Midnight Meat Train

[Chainsawmidget]

So, I watched this the other day when it came in via Netflix.  I'd been hearing good things about it and had been wanting to check it out for a while.

I really wished I hadn't. 

The basic idea is that some wannabe artist is trying to "capture the city like nobody has before" and ends up trailing a serial killer that butchers people on a subway train.  That setup had potential to be a great 70 and 80 style gorefest, but despite all the blood and death, it really felt fake. 

Ever seen a photoshop contest where one of the pictures just looks too stylized to actually work?  Everything is to perfectly framed and at exactly the right angles, too airbrushed, too stylized?  That's what this whole movie is.  It feels like every single scene the director is screaming at you that this is art!  ART DAMMIT!  ART!  Every slow motion bullettime blood splatter, ever dramatic reflection of the victim in a pool of their own blood, it's all art!  It just gives the whole thing an unreality that prevents you from being absorbed into the story. 

It doesn't help that none of the main characters ever feel like they have anykind of real personality.  (The exception here is the conductor, who's excellent but hardly gets any screentime at all.)

Right at the end, where there's actually a violent bloody battle and a a nice twist at the end that would have made the movie actually interesting if it had been brought up earlier and expanded on, the movie seems to really come alive, but it's only for a quick two scenes at the end and hardly makes up for the rest of it.

If I were to sum up this movie in a sentence, it would be "What pretentious crap."

[Rev. Powell]

I didn't like it either.  Slow to get started, and seemed to have no point other than violence, not a very involving story.  I agree, Chainsaw; the twist came too late to save it.  I was shocked to see how many people praised this, but it seems to me gorehounds with no sense of horror movie history are an easily satisfied bunch.

[Chainsawmidget]

It didn't exactly help that the killer in the movie made Jason Voorhees look like an energetic bundle of personality and style.

[3mnkids]

I didnt care for this at all. Its got gore, that is about it, and I thought the ending was stupid.. This was the movie(to me anyway) that started Vinnie Jones down the path of OMG what the hell was he thinking roles.

[Doggett]

I loved the short story, but I did think that a film was pushing it...


Vinnie Jones doesn't say anything, yet I still can't stand him.

[WingedSerpent]

I didnt care for this at all. Its got gore, that is about it, and I thought the ending was stupid.. This was the movie(to me anyway) that started Vinnie Jones down the path of OMG what the hell was he thinking roles.

Well, no offenseto Mr. Jones-but he wasn't going to be the star of Shakespearian dramas anytime soon.  I've hear of this movie but never seen.  Many have told me to stay away.

[Paquita]

I had to let this one win.. I think I only made it through the first 20 minutes and then gave up..  I'll usually force myself to watch the whole thing if I get that far in, but I just couldn't.

[claws]

Enjoyed it. The brutality made me cringe. Not many movies manage to do that. Fun, over-the-top gore as well.

[BeyondTheGrave]

Thought it was ok.  Liked the gore but really couldn't stand the main character. I felt he could have just stop following the train at anytime and it would all be alright.Twist ending was awesome.

[indianasmith]

I wasn't very impressed with it either.