All Aboard the Gore Train!

Long before he got just a little bit weary of churning out nothing but high-end hardcore horror tales, a young Clive (Hellraiser) Barker wrote a handful of volumes called The Books of Blood. (Here in the U.S. they're known as Books of Blood Vol. 1 - 3, The Inhuman Condition, In the Flesh, and Cabal  ... and they're all pretty darn awesome.) Anyway, one of the best stories in the very first book was called The Midnight Meat Train, and it was about a stupidly intrepid NYC photographer who travels deep into the bowels of the hellacious subway system to track down a vicious serial killer ... and discovers a whole lot of horrible gruesomeness for his trouble.

So get ready for Midnight Train, the movie version. I could have sworn I'd read that Barker would be involved as a producer, and I certainly do hope that's true. (Anyone out there remember Rawhead Rex?) If so, he'll be working from an adapted screenplay by first-timer Jeff Buhler, and he's also hired himself a first-time director: Patrick Tatopoulos, a veteran production designer / FX wizard whose work you might have enjoyed in Dark City, Pitch Black, Underworld, and Silent Hill ... all flicks that are dark, dangerous, and pretty damn slick.

Midnight Train goes into production this summer, and you'll never guess who'll be releasing the flick stateside. Yep, those wonderful horror freaks over at Lionsgate. Gotta love 'em.

(OK, I'll admit it: I kinda liked Rawhead Rex ... but most of those Hellraiser sequels are just awful.)