julian kennedy Nightbreed is an early nineties horror film by Clive Barker that has developed a decent cult following and has a newly restored director's cut that includes a half hour of previously cut footage and apparently changes the ending. It tells the story of a young man who dreams of a place called Midian where an extremely varied group of monsters hide from humanity that hunts them.The Good: David Cronenberg. Yes, this is a film written and directed by horror auteur Clive Barker but it is David Cronenberg that steals the show. David plays a soft-spoken serial killer wearing a Coraline mask simply slaughtering all that come before him while setting up our protagonist to take the fall. The creature designs are also, on the whole, very well done. It is a delight to see McDonald's moon mascot Mac Tonight in his big screen debut.The Bad: David Cronenberg's character really should have had his own movie. The story of the creatures also really needed their own story. Putting both together seems to cheat each story. The feeling one gets is as if halfway through Jaws Richard Dreyfuss' character started making mashed potato mountains on the Orca and left the boat to hook up with Terri Garr and some aliens. Another thing that does not quite click unfortunately is our leads. Craig Sheffer and Anne Bobby seem to lack a certain chemistry, More damning they clearly were chosen based on their resemblance to the leads of Dirty Dancing which graced screens three years earlier, Anne Bobby, in particular, seems to be channeling her inner (and outer), Jennifer Grey. Somebody really needed to put that baby in the corner. Lastly, the film's direction and tone seem all over the map, particularly in the third act. You have a sheriff and various yahoos who are seeming out of a cartoon, you have the monsters reenacting a particularly sad version of 1932's Freaks, you have David Cronenberg who clearly is in a better movie somewhere, and you have direction that never makes it clear who is where related to everyone else and how many of whom there even are. Overall Nightbreed is more entertaining than I made it sound above. It reminds me of all things the recent Monster Trucks in terms of theme and tone. If Monster Trucks had Michael Myers killing entire families in the first half.

MrWeenie Nightbreed is one example where advancements in special effects would now make Cabal, the book it is based on, easier to realize on screen and could finally do that story full justice. Also, probably for reasons of pacing, and to reach a wider audience, this movie censors and omits scenes from Cabal, that book it is based on. Not only has the movie been edited to sometimes omit the most intense scenes, but sometimes the story is just basically changed for reasons unclear. I wont knock Barker's screenplay or directing for this, but I will say that a lot could be done to remake this title and have it be really different than this version of the story. Maybe it could even develop into a series if we are lucky. There are so many aspects that could be changed that a remake could still end up feeling as definitive or more definitive than this version.

tonyband Clive Barker's Nightbreed had a difficult production and an equally arduous release. The film was based on Barker's celebrated novella "Cabal," a fan favorite, and was adapted by the author himself, who also took over the directing reigns (his Hellraiser had been a hit only a few short years earlier). The ensuing marketing, release, and reaction was disastrous. First Barker's vision was re-edited and re-tooled without his consent, creating a film that felt oddly choppy and unfinished to many critics and viewers. While the plot was filled with unique characters and monsters (as well as a "the monsters are the heroes and the humans are the monsters" theme), the studio decided to market the film as typical slasher fare, pandering to the lowest common box office denominator. To Barker's horror, Nightbreed floundered in theaters and died a quiet death.Twenty five years after its initial release, Nightbreed has slowly but faithfully garnered a strong cult following. The fan base became so rabid—even starting a website called "Occupy Midian"—that a new cut of the film was created, cobbled together using old VHS quality tapes that became known as "The Cabal Cut, which was much closer to what Barker had in mind before the studio tampered with the film. Although extraordinarily rough in nature (and much longer in length), the new "Cabal Cut" was shown at various festivals to great enthusiasm from fans and even Clive Barker himself. The interest became large enough that Scream Factory, a horror offshoot of Shout Factory, decided to work with Barker and Morgan Creek to see if they could locate the missing film elements. After a lot of hard work and searching the Warner Brothers vaults (the footage had been thought to have been lost), the folks at Shout Factory were able to find the original camera negatives, and with Barker's help added nearly twenty minutes of footage to the theatrical cut thus finally offering fans a brand new look at Nightbreed: The Director's Cut the way Clive Barker had always intended.I've been a fan since I caught the film on video back in the early 1990s. There is a good reason why Nightbreed has become such a cult classic: It's a truly unique monster movie that doesn't attempt to play by the rules. While there's a lot of rubber suits and latex masks, Nightbreed separates itself from the pack by having something other than scares and violence on its mind. The core idea of the film—that the terrors living below Midian are no worse than the terrors living above in the cities—gives the film a lot more weight and meaning. The allegorical nature of the "us vs. them" theme makes the film less a scary monster movie and more a dark poem; while the monsters of Midian are physically grotesque, they only want what we want: do be left in peace to live a life of their choosing. This makes Nightbreed an especially topical film that has held up surprisingly well.The real standout is David Cronenberg as the film's secondary villain, who doesn't really act so much as stand there and look creepy in a mummy mask made of buttons and zippers. Fans of classic science fiction cinema should keep an eye out for John Agar (Tarantula, The Mole People) as a local gas station attendant who gets on the wrong side of Dr. Decker's knife.

crownofsprats First off, if you aren't watching the director's cut, cease and desist immediately! I can't imagine this being anything short of a crappy, incoherent mess with a half an hour of footage missing. So get it some way or another - it's on Netflix now, hope it stays...This had all the makings of a cult classic. I guess it is one. Perhaps it came out a few years too early, and didn't hit on the goth fad upswing. Otherwise, the studios might not have butchered this into a mediocre turd and - who knows? - maybe actually spent some effort on marketing and distribution. Seriously: angst-ridden adolescent has friction with his psychiatrist and dreams of a freak- filled graveyard city called Midian (more like a town, actually) where all the ghouls, monsters, and other outcasts can come party without fear of the Norms. But of course, the world of squares and morning people is slowly encroaching, and only a very special chosen hero can save the day...it's written in the prophecies and all. How a studio couldn't market something like that is beyond me.But the thing is...Clive Barker is a novels guy first and foremost, and to cram a story of such epic proportions into a two hour film is a difficult task for even the most seasoned filmmakers. So even the director's cut feels loose and baggy at the seams. For instance - there seemed to be no real narrative purpose for the black detective from Calgary, other than to provide legitimacy for Dr. Dekker (played wonderfully by a very creepy Cronenberg). And the priest - what was his deal? I am sure the novel does a way better job of inflating them with shade and nuance, but they were pretty hollow here. Likewise, many scenes of dialogue felt off because of a phantom backstory seemingly glossed over - similar to the sheepish feeling one sometimes gets watching movies that expect everyone to already know certain characters and their personality traits. But the dialogue and minor narrative problems aren't what hold this back from true greatness. Maybe it's the Elfman soundtrack, or the morose look of the male lead, or maybe it's the moon-face guy dragging down the visual dignity of the entire Midian freak crew...heck, maybe it's just the early 90s production values - whatever it is, it injects an unshakable, lingering odor of silliness throughout the entire affair. The story is a dark epic, and requires an atmosphere of minimum silliness and maximum magic to properly suspend disbelief and carry itself on its own inertia. The moon-faced guy stands in the way, his stupid moon-face resembling a long-lost member of Metallica viewed through the prism of heavy hallucinogenics...That being said, if a magical freak city called Midian (or Clive Barker's name) appeals to any of your sensibilities in any way, you won't regret watching this. You may not come out 100% stoked, but you certainly won't be disappointed.