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Horror with an air of mystery that's fairly satisfying in terms of gruesome content but sadly imo does suffer from the action being somewhat stylised in places.
Being a Clive Barker adaptation it should come as no surprise to anybody that there's a dark, sinister tone to proceedings - and in that respect the use of a washed out colour palette works quite well, especially for those parts set in/on the subway. It should also come as no surprise that the tale involves a degree of visceral content, which in places is quite delightfully not for the squeamish.
Sadly though Kitamura can't seem to resist the urge to go down the stylistic route in places and does so with mixed results. For instance, at one point the camera performs a full external 360° circle of the train compartment which makes for a reasonably nice effect and one particular scene set in Mahogany's apartment is very nicely shot but on the downside the use of slow-motion in the midst of action scenes makes them feel cartoonish and seriously detracts from their potency imo.
The use of extremely limited dialogue for Vinnie Jones' Mahogany enables that character to be defined primarily by his physicality which makes the most use of his natural air of menace. Whilst the mystery element revolves more around 'why' than 'who' there are still a couple of nice pockets of tension built up and even though the plot may not offer that much by way of originality and does have one moment that initially confuses (but becomes clear in due course) it's a generally serviceable affair.
The Midnight Meat Train would be a more satisfying entry into the horror genre were it not for some of the directorial choices, which for me sadly knock its rating down by a full popcorn to just a +
The Midnight Meat Train
Ryûhei Kitamura
2008
Ryûhei Kitamura
2008
Horror with an air of mystery that's fairly satisfying in terms of gruesome content but sadly imo does suffer from the action being somewhat stylised in places.
Being a Clive Barker adaptation it should come as no surprise to anybody that there's a dark, sinister tone to proceedings - and in that respect the use of a washed out colour palette works quite well, especially for those parts set in/on the subway. It should also come as no surprise that the tale involves a degree of visceral content, which in places is quite delightfully not for the squeamish.
Sadly though Kitamura can't seem to resist the urge to go down the stylistic route in places and does so with mixed results. For instance, at one point the camera performs a full external 360° circle of the train compartment which makes for a reasonably nice effect and one particular scene set in Mahogany's apartment is very nicely shot but on the downside the use of slow-motion in the midst of action scenes makes them feel cartoonish and seriously detracts from their potency imo.
The use of extremely limited dialogue for Vinnie Jones' Mahogany enables that character to be defined primarily by his physicality which makes the most use of his natural air of menace. Whilst the mystery element revolves more around 'why' than 'who' there are still a couple of nice pockets of tension built up and even though the plot may not offer that much by way of originality and does have one moment that initially confuses (but becomes clear in due course) it's a generally serviceable affair.
The Midnight Meat Train would be a more satisfying entry into the horror genre were it not for some of the directorial choices, which for me sadly knock its rating down by a full popcorn to just a +