Nightbreed (1990)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Clive Barker

Writers (WGA):

Clive Barker (novel)
Clive Barker (screenplay)

Release Date:

16 February 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Fantasy | Horror

Tagline:

Lori thought she knew everything about her boyfriend... Lori was wrong!

Plot:

A community of mutant outcasts of varying types and abilities attempts to escape the attentions of a...

Plot Keywords:

Mutant | Redneck | Serial Killer | Vigilante | Exploding Body

Awards:

3 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Craig Sheffer	...	Aaron Boone / Cabal
Anne Bobby	...	Lori Desinger
David Cronenberg	...	Dr. Philip K. Decker
Charles Haid	...	Captain Eigerman
Hugh Quarshie	...	Detective Joyce
Hugh Ross	...	Narcisse
Doug Bradley	...	Dirk Lylesberg
Catherine Chevalier	...	Rachel
Malcolm Smith	...	Ashberry
Bob Sessions	...	Pettine
Oliver Parker	...	Peloquin
Debora Weston	...	Sheryl Ann
Nicholas Vince	...	Kinski
Simon Bamford	...	Ohnaka
Kim Robertson	...	Babette

Also Known As:

Clive Barker's Nightbreed (UK) (complete title) (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1992) | Finland:K-18 (uncut) (2007) | Netherlands:16 | Australia:M | France:-12 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Backlot, Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Morgan Creek Productions

Trivia:

Rutger Hauer and Christopher Lambert were both considered for the role of Boone before Craig Sheffer got the part.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the camera slowly pulls away, over Boone's dead body in the field in front of Midian, you can see him blink after several seconds.

Quotes:

Rickman Boy: There's a bad man in our house.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Clive Barker: Raising Hell (2004) (V)

Sliced and diced by the studio, directors cut to come?

I was peeved that the best make-up academy award went to Dick Tracy, a horrible film with horrible make-up. The Nightbreed (based on the better titled "Cabal" novella) look terrific, the acting is excellent and David Chroneburg makes for a truly creepy and terrific antagonist.

The plot focus's on Aaron Boone, who has recurring nightmares about a society of monsters living under a cemetery. Is he making it up or are they real and calling to him? His Pyschologist (Chroneburg) convinces him he's a murderer, a slayer of families.

Troubled and suicidal, Boone seeks refuge in Midian but the monsters don't want him at first. He is also tracked by his girlfriend, Lori who refuses to give up on him even after he dies and comes back cold and monstrous.

But Decker isn't about to let Boone continue on. He raises the locals on an all out assault on Midian, like a holy war in gods name led by the devil.

Barkers themes of misunderstood monsters may come from his experiences as a homosexual male, but they are always strong and honest. Nightbreed turns the genre on it's head. The monsters are just trying to survive and want to be left alone, but man is hunting them.

A 20+ minute longer cut was originally submitted by Barker, but the studio chopped it into this fractured masterpiece. Barker is hard at work trying to locate the missing footage for a directors cut release. Until then, this version will have to do.