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The Midnight Meat Train
2008 103 min United States of America R 18+
★6.2
Horror, Mystery, Fantasy
Director: Ryûhei Kitamura
🎭 Based on
«The Midnight Meat Train»
byClive Barker
Trailers
Description
A photographer's obsessive pursuit of dark subject matter leads him into the path of a serial killer who stalks late night commuters, ultimately butchering them in the most gruesome ways.
Budget:
$15M
US Gross:
$83,361
Worldwide:
$3.53M
Starring
Vinnie Jones
Actor
Bradley Cooper
Actor
Leslie Bibb
Actor
Awards
2 wins & 6 nominations total
Key opinion
The Midnight Meat Train is a polarizing genre exercise that oscillates between gritty urban horror and stylized, hyper-violent slasher tropes. While it earns praise for its atmospheric intensity and Vinnie Jones’s commanding physical performance, critics remain sharply divided over the film’s tonal consistency, the effectiveness of its CGI, and the narrative payoff of its supernatural shift.
| Acting | Vinnie Jones commands the screen with a wordless, menacing physical performance that anchors the film’s horror. | |
| Cinematography | The film utilizes unique, experimental camerawork to immerse viewers in the gore and violence of its subway setting. | |
| Ending | The narrative's shift from a grounded detective thriller to a supernatural mythology alienates those who prefer internal consistency or fidelity to Barker's original vision. | |
| Production | The visual effects and CGI are caught between stylized, cartoonish violence and cheap, immersion-breaking artificiality. | |
| Screenplay | Critics are deeply divided on the writing, with some finding the protagonist's descent into madness and the film's broader plot logic unconvincing and hollow. |