20 years ago Clive Barker was the second biggest name in the world of horror behind Stephen King . Weave World topped the fiction best sellers in Britain and HELLRAISER was a big box office hit both sides of the Atlantic . The 1990s saw a dip in his fortunes however starting with the disappointing cinema receipts of NIGHTBREED . Film adaptations such as CANDYMAN didn't fare any better and by the end of the decade it was becoming clear that the HELLRAISER franchise was ruining the original's reputation rather than enhancing it and by the time SAINT SINNER came along I was left thinking HELLRAISER might have been a fluke on the part of Barker rather than the sign of a horror genius . Thankfully THE MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN rescues Barker's reputation somewhat , though sadly it's no HELLRAISER
TMMT is based on a short story lasting 24 pages from the author's BOOKS OF BLOOD . This leaves screenwriter Jeff Buhler the slight problem of expanding it in to a 100 page screenplay . This he manages for the most part and he manages to capture the fear that people can experience sitting on a tubeway train alone at an ungodly hour . Unfortunately he forgets to expand upon the fact that people are going missing on a certain route . One disappeared passenger makes front page news because it sets up the story for protagonist Leon but previous and subsequent disappearances never seem to be referred to . Of course the police detective is part of the conspiracy but it'd need more than one police chief to keep the disappearances secret , especially when the aforementioned disappearance makes the front page
Japanese director Ryuhei Kitamura does manage to bring a feeling of claustrophobic dread to the story and the sound mix is superb . Sound mix is one of the more underrated aspects of film making in something like a horror film where sudden noises causes people to jump out of their seat it's very important . The cinematography is dark and grim which is very appropriate for this type of film . It certainly gives the TMMT and a film like this benefits from a gloomy atmosphere . The film's greatest benefit though is Vinnie Jones as Mahogany , the silent serial killer who is murdering the passengers for their flesh
The big problem that Buhler and Kitamura bring is the pay off . In the original story the demonic creatures living at the end of the line serve a " Superbeast " - a giant monster predating mankind . If you stop to think about it such a creature needs human servants because it can't go in to the city to find flesh to feed upon . It also implies that the demonic creatures were once human . Here however there's no Superbeast and the demons just appear without any explanation who they are or what their motives are which seems to have confused everyone who hasn't read Barker's short story . They have my sympathy because up till this point the film is very involving and certainly one of the best horror films to feature an underground station
TMMT is based on a short story lasting 24 pages from the author's BOOKS OF BLOOD . This leaves screenwriter Jeff Buhler the slight problem of expanding it in to a 100 page screenplay . This he manages for the most part and he manages to capture the fear that people can experience sitting on a tubeway train alone at an ungodly hour . Unfortunately he forgets to expand upon the fact that people are going missing on a certain route . One disappeared passenger makes front page news because it sets up the story for protagonist Leon but previous and subsequent disappearances never seem to be referred to . Of course the police detective is part of the conspiracy but it'd need more than one police chief to keep the disappearances secret , especially when the aforementioned disappearance makes the front page
Japanese director Ryuhei Kitamura does manage to bring a feeling of claustrophobic dread to the story and the sound mix is superb . Sound mix is one of the more underrated aspects of film making in something like a horror film where sudden noises causes people to jump out of their seat it's very important . The cinematography is dark and grim which is very appropriate for this type of film . It certainly gives the TMMT and a film like this benefits from a gloomy atmosphere . The film's greatest benefit though is Vinnie Jones as Mahogany , the silent serial killer who is murdering the passengers for their flesh
The big problem that Buhler and Kitamura bring is the pay off . In the original story the demonic creatures living at the end of the line serve a " Superbeast " - a giant monster predating mankind . If you stop to think about it such a creature needs human servants because it can't go in to the city to find flesh to feed upon . It also implies that the demonic creatures were once human . Here however there's no Superbeast and the demons just appear without any explanation who they are or what their motives are which seems to have confused everyone who hasn't read Barker's short story . They have my sympathy because up till this point the film is very involving and certainly one of the best horror films to feature an underground station