Considering all of the horrid, embarrassing, and watered down kiddie-horror movies they release these days, a good ol’ gory, R-rated horror — even if it’s completely awful — is a comforting sight. Midnight Meat Train was one of those offerings; with the always-horrifying Vinnie Jones (Snatch, Gone in 60 Seconds) walking around butchering people on a subway, how could it be bad? Slated for a May release date, it was close enough where buzz was growing.

Apparently, not enough buzz grew. Horror-Movies.ca has been told by LionsGate that they will pass on a theatrical release and that they will send the film directly to DVD.

It’s rare to see a movie that looked like a decent theatrical offering just pass that by and go right to the disc, but not a bad idea either. Maybe most people — like myself — were planning to just wait to check it out and the studio realized this. I’m happy, because now I can see it sooner (I think?) and I hope that it’s a good move and they do well… if the movie actually ends up being good, of course. If it sucks, then all of this is pointless and people will remain scared of the direct-to-DVD option.

What does everyone think, should more movies with tiny theatrical hopes just do the DVD thing and hope to find success in the more accessible market? I do believe a lot of movies would be better off and should seriously consider this as an acceptable form of film distribution — not as a declaration of failure.

Midnight Meat Train also stars Bradley Cooper (Wedding Crashers), Leslie Bibb (Talladega Nights, Iron Man), and Brooke Shields (The Blue Lagoon, Suddenly Susan… wow, I never noticed how little known stuff she’s done!). It’s directed by Ryuhei Kitamura (Sky High) and written by Jeff Buhler; based on the short story by Clive Barker (Hellraiser, Candyman).