title: the midnight meat train
starring: bradley cooper, leslie bibb, vinnie jones etc.
director: ryuhei kitamura
producer: lions gate films
length: 100 min
year: 2008
country: usa
rated: ranging from 16 years of age (holland) to 21 (!) years of age (singapore)
reviewed copy: dvd preview copy
tagline: "the most terrifying ride you'll ever take"
leon kauffman is an aspiring photographer living with his girlfriend maya in new york city. after being told by a big shot in the art world that his photos lack what he's looking to portray (a "real" portrayal of the city) leon starts going out late night hunting for motives. when he scares off a gang of thugs trying to rape a model he also gets a great shot. however, a few days later the model disappears without a trace.
generally well over the standard of your average horror movie. cooper is good in his role as the increasingly obsessed photographer kauffman and vinnie jones, despite (or maybe "because off") having only two lines in the entire movie is one eerie bad guy. the only one giving a slightly substandard performance is leslie bibb as kauffman's girlfriend maya. be on the lookout for some semi-known actors and actresses in smaller parts, such as brooke shields and ted raimi.
based on the clive barker short story by the same name (you can find a review of that in the archive under "books of blood" if you're interested) this is an in my mind successful expansion of the storyline to incorporate more human relationships. while the story was short and creepy the script has a tendency to become somewhat long-winded. other than that i have no complaints about the script - a truthful adaptation to barker's original short story. the direction is also good with one or two really misplaced scenes. the one i reacted at was the sex scene between leon and maya. did anyone else get the feeling she was...raped? she sure as hell didn't look like she enjoyed it anyhow. cut to next morning and a typical "good morning, honey" kind of scene. did i miss something here? apart from this sequence the movie is tightly directed with a bleak and realistic sort of look not often found in american horror movies these days. one thing i feel i have to mention is the special effects. while generally good, all of a sudden some really terrible cgi rears its' ugly head. and this is not just slightly sub.par effects work but rather breaks the suspension of disbelief.
this film is altogether one of the better horror movies i've seen this year. it's not excellent, but it had me in my seat for 100 min without glancing at the time, which is a good sign if any. if graphic horror with a touch of psychology is your deal, this one's for you. and yes, it has a surprise ending that i'm not giving away, but which i suspect people will either love or hate. i kinda like it.
0 comments:
Post a Comment