Reviews from the Vault: The Midnight Meat Train

Time for another installment in "Reviews from the Vault", in which I review movies (some good, some bad) from my personal collection. The Midnight Meat Train is the latest and arguably most original adaptation of Clive Barker's array of short stories. This particular film is directed by Ryuhei Kitamura and stars Bradley Cooper, Vinnie Jones, and Leslie Bibb. Meat Train follows a struggling New York Photographer (Cooper) who has a passion for capturing New York in it's "natural" form- crime and negativity. In doing so he stumbles across a butcher who seems to be slicing more than cattle. Cooper's character is in over his head in a world of activities that he cannot comprehend. It would be an understatement to claim that this film is original. Containing a strong, early career performance from Cooper and an unraveling mystery with a conclusion that leaves the most investigative viewers astonished, Meat Train does not fall too short of a complete success. The film's unnecessary amount of gore and violence will butcher it for some viewers, leaving them more debilitated than boggled. For this viewer the film's pros outweigh its cons, scoring a solid 3 stars.