Bradley Cooper's Underrated Horror Movie With 71% RT Score Reflected On By Star 16 Years Later

Peter Jacobson reflects on his experiences filming The Midnight Meat Train alongside Bradley Cooper. Released in 2008, The Midnight Meat Train hails from director Ryûhei Kitamura, with Cooper starring as Leon, a photographer obsessed with capturing the darkness of humanity who soon finds himself stalking a serial killer who brutally murders his victims aboard late-night subway journeys. The film, which features Jacobson as Otto, hit theaters before Cooper became a household name with The Hangover in 2009.




During a recent interview with Screen Rant to promote Smile 2, Jacobson recalls his experiences filming The Midnight Meat Train with Cooper. Though the actor admits that the film hadn’t been on his mind for some time, he reveals that he had a very positive experience on set, even though he wasn’t quite as involved in the horror aspects of the movie as Cooper was. As for Cooper himself, Jacobson affirms that Cooper was “really great to work with.” Check out Jacobson’s full comment below:

It’s funny, I hadn’t spoken or thought about that movie for a while, and the other day, somebody said, “Have you done other horror films?” And I was like, “Well, I’ve stabbed a lot of zombies, and I’ve been in medically horrific situations, doing a medical show for five years.”

But no, I thought this was my first real horror film, and then I was like, “Wait, whoa, hold on, Midnight Meat Train!” Again, I was not in the gore and the terror of that film, but that was a blast. That was Bradley Cooper before he was Bradley Cooper, and he was also really great to work with. I had a fun time, and yeah, it’s been I don’t know how many years. It’s great to be back into it, I’d love to dive into the actual horror next time, if I get a chance to do it again.



What The Midnight Meat Train Meant For Bradley Cooper’s Career

How The Horror Film Fared Critically & Commercially

Prior to The Midnight Meat Train, Cooper’s most notable credits were probably Alias and Wedding Crashers (2005). Cooper wasn’t the star in either of these, however, and the same can be said for many of his early 2000s credits. The Midnight Meat Train marked one of Cooper’s first prominent leading roles, even though the movie ultimately wasn’t entirely successful.

bradley cooper horror movies poster

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Critics’ reviews for The Midnight Meat Train were somewhat mixed overall, but the 34 reviews featured on Rotten Tomatoes result in a lukewarm 71% score. The audience score is lower at only 50%, however. The Midnight Meat Train was made on an estimated budget of $15 million, but grossed only about $3.5 million. This is because the film’s theatrical release was extremely limited, with very few screens actually showing the film. The film today could be considered to have a quiet cult status, due in part to its extreme violence and wild, left-turn of an ending.

In addition to Cooper and Jacobson,
The Midnight Meat Train
also stars Vinnie Jones, Leslie Bibb, Brooke Shields, Roger Bart, Tony Curran, and Ted Raimi.

Our Take On The Midnight Meat Train

The 2008 Horror Film Remains A Fun & Unpredictable Ride

Bradley Cooper hiding behind a subway seat in The Midnight Meat Train


Though certainly not Cooper’s best or most notable film, The Midnight Meat Train now serves as an interesting document due to how it captures the actor’s charisma and leading man qualities before he really became a star. The film features some moments of surprising, gross-out violence and some fun scares, and the ending twist is certainly a wild swing. While a sequel to The Midnight Meat Train is unlikely to ever move forward, it’s clear that, for Jacobson, the movie was an exciting foray into the horror genre.