A troubled young man is drawn to a mythical place called Midian where a variety of friendly monsters are hiding from humanity. Meanwhile, a sadistic serial killer is looking for a patsy.A troubled young man is drawn to a mythical place called Midian where a variety of friendly monsters are hiding from humanity. Meanwhile, a sadistic serial killer is looking for a patsy.A troubled young man is drawn to a mythical place called Midian where a variety of friendly monsters are hiding from humanity. Meanwhile, a sadistic serial killer is looking for a patsy.
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
25K
YOUR RATING
- Director
- Writer
- Clive Barker(novel "Cabal")
- Stars
- Director
- Writer
- Clive Barker(novel "Cabal")
- Stars
- Awards
- 7 wins & 5 nominations
- Director
- Writer
- Clive Barker(novel "Cabal") (screenplay)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThough promised a cleaned-up version of the extended VHS work-print dubbed "The Cabal Cut" in July 2014, fans were delighted when Scream Factory announced that the original film was found, restored at 4K and re-cut under Clive Barker's supervision, ending a 24-year-long plea for the "Directors Cut" to be released, in two packages in Oct. 2014.
- GoofsWhen the Pathologist is removing the rifle bullets from Aaron Boone's corpse in the morgue, they are clearly brand new and have not been fired into anything. The bullets would show striation marks from being shot down the rifle's barrel. Many people believe the bullets should have "mushroomed" or flattened out when hitting Boone, but full metal jacket bullets do not mushroom like hollow points or soft point bullets.
- Alternate versionsAfter 2 differing work-prints of "Nightbreed" were discovered by Mark Miller from Seraphim film (Clive Barker's production company), he contacted Morgan Creek in the hope he could source the original negatives to restore the film to its original cut. After a few meetings with them, it became apparent they were not convinced of the commercial viability of 'Nightbreed', and the hope was lost - but not for long. Russell Cherrington, friend to Clive Barker, took it upon himself to restore the presumed lost extended cut, and created a composite cut combining these work-prints and the theatrical version from DVD, closely following the book 'Cabal' and the second draft of the screenplay. The outcome of this was 'The Cabal Cut' which contained over 45 minutes of extra footage, and restored the original ending. Morgan Creek have since given permission for screenings to be held worldwide, with a view for a future release on Bluray/DVD. Now in its 5th edit, The Cabal Cut runs 144 minutes.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Signals: The Hero Strikes Back (1990)
Featured review
Great
This film is possibly one of the most original horror flicks to have ever come out of the 20th century. I probably can relate to this film a lot more than some people. Releasing a game on most formats in 1990, I had the storyline up to my eyeballs and the expectation of seeing the film was huge. When I was sixteen I managed to get someone to rent the video out for me (it received an `18' certificate). After watching once, I was slightly disappointed. Then, I watched it again.
This film has a deep, deep meaning. Clive Barker is an absolute genius. The storyline and plot are truly wonderful, on pace all the time, never letting up for a minute. There are plenty of standout scenes and memorable one-liners. Monsters are usually portrayed as evil, the bad. Here they want to live in secret, the humans are the ones that envy their purity and decide to invade the Night Breed's home underneath a cemetery. This myth has gone around for years, the Night Breed, the undead where the pain of real life goes away. And tied in the plot is Doctor Decker (aka The Mask), a serial killer who convinces his patient (Boone) that he has committed a series of brutal murders, and he must hand himself into the police.
Arguably some of the scenes are a little silly, there is a hint of black-comedy in there which seems unnecessary in some scenes. However, the cemetery itself is the most beautiful looking things you will ever see in film, it's exotic, stylish, full of strange statues and buildings.
Best scene in the film goes to Peloquin with desires to eat Boone. This is one that stays in my heart as one of the most powerful scenes in horror movie history, with some stunning acting and some great make-up. You can't help laughing when this monster spouts: `F*** the law, I want MEAT!' Other memorable scenes include the psychiatric patient who ends up ripping his own face off to prove he is worthy of the Breed. The wonder of this scene is Barker's hint of tongue-in-cheek.
As for the gore factor, it is pretty high, but I still believe Hellraiser and it's sequels are twice as gory as this. Definitely a film for Barker films to see. But not one to watch for a casual night in with a pizza and a few beers.
This film has a deep, deep meaning. Clive Barker is an absolute genius. The storyline and plot are truly wonderful, on pace all the time, never letting up for a minute. There are plenty of standout scenes and memorable one-liners. Monsters are usually portrayed as evil, the bad. Here they want to live in secret, the humans are the ones that envy their purity and decide to invade the Night Breed's home underneath a cemetery. This myth has gone around for years, the Night Breed, the undead where the pain of real life goes away. And tied in the plot is Doctor Decker (aka The Mask), a serial killer who convinces his patient (Boone) that he has committed a series of brutal murders, and he must hand himself into the police.
Arguably some of the scenes are a little silly, there is a hint of black-comedy in there which seems unnecessary in some scenes. However, the cemetery itself is the most beautiful looking things you will ever see in film, it's exotic, stylish, full of strange statues and buildings.
Best scene in the film goes to Peloquin with desires to eat Boone. This is one that stays in my heart as one of the most powerful scenes in horror movie history, with some stunning acting and some great make-up. You can't help laughing when this monster spouts: `F*** the law, I want MEAT!' Other memorable scenes include the psychiatric patient who ends up ripping his own face off to prove he is worthy of the Breed. The wonder of this scene is Barker's hint of tongue-in-cheek.
As for the gore factor, it is pretty high, but I still believe Hellraiser and it's sequels are twice as gory as this. Definitely a film for Barker films to see. But not one to watch for a casual night in with a pizza and a few beers.
helpful•76
- kirk.wagstaff
- Aug 15, 2001
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Clive Barker's Nightbreed
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $11,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $8,862,354
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $3,708,918
- Feb 19, 1990
- Gross worldwide
- $9,469,695
- Runtime1 hour 42 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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