Back when a couple of friends of mine and I went to see Rambo in the theaters, we were surprised by a certain trailer for a movie called The Midnight Meat Train. The trailer was strange, creepy and quite engaging. However, when the title of The Midnight Meat Train hit the big screen, literally everyone in the audience burst into laughter. Even after Rambo ended, all we could talk about was The Midnight Meat Train and how it sounded like the title for a bad porno movie. The fact that this was the title for a horror movie that was coming out was pretty much hilarious. Based on the title alone, we swore to come together again when it was released and see it.
Well, as it turns out, Lionsgate released The Midnight Meat Train on August 1st in a limited release. How limited, you ask? It was only released in 100 locations, all of which were run down one dollar theaters. Not only did this occur but the theaters were no where near large cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, etc.
According to Cinematical, Clive Barker, the writer of The Midnight Meat Train and creator of Hellraiser is pissed about the whole snubbing and politics of the whole release:
When the limited release strategy became known, Clive Barker, who wrote the story upon which Ryuhei Kitamura's film is based, expressed his support for a fan-made viral campaign to get a wider release. Now that the limited release has come and gone, he told MTV News of his displeasure toward "small-minded" Lionsgate president Joe Drake. Barker believes that Drake shortchanged MMT to avoid competition with The Strangers, on which Drake had a producing credit. "You don't have to sh-- on somebody else's work to advance your own material," Barker said.
Barker feels that Kitamura made "a beautifully stylish, scary movie." He's convinced that "people will find it, and whether they find it in midnight shows or they find it on DVD, they'll find it, and in the end the Joe Drakes of the world will disappear."
Barker feels that Kitamura made "a beautifully stylish, scary movie." He's convinced that "people will find it, and whether they find it in midnight shows or they find it on DVD, they'll find it, and in the end the Joe Drakes of the world will disappear."
Well, that sucks because, from all that I've heard, it actually turned out to be a good horror film. Sure, when I first saw the trailer all I could think about was its ridiculous porno-like title and how much of a B-movie it could be. However, knowing now that it actually could be really good, I have to say that I'm a little disappointed. Lionsgate has been failing big time when it comes to movies lately. Right now, there's the whole thing about them firing director Lexi Alexander and making Punisher: War Zone Pg-13 instead of R (something that I could honestly care less about but none-the-less) and now this.
Epic fail, guys. You really should start focusing on all the good horror out there and stop banking everything on the Saw series... something that should have stopped three movies ago.
Mostly I'm just depressed that I won't be able to go to the movies with my friends and say "One for The Midnight Meat Train," with a silly grin on my face. That's the real travesty here.
Source: Cinematical
1 comments:
After reading all that I'm actually quite sad that I didn't go see it. I think one of those hundred theaters actually happened to be the 'artsy' limited release theater in Knoxville. I did get the opportunity to see In Bruges there, which I'll never regret.
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