The Midnight Meat Train (R, 2008)
common sense media says
Public-transit terror tale is beyond bloody. Pass.
parents & educators say
- 100% say violence is an issue
- 75% say language is an issue
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that horror-loving teens may want to see this movie based on a short story by Clive Barker, but there's enough here to test even the strongest stomachs. The movie is literally drenched in blood from the opening moments to the finale. It's also loaded with gruesome special-effects violence -- decapitations, eyes popped from sockets, hearts ripped from chests, and more. A sequence in which viewers witness a female character's death from her point of view is deliberately, deeply disturbing. The film's food-and-flesh subtext also involves multiple images of human and animal corpses hung in preparation for the butcher's art; there's also graphic and explicit surgical and medical imagery, some nudity, and strong language.
Positive role models:
The main character, a photographer, takes pictures of a group of youths
threatening a young woman before he acts to stop them. Another
character, researching a city's history of crime, contrasts her work
with the popular perception of the past as a kinder, gentler time by
noting "it turns out there never were any good old days." A security
guard checks a character's bag in the subway, noting that "Condition
Orange means I can search whatever I want."
threatening a young woman before he acts to stop them. Another
character, researching a city's history of crime, contrasts her work
with the popular perception of the past as a kinder, gentler time by
noting "it turns out there never were any good old days." A security
guard checks a character's bag in the subway, noting that "Condition
Orange means I can search whatever I want."
Violence:
Constant, brutal, and explicit violence, including endless buckets of blood. Brutal murders are portrayed in graphic fashion, with weapons including a butcher's hook, a hammer, knives, guns, and bare hands; other weapons include severed limbs, bones, and skulls. Multiple scenes of intense fighting, with characters punched, head-butted, slammed into windows, walls, the floor, and more. Deep and bloody wounds are created and shown. Throats are slit; multiple stabbings; a character's head is impaled with a long knife; a character's tongue is ripped out of their mouth and then eaten. A man is struck with a hammer so hard that his eye dislocates from its socket; a female character's demise is shown from her point of view, beginning with a hammer blow so fierce it severs her head -- viewers see her headless body from a distance through her eyes as she dies. Human beings are hung like meat, dangling upside down by hooks rammed through their flesh; their teeth, fingernails, and eyes are shown being removed post-mortem. A character removes (and then keeps) bizarre growths from his flesh by slashing at them with a knife. A heart ripped from a human chest is held aloft while still beating. Piles of dead bodies are seen; animal and human corpses are hung as raw material for butchers.
Sex:
Some kissing; discussions of sex in the context of a committed relationship; some nudity, including a nude female murder victim. It's suggested that a supporting character is promiscuously bisexual. Brief phallic imagery. A young woman, threatened by a group of thugs, is told "You gotta pay on your knees, baby." Characters have rough sex, with the clear implication that this isn't the norm for them.
Language:
Some, including "f--k," "motherf---er," "s--t," "ass," "bitch," and "s--t."
Consumerism:
Not applicable.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking:
Friends drink hard liquor in celebration; beer and wine are enjoyed at an art reception.
More on The Midnight Meat Train
Review It
Based on 4 parent & educator reviews:
- 100% say violence is an issue
- 75% say language is an issue
- 50% say sexual content is an issue
Most useful reviews by all members
zasderfght
teen, 14 years old
teen, 14 years old
Midnight meat train is a fun, little gory flick
Sex/Nudity: A couple is seen having an affair for about a minute. (They are clothed). A woman is about to get raped by three men and one of the guys says "You gotta pay on your knees baby". Then they are stopped when a guy points out they are being recorded on a camera. A woman is partially naked and covering the top portion of her body with her hands. A couple is seen kissing in some scenes.
Violence/Scariness: Lots of over-the-top gruesome violence. A guy rides a train and he slips and falls on blood. He enters another door of the train and we hear the guy screaming. We don't see this action, but we hear crunching noises. In the next scene a guy is hit with a hammer so hard both his eyeballs pop out on-screen. You can see the gashes of blood. The subway butcher is going for the girl now. The girl slips on the man's eyeball and crawls on the bus with blood on her body. A man tries to stop him, but the subway butcher smashes his face in with his hammer (lots of blood). Then the subway butcher decapitates the girl's head with a hammer and we see her head afterward. We see a black man entering the train. Both the subway butcher and man are fighting. The subway butcher hacks him to death and we see the blood. Another man enters the train and all we hear is screaming. Afterwards we can see the man dead on the floor. The subway butcher is shown taking his eyeballs out, toenails out, and his teeth out. A creature rips a human heart out of a lady's body. We see the heart beating. A creature rips out a man's tongue and he is later seen eating his tongue and we see lots of blood in this scene. More gruesome kills should be noted.
Profanity: Around 12 f words and it's derivatives. Some anatomical terms, scatological terms, some uses of the word "b****". Name-calling and mild obscenities are heard.
Substance use: Characters are seen drinking at a place. One character appears to be drunk from alcohol.
Consumerism: A lady is seen listening to her iPod.
Message: Bad. A subway butcher that hacks, bludgeons, and decapitates people.
Age recommendation: 16+. There are lots of gruesome violence and over-the-top gore in the kills. Some scenes push the R rating. Brief sexual content. A moderate amount of profanity.
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@@@
parent
parent
Awful "horror" movie.
This film is no scary whatsoever, and is probably one of the worst in the genre that I have ever seen. People need to know that "splatter" films are never scary. They are not anything to do with the horror genre. They are just there for no reason. Why are they here? They're just so bad that it's impossible to like them. "The Midnight Meat Train" like most other blood-drenched slasher-splatters, is devoid of a plot, scarieness, and suspense. There is no atmosphere in this film. It is devoid of all proper content, with only the foundations of a plot. To sum up the plot, all you need to say is "People are brutally bashed to death on trains by a man who carries a silver hammer" That's it . This movie is just so tiresome and useless that it should never have been given even a limited release. Straight to DVD is the way to go for "The Midnight Meat Train." That is a pretty nice thing to say. What I really think is that this movie should never even been made. It's just gratuitous bull***t, and if you liked it, you must have no taste in cinema. Some parts of this film are even funny, like when the woman silpped on a piece of meat, and when blood hits people in the face when they don't expect it. I have never seen a movie as empty as this pathetic excuse for a film, and if you really like scary films, don't watch this.
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callofduty5
adult
adult
As the title says
It's an R-rated film it's very gory and gruesome so its definetly not for kids at any age expect people over the age of 16 it contains a catalogue of blood and gore so disturbing that you might not want to watch it. I found it good and story works but don't let your kids watch it until you have seen it
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BabySwaggles
teen, 14 years old
teen, 14 years old
Good For A Mature Audience
The blood was fake looking and barely input any fear into me, the storyline was okay I guess. Though for people who get bored quickly and non-squeamish people, I think you'll turn this movie off quick. This movie should be for people who have strong stomachs and who aren't going to go out and actually do these things.
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bradley4846
teen, 17 years old
teen, 17 years old
i remember there is a ton of blood, but the blood is extremly fake, in most scenes, But still no squmish people. I cant describe how bloody it gets. There is apparently a sex scene, thats hard to notice... cause it doesnt look like one. there is also partial topless nudity, and full nudity (i guess) in the final battle. There are many f-words and other smaller words. But it was a pretty good movie
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IronZombie75
teen, 16 years old
teen, 16 years old
Very good horror movie..... Not for anyone under 15 whose squeamish.
Loved it. Very great horror flick. Although, i have to admit, this is probably one of the goriest movies i have ever scene in my life, period. Extreme Blood and gore splattering everywhere in slow motion, as well as tons of other extremely violent scenes. Also has some brief nudity (along with VERY grisly images), a non-graphic sex scene, some language, and bad role models. Guy finds out that killer was killing people on the train to feed these freak monster things (yeah i know that sounds unproffesional :). Altogether, though, this is a very good horror movie with a great story, great acting, and buckets of blood and gore.
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kmichael97
parent of 19 year old
parent of 19 year old
BARF!!!!
this movie is soooooooo sick!
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cerealkiller189
teen, 13 years old
teen, 13 years old
Extremely cheesy,leave out younger kids though.
I watched this on Blu ray extreme edition so it was way,way,way,way,way,way,way,way,way,way gorier but I'm sure the original wasn't difference too.although Cgi sucks,this will scare the crap out of kids under 14.the first scene of violence starts with someone slipping on blood,then he hears screams in the next door.as always,sensible people know this almost always ends up in something bad happening.true enough,the guy gets hit in the back of the head with a hammer,so hard his eyes pop out they fly at you in 3D .the guy kills the girl now.just as he tries to do so,some guy gets in his way,wow,you thought this was a good idea,huh?bashed his face into a pulp before decapitating girl,and all this is accompanied with over the top amounts of blood.as well,a guy and a butcher fight with meat hooks and knives near ending in an epic mayhem of blood and gore splattering .then a guy gets his tongue ripped out and is forced to take the place of the butcher since he killed him.the train conductor ,obviously a psychopath kills his girlfriend and leon(the guy) is forced to watch as he cuts her chest open and removes her heart.that alone should give you a taste of the gore.and there's plenty more.'nuff said.
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