Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 30: The Midnight Meat Train (2008)

I'm not entirely sure why I decided to skip The Midnight Meat Train back in 2008-09. I know it didn't get a wide release, but I feel like it's the kind of thing I would usually seek out on DVD. I have a feeling it had to do with the fact that it was based on a Clive Barker story, and Clive Barker has just never been my jam.

And you know what? I was right. This movie was so not my jam.

It does have a good cast, though, and that kept me invested. Bradley Cooper stars as a photographer looking to break into the art world, trying to capture gritty city scenes worthy of a gallery wall. Leslie Bibb is his woefully underdeveloped girlfriend (and there are a few really creepy sex scenes between them; just....why?). Brooke Shields is a high profile gallery owner. And a silent Vinnie Jones is the midnight meat butcher.

There's something about the mythological worlds that Clive Barker creates. They're both too silly and too disgusting for me to get behind, and The Midnight Meat Train is certainly both, although the silliness doesn't really show up until the very end. Until then, it's definitely one of the bloodiest horror movies I've seen, and while director Ryuhei Kitamura imbues the film with lots of camera flair and trick shots, it too often falls into the realm of torture porn for me to truly enjoy it. I will admit to screaming and laughing out loud at some of the carnage though. I'll give it that.

I watched The Midnight Meat Train on Showtime.