Leon (Bradley Cooper) is a photographer working in New York. He has struggled to have his work appreciated as critics say it lacks quality. His fellow photographers also question his commitment. One night Leon is on a subway train when he notices a tall, well dressed man with a leather satchel. The man whose name is Mahogany (Vinnie Jones), is sitting in a carriage with a female. Leon falls asleep, waking up later to find that he’s alone in his carriage. He peers into the next carriage and sees Mahogany kill a woman and butcher her.

Leon takes photos which he tries to hand to the police, however the police refuse to believe him. Even Leon’s girlfriend Maya (Leslie Bibb) refuses to believe him at first, only starting to believe him when she inspects the photos he has taken. Leon’s quest for information on Mahogany becomes an obsession, even tracking Mahogany to his place of work in a slaughterhouse.

Leon suspects that the police are covering for Mahogany, coming to the realisation that he will have to follow Mahogany on the Midnight Meat Train and put a stop to the slaughter himself. All ending with a killer twist. This is such a great horror. How it didn’t get a cinema release is beyond me. I had already read the short story by Clive Barker so I knew what was coming, even so the movie was better than I’d hoped.

Directed by Ryuhei Kitamura (Versus, Azumi), this is one of the best horrors I’ve seen. Packed full of great gore and some awesome scares. The cast were on top form, yes even Vinnie Jones. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Vinnie Jones actually wasn’t shit. Okay he doesn’t speak in the role as Mahogany, but his presence is menacing, he really carries himself well. Bradley Cooper is great as Leon, and you believe the changes his character takes during the course of the movie. Well worth checking out.

4/5

JM