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Midnight Slaughter Train (Clive Barker's classic recut as a slasher)

ranger613

ranger613

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This is Ryuhei Kitamura and Clive Barker's excellent 'Midnight Meat Train' with Bradley Cooper and Vinnie Jones recut as a slasher. I took this on due to [MENTION=8853]JJE-187[/MENTION]'s request from the the Ideas post. It was an awesome experience, because approaching it from the outside I could focus on creating the most effective and interesting movie while keeping my personal biases out of it. I'm quite happy with the final product! Midnight Slaughter Train is now a straight up slasher/splatter/psychological thriller

Poster by JJE-187:
tumblr_nfv1uuBItY1tew1ifo1_1280.jpg

Cutlist
Spoiler:


General Cutlist with the goal of turning the film from an occult horror movie to a straight up slasher/splatter/psychological thriller:
-removed the conductor character from the film
-Mr Mahogany has no dialogue at all in this version
-removed all references to the 100 year old cult and butcher
-removed the whole police conspiracy
-removed the subway creatures
-created new alternate ending more in line with the tone of the movie


Detailed Cutlist:
-replaced opening title cards to appear grittier and with gate weave
-resynced off-sync slashing noises during prologue murder sequence
-retitled film Midnight Slaughter Train, overlaid new 'bashing' and splatter sounds, added gate weave and grindhouse-like effect to main title
-Ted Raimi's death re-edited to make it more realistic (the slow motion eye-pop timing adjusted)
-Shortened sequence of Bradley Cooper stalking Mahogany (Vinnie Jones), trimmed for pacing
-Slight trim to Mahogany seeing the midnight meat train arrive (as this footage would be used in its entirety again later on)
-New ending to the Mahogany-Afro ninja fight as the conductor character is completely removed in this cut. Mahogany does not require assistance in this version, no "I'm disappointed in you" line.
- Removed the '1895' year from the newspaper Cooper is examining by blurring and cropping
- By using pans and rotation, recreated the overhead zoom-out shot of Cooper on the floor with the newspaper clippings, again to remove the visible '1895' year in the original
-Recut and reordered dialogue in scene when Cooper talks to his wife (Maya) to remove all references to "murders over a century ago" etc, so that it is now referring to abductions only several years prior
- Cut scene of Cooper reconciling with Maya in the diner and Mahogany stalking Cooper (for pacing)
- Cut scene of creature frightening bound Cooper. In this version, Cooper wakes up in the meat factory after Mahogany knocks him out in the train, implying that Mahogany himself had carved the occult symbol on Cooper's chest
-Cut Maya asking Jurgis to wait outside at Mahogany's apartment
-Cut Jurgis jump scare
-Cut Cooper in bathtub (rearranged to occur later)
-Cut Maya digging through Mahogany's bag to find century-old train schedules
-Cut Cooper at art gallery (for pacing)
-Cut two shots of conductor while Maya on train
-Cut the conductor meeting Cooper and Maya at the underground station
-Cut the creatures
-Cut Mahogany's line "Welcome"
-Cut the conductor's confrontation with Cooper
-Added Cooper's bathtub scene here, after the Mahogany fight
-Created alternate ending which fits the psychological horror/obsesssive tone of the original and utilizes the original build-up.
-added acknowledgement card after credits

Would be great to see what someone who had not seen the original think if he/she watches this before the original!
All in all, a very enjoyable experience, and thanks JJE for the idea. I hope you enjoy it.

Cheers,
Kris
 
Why is this posted under Ideas? Isn't it done already?
 
Yes it's completed and submitted. Sorry I wasn't sure where to post it as it is technically not in the works. But it's cool if it's moved to whichever is the appropriate thread, sorry for the confusion
 
I remember being a disappointed in the film.
Eagerly anticipated because it was directed by Ryûhei Kitamura (Versus, Azuma, Ariaami).
Didn't recognize his trend at the time, losing his mojo.
Even watched No One Lives -- sheesh -- bummer.
Definitely interested in your edit.
Will PM.
 
Vultural said:
I remember being a disappointed in the film.
Eagerly anticipated because it was directed by Ryûhei Kitamura (Versus, Azuma, Ariaami).
Didn't recognize his trend at the time, losing his mojo.
Even watched No One Lives -- sheesh -- bummer.
Definitely interested in your edit.
Will PM.
Click to expand...

Hi Vultural! Yes, this movie had some really good points-- avoids cliches, heavy gore, solid direction, Bradley Cooper and Vinnie Jones were on the top of their game, but the ending veered off the rails, so to speak. I hope I rectified that somewhat and reeled it in, although this recut had to give it more of a psychological horror vibe and drop the occult. Like the original, there will still be questions, but unlike the original, I hope the questions will haunt. Enjoy my friend!
 
Thank you.
I'm messing with it right now, and hope to watch directly.
Need to hurry with this before everyone around me starts queuing holiday films in the player.
Why doesn't someone make Godzilla Vs Santa Claus?
If only.
 
Ranger, I just watched.
Your decision to trim all occult is spot on.
It removes obvious motivations, demonic references, and renders the butcher more mysterious, more sinister.
Rather than explaining the butcher, he becomes a random, violent force.
That which one cannot understand is more terrifying.

Opening fonts were great. Looked like WU to me. And the colour splash during the title - neat trick!

The closing music. I know we've talked about this, but I think what you currently have is fine.
That score drags the mood through the credits.
While I like the idea of the tune, it lightens the tone altogether.
Hearing it in my head, it sounds like blatant product placement for the band.

Other than that, spectacular job.
 
Vultural said:
Ranger, I just watched.
Your decision to trim all occult is spot on.
It removes obvious motivations, demonic references, and renders the butcher more mysterious, more sinister.
Rather than explaining the butcher, he becomes a random, violent force.
That which one cannot understand is more terrifying.

Opening fonts were great. Looked like WU to me. And the colour splash during the title - neat trick!

The closing music. I know we've talked about this, but I think what you currently have is fine.
That score drags the mood through the credits.
While I like the idea of the tune, it lightens the tone altogether.
Hearing it in my head, it sounds like blatant product placement for the band.

Other than that, spectacular job.
Click to expand...
Thanks very much [MENTION=17386]Vultural[/MENTION]!
The concept [MENTION=8853]JJE-187[/MENTION] proposed really appealed to me, but I wanted a way to conclude the story effectively, and a simple slice and dice ( [emoji6] ) would not have worked as well I feel. At least now (I hope) there's ambiguity and dread the viewer feels at the end , without the despair of the original. You're definitely right in that mahogany now joins Jason, Michael Myers and co in the unstoppable monster category rather than a possessed henchman.

The credits, I wanted to give a grindhouse/jittery feel like you were on a speeding train and used a plugin called Magic Bullet Misfire, applying heavy gate weaving. The red splats? Cos its ryuhei kitamura! [emoji6]

Much appreciation my friend. Your opinion is much valued as always.
Cheers
 
Just asked the editor if I could see it but he told me to remind you guys that he will be making a few last minute changes before uploading it to Mega. :)
 
Derek Derek said:
Just asked the editor if I could see it but he told me to remind you guys that he will be making a few last minute changes before uploading it to Mega. :)
Click to expand...
Lol I meant to remind me haha because i get many pm's it's hard to keep track. I'm on here quite a bit, easier to just read through the thread to see who wanted the edit. Thanks much for the dvd art offer, and I'm always happy to have guest cover editors! Jje has made 2 covers for this edit so far.. here they are

tumblr_nfxqrercZd1tew1ifo2_1280.jpg


tumblr_nfxqrercZd1tew1ifo1_1280.jpg


If you'd like to take a crack at another, I'm more than happy to! Thanks very much my friend, will definitely PM you links
 
Hi all, Meat Train is now up on IFDB. Links not up on info yet, please PM me in the meantime. Hope you leave a review to let me know what you thought.
http://www.fanedit.org/ifdb/compone...listings/fanfix/1106-midnight-slaughter-train
[MENTION=17386]Vultural[/MENTION], took your advice man, kept the Meat Puppets song out, tho very reluctantly! I agree the dark tone of the original theme carried on better into the credits. In any case, here's Backwater for anyone interested.

Definitely will use it in something in the future
 
Meat Puppets . . . too high to die . . . dude . . . . . . . . . . . .
 
Hey dude, I made a cover art for you but it didn't look so well so I scrapped it. Sorry for keeping you waiting.

I'm gonna watch this soon!
 
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