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 were psyched when Clive Barker announced that his production company was mounting a big-screen version of the author's Midnight Meat Train story -- and then we were bummed when director Patrick Tatopoulos had to leave the project for undisclosed reasons. But then we were psyched again when hardcore filmmaker Ryuhei Kitamura was signed as the new director -- and now we have a leading man!

Set to star in Midnight Train is "familiar face" actor Bradley Cooper, a guy probably best known for his TV work (Alias, Kitchen Confidential, Jack & Bobby), but he also played the hilariously nasty bully in Wedding Crashers. He also appeared in My Little Eye and Wet Hot American Summer, a pair of underrated flicks if ever there were one. (Er, two.) And out of respect for the young actor, we'll neglect to mention that he was also in Failure to Launch, because that flick stunk on ice. On the other hand Cooper hails from Philadelphia, which means he's gotta be cool.

Midnight Train is set to begin shooting very soon, and if you'd like a brief plot synopsis, I can't really help you out. The short story is pretty brief and exceedingly simple ... but it's one I think you should read for yourself. And the rest of the book is pretty damn good too. (And yes, they removed the "meat" from the movie title. Somehow I doubt they'll excise it from the actual story.)

The only reason I'm reporting on news this relatively small is because, well, The Midnight Meat Train is one of my very favorite Clive Barker stories -- and I've been salivating over the prospect of a movie version since it was announced earlier this year. So here's the latest:

A little while back we learned that Patrick Tatopoulous was all set to make his directorial debut on Midnight Train, but after he left the project, the pre-production just sort of stalled for a little while. But now, according to Bloody-Disgusting.com, the producers have found a new helmsman, and his name is ... Ryuhei Kitamura. Yes, the action expert who directed Versus, Alive, Azumi and Sky High.

Apparently the BD.com boys heard this info while attending the AFM festivities, so let's see if we get any corroborations any time soon. Fingers crossed, because this story and that director would make for one fascinating mix. A blood-soaked one, too.

For those who might be less than fluent in author Clive Barker's cinematic output, I can tell you that he directed Hellraiser, Nightbreed and Lord of Illusions. He also produced the very fine Candyman and has his name plastered on a whole slew of Hellraiser sequels. His most recent project was the direct-to-video release The Plague, which was half-solid and half-tiresome.