The Midnight Meat Train

Considering that author/artist/filmmaker Clive Barker enjoys a devoted widespread following among horror aficionados, this “director's cut” of his stylish and gory (if also ultimately rather silly) serial-killer film may find the audience it missed during its brief theatrical release. Based on a short story from Barker's Book of Blood (the first of a series), The Midnight Meat Train tells the tale of photographer Leon Kauffman (Bradley Cooper), who while taking pictures of late-night urban life becomes obsessed with an emotionless mass murderer called Mahogany (played by beefy Vinnie Jones, dressed in suit and tie), who uses a huge metal mallet, among other fearsome instruments, to attack solitary riders on red-eye subway lines. As the shutterbug investigates, he discovers that Mahogany's motives are complex: he's literally slaughtering his victims (chopping them up, butcher-style) to serve a higher purpose that takes the story into the darkly mythic realms in which Barker specializes. Directed with cool precision by Ryuhei Kitamura, a Japanese horror auteur making his English-language debut, The Midnight Meat Train isn't so much frightening as gruesomely unsettling—until the final act, during which it degenerates into a protracted chase-and-fight sequence while also revealing the rather ridiculous purpose behind all the mayhem. A strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD extras include an audio commentary with writer Barker and director Kitamura, a “Clive Barker: The Man Behind the Myth” (15 min.) featurette that includes an extended tour of Barker's art studio, a “Mahogany's Tale” (5 min.) featurette on the killer's modus operandi, an Anatomy of a Murder Scene (10 min.) featurette, and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for an uneven horror film.] (F. Swietek)