Screenhead

I have to admit…I’ve never liked Clive Barker movies much. Historically, I’ve found them incomprehensible, gore-soaked pieces of garbage that didn’t deserve to exist.  From my earliest horror days, I counted the Hellraiser series as a test of endurance—how much bloodstained misery could I take before jamming my finger on the eject button in frustration and getting out of it entirely?  Turns out, I could take a lot.

But then…then I got my hands on a copy of Midnight Meat Train—you know, that lesser-known, even lesser-seen movie that most horror fans are still venting their collective spleen over?  And I began to wonder, was this it?  Was this the exception that proved the rule?  Was this, heaven help me, a GOOD Clive Barker movie?

More on that directly, but first, the plot: It’s basically about a photographer chasing what he believes to be a butcher who happens to be, in his off hours, an immortal serial killer who’s been hard at work for the last hundred years or more.  No one’s ever found that out, of course, because this immortal serial killer butcher is functioning as a delivery service for a race of humanoid creatures that just love the taste of people.  The immortal serial killer butcher, who goes by the name of Mahogany, renders his victims into usable cuts which are offloaded on a regular basis, and all on a subway car.

Interestingly—and actually, par for the course for Barker work—no authority figures believe this, and a surprisingly large percentage of them are in on it.  Can you imagine the kind of collusion involved in having a hundred years’ worth of murders on a subway car, the meat vanishing into the gullets of Torgo and the rest of the CHUDs, and absolutely NO ONE getting arrested, or even questioned?

See, yeah—again, it makes NO sense at all.  How, exactly, does suck turn into awesome?

Two words: Ryuhei Kitamura.

This is the guy who produced Battlefield Baseball.  He directed Godzilla: Final Wars.  His pedigree is absolutely astonishing.  His work is jaw dropping.  If anyone, ANYONE, could turn a sow’s ear like a Clive Barker craptacular and turn it into a silk purse like Midnight Meat Train turned out to be…it’s Ryuhei Kitamura.

I’ve never seen a Clive Barker script executed THIS well.  It’s as far beyond anything Barker’s ever done before as anything Stephen King’s ever done.  It truly is a GOOD Clive Barker movie, and I’m still amazed that I can say that.  The execution is just dazzling—over the top, granted, a hundred times granted—but still dazzling.

Let me put it to you this way: I have NEVER seen anyone hit someone so hard with a hammer that it ejects an eye from the socket.  That I know of, anyway—I’ve seen a lot of movies but I absolutely don’t recall seeing anything like that.  I also don’t recall the last time I’ve seen a fight scene with quite so much purely lethal energy.  Or quite so much fake blood, for that matter.  And I really can’t remember the last time I saw so many camera tricks and shots that made my eyes pop.

Say what you will about Midnight Meat Train—and there’s a LOT you could say—it is easily unlike any other Clive Barker movie ever made.  And at the same time, it’s EXACTLY like a Clive Barker movie, right down to the fatalistic and depressing final sequence.  But it is a ride you will not soon forget, nor will you want to.  And in that, it may well be the first GOOD Clive Barker movie.

French director Pascal Laugier has revealed that his upcoming Hellraiser film won’t be a remake but a reboot of the franchise.

The film will reportedly mix elements from both the first film and the “The Hellbound Heart” novella from which the original was adapted. Both the characters of Frank and Julia will be present. The first draft of the script – written in French – has been finished and is being translated to English.

Laugier after finishing the reboot will start work on writing the first draft of the adaptation of China Mieville’s short story “Details” for Paramount Vantage.

In conjunction with the DVD and Blu-ray release of the unrated director’s cut of The Midnight Meat Train, this is now in the stores.

Screenhead has a giveaway opportunity for a DVD signed by legendary horror master Clive Barker and the theatrical poster (not signed) on behalf of FEARnet — the film is based on a popular short story from his classic “Books of Blood” collection.

Please post your name only once and Screenhead will pick the winner Friday, March 13, 2009.

To find out more about The Midnight Meat Train and an exclusive FEARnet $5,000 sweepstakes click here.

French director Pascal Laugier is in final negotiations to write and direct Dimension’s remake of the classic Hellraiser film.

The 1987 original was directed by Clive Barker who wrote the story himself, telling the tale of an unfaithful wife who attempts to assist her lover’s escape from “hell”. It introduced the Cenobite demons who have since then become iconic horror characters.

Laugier claims that he will be very faithful to Barker’s material. The project is due to go ahead with production soon.

This year is going pretty well for British author Clive Barker, as many of his stories are being adapted into films, with the latest being The Madonna, a short story from “Books of Blood”.

Dread producer Jorge Saralegui revealed in an interview that they will shoot Madonna before Pig Blood Blues next year. "We were looking for something to do between Dread and Pig Blood Blues,” he said. “Our other projects that we have in development were not quite ready."

"The Madonna, among the stories that are left, is clearly a movie," he adds. "It’s evenly paced, it feels like a movie and it’s easy to flesh out. What appealed to me about this is the sexuality. That’s my favorite part of horror, probably – when you start screwing with sexual notions. I felt I had a really feel for the story and I knew I couldn’t pull any punches. I pull no punches."

The story centered on a creature that lives in an abandoned bath house where men are slowly turned into women by the creature. It focuses on a gangster “who’s all guy” and starts to turn into a woman.

Interesting concept, let’s see how it turns out.

Clive Barker’s Books of Blood is getting quite a few film treatments, with the first one already out – The Midnight Meat Train. The second is the titular short story itself – Books of Blood – which is due out sometime next year. The third was announced a while earlier – Dread. Now, it appears that the big-screen adaptation of Dread has begun filming and will hopefully be out next year.

It is being directed by Anthony Diblasi, who also penned the screenplay, and stars Jackson Rathbone, fresh off his role in Twilight, along with Shaun Evans, Hanne Steen and Laura Donnelly.

The short story focused on three college students who begin to study people’s fears, and as it progressed, one of them began to seek salvation from his obsession by exploiting the terrors of his fellow students.

Barker himself is serving as producer on the film. It will be shot for five weeks on location in London.

STYD reports that Jackson Rathbone (Twilight) has been cast in Clive Barker’s upcoming film Dread.

In development at Matador and Essential Entertainment, the film will be adapted from Barker’s short story which tells the story of a student of philosophy who is obsessed with people’s dreads and fears. He is also engaged with his own nightmare of an axe murdering clown.

To understand more of others’ fears, he concocts a series of experiments to observe how other people react to the things that horrify them the most. While he begins to understand the fear of others, his own fear lies just beyond his control.

The film will begin shooting this October in UK.

One of my favorite authors Clive Barker recently spoke to MTV, revealing that he is up for remakes of his movies, including Hellraiser and Candyman, noting that as long as there is a good story to be told, the characters can be revisited many times.

He goes on to say that the last few Hellraiser movies went and used the character to make money with no story, and that is the reason they didn’t work. Barker is reportedly excited for the upcoming remake.

The writer also talked about the PG-13 rating that has found its way into horror movies lately.

"It’s one of the most disgusting developments in the last few years; the whole notion of a PG-13 horror movie to me is a contradiction in terms," he said. "It’s like having a XXX Disney picture. It doesn’t work."

Proving that the suits always make bad decisions, Shock reports that Midnight Meat Train is getting a limited theatrical release… in fact, a very limited one. It will be available in bargain theaters across the country. This means that you can catch this well-received film at venues where ticket prices are only one to two dollars.

Ryuhei Kitamura’s adaptation of the classic Clive Barker short story has met with much antagonism from the suits at Lionsgate, who offered a limited release to fulfill its deal with production company Lakeshore. Following petitions, including one with support from the author himself, the suits went for a meeting with Barket which “did not go well.”

Catch the movie if you can. Read the story – it’s awesome. If you can’t watch the movie, then wait for the DVD release. There’s nothing much we can do at this point.

Best-selling horror novelist Clive Barker has a lot on his plate right now, especially Books of Blood, a short story collection he wrote a while back. While two films are already in post-production from the anthology – Midnight Meat Train and the titular story – a third is currently in script stage. IGN reports that their DVD columnist Christopher Monfette has been tasked with adapting Down, Satan! the four page story into a full feature-length film.

”For the past several months, I’ve been in the unique and incredibly humbling position of working alongside Clive on this adaptation," said Monfette. "He’s proven such a supportive and open collaborator that it’s been both a challenge and an honor to play around in this decidedly horrific sandbox."

The story is about a wealthy businessman who constructs Hell on Earth to tempt God into showing himself. While the original story itself was only four pages, it was quite a compressed story that took some time to get into. Monfette seems to agree, too, stating that it has always “spoken” to him.

"Not simply as a piece of horrific fiction, or even on a deeper religious level – though it works masterfully on both – but as a story that speaks to our human desire to be loved and accepted and acknowledged,” he said, adding, “And how, in the absence of that, we’ll accept the opposite – condemnation or anger – any sign of honest emotion."

The movie is currently in script stage.