Ryuhei Kitamura will direct Clive Barker’s ‘The Midnight Meat Train’

Reader Comments

1. Caterpillar 11/05/2006 @ 9:09am

   Kitamura is really only good at one thing, namely directing kinetic action scenes where two or a couple guys run at each other with swords while techno blasts on the soundtrack. Somehow I doubt this guy can deliver an atmospheric and SCARY horror film.

2. Ramen89 11/05/2006 @ 9:39am

   Im not ashamed to admit Im a big Kitamura fan, but does this mean it will be his first english language movie? Also will this affect Bandage in anyway, seeing as we havent heard anything about it in a long while?

3. Elliot G. of Tokyomonsters 11/05/2006 @ 1:25pm

   It’ll be his first english language film, though he handled (I use that term loosely. Eheh) english speaking actors in Final Wars.

   He speaks fluent english, so I don’t see that as being a problem.

   At the very least, this will certainly be an interesting film.

4. DarkmanPoe 11/05/2006 @ 4:41pm

   Definitely an interesting choice of director. I loved VERSUS and AZUMI...and I say to anyone who thinks he can only direct action to check out ALIVE, which features ZERO action until the finale and is still a great-looking and intense film. Perhaps we’ll finally see a decent Barker adaptation afterall. ‘Sorry, but HELLRAISER was always overrated and has NOT aged well.

5. hellocruelworld 11/05/2006 @ 4:57pm

   I agree that Alive is a bit underrated, even if it is flawed. I think Alive demonstrated that Kitamura can handle a slower pace. I loved Azumi, thought it was good fun. Sky High was practically incompetent, however, so I’m still suspicious.

6. Kurt 11/05/2006 @ 6:23pm

   “I have always felt that his movies would be better if they were 30 minutes shorter.”

   Truer words were never spoken. Amen to that.

7. Caterpillar 11/05/2006 @ 6:24pm

   Darkman, I totally agree about HELLRAISER being overrated and having aged badly. To all the people who defend it as a masterpiece I say go and read Barker’s original novella and do a comparison. It’s a pretty awful adaptation, all things considered. Then add those troglodytic computer effects at the end and the fact that Kirsty uses the box as a friggin laser pistol and you may get the point. NIGHTBREED was equally flawed but I’ll withhold final judgement until that much talked about director’s cut surfaces. LORD OF ILLUSIONS was an almost incomprehensible mishmash of several Barker stories, actually. There’s chunks of THE GREAT AND SECRET SHOW and EVERVILLE in there as well as of the short stories SKINS OF THE FATHERS and LORD OF ILLUSIONS itself. It’s like a Clive Barker super-remix or something. The fact that Barker himself adapted these three three doesn’t automatically make them great adaptations. In fact I consider Bernard Rose’s CANDYMAN to be the best Clive Barker movie to date and he didn’t write or direct that one.

8. colinr0380 11/06/2006 @ 5:09am

   I agree with Caterpillar about that, plus Candyman was one of the Books of Blood! The way that film was adapted and Americanized to Chicago I think is one of the very few of its type to work very well, it kept and even strengthened the social comment from the original story.

   Midnight Meat Train is one of my favourite stories in the book, and having read the book and seen Kitamura’s Versus I’m not exactly convinced, but I’ll certainly be interested in watching it. I think it is also one of the few stories in the Books of Blood that are filmable either because the rest are either unfilmable or so epic in scale they would need a blockbuster budget (something which I think has prevented many James Herbert adaptations too!)

   Am I alone in thinking the Books of Blood (and the magnificent Hellbound Heart) are much better for being short? I found a lot of the later epic books very hard going - and when I got to The Thief of Always, another shorter ‘children’s’ book, I finally felt I was seeing great writing again! (I’ll always remember my school trip to France for reading The Thief of Always on the bus there and then James Herbert’s The Ghosts of Sleath (which had just come out) on the ferry back!)

   I’d also agree about Hellraiser vs The Hellbound Heart. I really like most of the film since the atmosphere and the house seem perfect and all the actors are great especially Claire Higgins and Ashley Laurence, but the ending feels tacked on to give an ‘action’ climax, whereas in the book the cenobites remain ‘dark angels’ and keep true to their pact to let Kirsty go after she returns Frank to them - I think that left them with more dignity and as incredibly frightening characters, and the turn into wisecracking scaremongers at the end almost ruined the earlier part of the film for me!

9. DarkmanPoe 11/06/2006 @ 9:06am

   “In fact I consider Bernard Rose’s CANDYMAN to be the best Clive Barker movie to date.” Good call on that one. I completely agree. It should be interesting to see what comes of the recently-announced HELLRAISER remake, which Barker will write, but not direct. Hopefully, they’ll choose someone with a sure hand to helm this one. Personally, I’m still waiting for the definitive Barker adaptation, although CANDYMAN definitely came the closest (despite change in location and race of title character). I’ve always dreamed of seeing a film based on his short story “Human Remains.”

10. cupcake666 11/11/2006 @ 6:53pm

    All good points gentlemen, but what you are forgetting is that the script for MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN was adapted by one of the best new horror writers in the business. His name is Jeff Buhler and he’s also directing his feature debut called “INSANITARIUM” early next year. I asked Jeff about his take on the classic short story he insisted that his primary goal was to return Clive to his rightful place in the pantheon of horror geniuses.

    In that regard he hs remained extremely faithful to the original story, in its brutality and its underlying themes, while bringing the characters into modern day New York. I personally cannot wait to see how this turns out. With Kitamura’s knack for high octane visceral action, the scenes with Mahogany on the train could easily eclipse anything we’ve seen from the Barker universe to date! Keep your fingers crossed.

11. Miles Imhoff 12/23/2006 @ 5:44am

    I never read the book. But I think Ryuhei Kitamura will do a nice job.

12. Sten83083 01/17/2007 @ 1:41am

    I just don’t have much to say recently. Such is life. I’ve basically been doing nothing. Basically nothing seems worth bothering with. Oh well.
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