I'm hungry for horror. The Strangers was OK, but The Happening was a major disappointment and nothing else is scheduled until August 1. That's when Ryuhei Kitamura's Midnight Meat Train, starring Bradley Cooper, Vinnie Jones and Leslie Bibb, is now set to open, delayed from May 16. But will you get to see it?

Shock Till You Drop reported last week that Lionsgate planned only a limited, 100-screen release in major cities, followed by a quick release on DVD, thus denying many horror fans the opportunity to see the film on the big screen. Someone suggested a viral campaign to get a wider release, which has now been endorsed by the man who wrote the story on which the movie is based: Clive Barker.

As quoted at The Official Clive Barker Resource, he says: "I am very excited about this possibility and I would passionately encourage everybody who cares about my work to use this chance to change the minds of the folks at Lionsgate. ... I really think, this late in the day, that grassroots support for our movie could significantly improve our chances of reaching a much bigger audience theatrically. The picture is worth the effort, I believe."

With three wide releases already scheduled on August 1 (The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, The Rocker, Swing Vote), it's a tough sell, but I'd love to see it happen. A thread at the IMDb boards has contact information.

[ Via Bloody Good Horror ]

Adult-skewing horror thriller Midnight Meat Train has been bumped from its planned May 16 release date, according to Shock Til You Drop. Citing distributor Lionsgate as their source, Shock says no new release date has been offered. As of this writing, the official Lionsgate site does not even mention the film, and production company Lakeshore Entertainment still shows May 16 as the release date.

Midnight Meat Train promised to be one of the relatively few dark films in the summer marketplace, offering a menacing alternative to light-hearted blockbuster fare. The film is adapted from a Clive Barker tale that our own Scott Weinberg described as "one seriously nasty story." If you've seen the pulse-pounding trailer (which you can check out at Moviefone), you know that Bradley Cooper plays a photographer who catches a mysterious man (Vinnie Jones) doing hideous things to people on subway trains and then hiding the evidence in meat lockers.

We can't report on the production of every low-budget horror flick out there (mostly because it would make for some really boring stories), but Variety just tossed out a news blip on something called The Bleeding -- and this flick has too juicy a cast to ignore. According to Variety, the flick seems to be a standard enough tale of "an ex-Army Ranger searching for the killer of his parents who discovers a family of vampires in a former chemical weapons factory-turned-nightclub," which tells me it's probably based on a true story.

The first thing that struck me a little funny was the name of the production company: Indifferent Entertainment. Well, geeee. If you guys are so damn indifferent about your entertainment, why should any of US give a wet slap? Why not Apathetic Productions or Neutral Films?

That's just a little warm-up humor to get you prepared for this ensemble. Ready? Gathered together for a movie called The Bleeding will be: Vinnie Jones, Michael Madsen, DMX, Armand Assante, William McNamara, Michael Matthias, Rachelle Leah, Kat Von D, and Pittsburgh Slim. Heck, I don't even know all these people and it still sounds like The Bleeding will have one helluva wrap party.

The writer is first-timer Lance Lane. The director is veteran stuntman Charles Picerni. One of the producers is Frank Capra III. And it's called The Bleeding. Woo! Production begins in North Carolina next month.

Are you ready for Leonardo DiCaprio doing an Irish accent? He probably should have played Irish in Titanic, but now he'll really have to master the accent for a historical epic called Freedom Within the Heart. Set 1,000 years ago, the film is about Brian Boru, the High King of Ireland who united the country in battle against a Viking threat. Since Boru was at least 60 when he became King, DiCaprio seems a bit young to play the lead, but according to a story from February, the actor was indeed being sought for that very role. At the time, former soccer pro Vinnie Jones was also reportedly cast as Boru's nemesis, Ivor of Limerick. Now, confirming DiCaprio's involvement is a press release from Limerick.com, which states the two actors will be joining Irish filmmaker Mark Mahon in the village of Tuamgraney, in County Clare, provided the Irish Film Board accepts a bid for the production to shoot there. There are hopes that the movie will bring tourism to the area in the same way movies like Braveheart and Rob Roy have brought people to Scottish locales.

Despite earning an Oscar nomination for Blood Diamond, a lot of people thought he did a terrible job with the South African accent, so we'll have to see how he does with the Irish. He could be criticized enough for playing such a legendary figure and not actually being Irish, so if he gets the accent wrong, he'll only make things worse. However, plenty of similar epics have been made without great accuracy, and fans of medieval action probably won't mind.

[via Dark Horizons]

The first Clive Barker film I ever saw was Nightbreed. Scratch that. It was the first one I should have seen. I rented it as soon as it came out, because I had a thing for Craig Sheffer. I was young, and I sat in the dark, home alone, and only got through the first few minutes before I was sufficiently creeped out and sure that someone was going to break into my house and kill me. I went on with life, seeing Sheffer's Fire with Fire co-star in one of the next Barker films, Candyman, and forgot about the little flick until I found it cheap and previously-viewed. I'm now a little embarrassed with how freaked the film made me, but I like to think that it was childhood innocence.

While most of Barker's adaptations since then have dealt with Hellraiser, we're on our way towards getting something new -- The Midnight Meat Train -- as Scott Weinberg has reported. The last we heard, Bradley Cooper (Wedding Crashers) had signed on. Now Variety has added a few more names to the cast -- Vinnie Jones (Snatch), Leslie Bibb (Popular) and believe it or not, Brooke Shields. The story, which centers on a serial killer who finds his victims in the subway, will star place Jones as the creepy killer, Cooper as a stupid and struggling photographer who must think he's Spider-Man, as he decides to improve his fortune by finding and taking pictures of the murderer, Bibb as Cooper's girlfriend and the Queen of Postpartum Shields will play an art gallery owner who becomes friends with the photographer. Shooting will begin next week, and will soon see if Shield's next theme will be Scream Queen.

After gracing the world with such cinematic gems as See No Evil ($15 million domestic haul, 8% Tomatometer) and The Marine ($19 million, 22% TM), WWE Films doesn't seem to be slowing down one bit. And who knows? Perhaps their third production, The Condemned, will keep the trend going. Do I smell a $22 million payout and a 24% approval rating!?

Sticking with the action stuff for a second time, WWE presents Steve Austin and Vinnie Jones in The Condemned, and after watching this brand-new trailer, I'm wondering how many times we can be offered this concept: Ten brutal convicts are dropped on a distant island and forced to kill one another while a bunch of rich jerks enjoy the carnage via live video feeds. Actor-turned-director Scott Wiper is at the helm for The Condemned, working from a screenplay by Rob Hedden -- yes, the same Rob Hedden who directed Friday the 13th Part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan.

I pretty much loathed See No Evil, but found The Marine to be a mindlessly watchable action-fest, so maybe this new flick will be more of the same. I'm certainly not expecting a good movie, but if it's at least a fun-bad movie, that's good enough for me. (We are talking about "World Wrestling Films" releases, right?) Guess we'll find out on April 27. Plus c'mon: The poster tagline is "10 people will fight. 9 will die. You get to watch." How hilarious is that?

Ah, Trainwreck Reid. Um, I mean Tara Reid. The girl had a decent start. Her portrayal of hardcore rocker Cybil was one of the better performances in the terrible Blake Nelson adaptation, Girl. And, while she didn't mean to, her stiff rendition of an orgasm in American Pie provided laughs, even if not the type that was intended. However, no matter what she does these days, she's seen as the crazy party girl who not only got one hell of a botched boob job, but also can't keep her breasts in her dress.

Now with the help of Hi Happy Films, her strangely-named production company, Reid is not only executive producing but also starring in the upcoming romantic comedy, Honestly. The script comes from the man responsible for Wesley Snipes' Unstoppable flop of an action film -- Tom Vaughn. So far, not so good ... but it gets better! The movie is about a hard-boiled detective, Monica Hennessey (Reid), who seduces husbands to test their fidelity. Of course, in the vein of films like Failure to Launch, the detective falls for her prey, shocked by his niceness. Her brother, Tommy Reid, is set to helm the feature, and she'll be joined by co-stars Vinnie Jones, Juggernaut from X3, and former football man Eddie George.

Is there any chance this can be even remotely worthwhile?

A quick one-two punch regarding upcoming sequels to two Marvel titles...

• Speculation continues to run rampant regarding the durability of the X-Men franchise.  There's no doubt that if the films continue to be successful, the Suits will continue to be interested- but will the actors? Without the return of key characters, any sequel hopes could be dashed. The lastest news on this front comes from Vinnie Jones, the man behind Juggernaught, who discussed his contract on an Irish television program recently.  According to Vinnie, he has signed up for episodes 4, 5, and 6...which at least leaves open the obvious possilities for more films. 
• Slightly less noteworthy to the general masses (but slightly more interesting to yours truly) is a comment left by a recent poster on ThomasJane.com's message board. According to the poster, he and a buddy were lucky enough to meet Tom himself in a hotel lobby recently. The poster says Tom was incredibly nice, and informed him that shooting for The Punisher sequel was set to begin this summer.