed.

It is great to see the dark visions of Clive Barker meet Japanese style horror. Ryûhei Kitamura also directed such cult classics as Versus, Azumi and Aragami (among others) and the combination has created a real horror lovers treat !

This review will appear in Volume 2 No.3 (2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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