Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Dumb. Just plain dumb. Not intriguing in any way. I'm sure the fact Bradley Cooper starred in this movie was the only reason it got the reviews it had to this point. Spoiler alert here. Bradley Cooper becomes the evil dude. Duh! Don't waste your time. Watch another movie instead. A complete waste of an hour and 43 minutes of my life. Did I mention it was pitiful?

I was intrigued by this film's impressive cast, noting Bradley Cooper (Oscar Nominee American Sniper, Silver Linings Playbook) as a particularly layered and emotive artist in his later work. Not only did it have an impressive cast, but it was free on Netflix as well. Free + Bradley Cooper = worth a try. Between the grind-house style violence and the irreconcilable plot, I was left in disappointment with this piece. The exposition is handled well, with Cooper, Roger Bart (The Producers, American Gangster) and Leslie Bibb (Iron Man, Talladega Nights) building a cute albeit superficial triangle of romantic and friendly relationships. What showed initial promise quickly dove into a tailspin with what seemed to be an abridged plot line, making jumps and leaps that were as sporadic as they were unfulfilling. This film is not worth your time. If you're craving grind-house, you can find it elsewhere. If your craving character development and engaging story fulfillment, you certainly won't find it here.

I was surprised that this film was not well-known, upon seeing Bradley Cooper, Brooke Shields, and the actor playing the butcher, etc. It is way better than many horror films of late, even though I had never heard of it until Netflix featured the film. Apparently it was a limited-release deal. The Good= Truly suspenseful, confusing(but in an intelligent way), bloody, dark, and very creepy. This film has good actors, a decent script, and it really envelopes the viewer into its own gritty world of the city nightlife, if a little surreal and non-realistic at times. I also love the idea of ancient aliens or monsters or gods controlling sacrifices from below. I knew from the moment I saw that ring on the Butcher's finger and the accomplice driving the train, that this must be some Illuminati-type setup, or that multiple officials had to be in on it, or that this was a fake train fooling people into boarding it-- that guessing and suspense made it intriguing. The first half of the film is really better than the 2nd half, although the 2nd picks up with the levels of gore, violence, and revelations.The Bad= Shows the killer too soon, doesn't explain certain things like the Butcher's skin/sickness, odd pacing, silly gore effects.The Ugly= The biggest sins of this film are revealing the monster's face and home too early, under-using Brooke Shields(who is super hot still in this film and could have explored a relationship with Cooper, and added a dimension to the dynamics of his fiancé relationship), and the worst is that they WASTED such a great opportunity to explain who the ancient killer race was, running the subway trains, and how they had the police and everyone else involved. I filled in the blanks for myself, but I thought that storyline could have been really creepy and bizarre, on some Prometheus or Alien-level stuff, that would have really capped off this film nicely. A bit too open-ended on certain aspects, and as the ending draws near, I predicted everything easily. Still, overall, this is a nice, gritty, gory horror film that many can enjoy, with great actors and a lot of potential, that could have been a true classic.

I've always been fascinated and disturbed by the underground subway train systems. It's a subterranean world that holds many mysteries, dark secrets, and legends. Clive Barker's short story, The Midnight Meat Train (from his Books of Blood collection) is a brutal and unflinching look into such a world.What I loved about the original story was the ending and how Barker went from telling a pretty straight forward slasher tale (ala Jack the Ripper) to something that was otherworldly (ala H.P. Lovecraft). It was such a cool twist that you didn't see coming.Read the rest of this review at http://www.clivebarkercast.com/2015/10/07/retro-review-the- midnight-meat-train/.