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Nightbreed | Year: 1990 Classification: Horror Country: USA Language: English Directed: - Clive Barker Actors/Actresses: - David Cronenberg - Craig Sheffer Finally, one of the greatest imaginative films gets its due! Clive Barker's "Nightbreed," unfortunately still truncated by twenty mintutes (please release a director's cut!) reigns as one of horror's most creative films (along with Clive's other two directorial efforts, "Hellraiser" and "Lord of Illusions"). And at last we get to see a pristine, widescreen transfer of the film. A movie that focuses on a familiar Barker theme, where the real monsters are the humans (like in his new novel "Coldheart Canyon") and is permeated with perverse creations that could only come from one of the world's great imaginations. Open your mind, buy this movie, and experience one of the great horror opuses. Oh yeah, David Cronenberg is chillingly funny as Dr. Decker. "We all need a few friends to help us through the night." In "Nightbreed" a Clive Barker film--Boone (Craig Sheffer) is troubled by dreams full of monsters who live in a place called Midian. He's been seeing chilly psychiatrist Dr. Decker (David Croenenberg) for treatment, and Boone is almost convinced that his dreams mean nothing at all when he finds himself locked up in a hospital and suspected of a series of grisly murders. Boone hears another patient muttering about Midian, and this sets him off on a quest to discover the truth. I am not usually a fan of horror films, but there is something rather unique about Clive Barker's world view that attracts me to his tales. "Nightbreed" is based on Clive Barker's book "Cabal" and as a preface to the film, he discusses the idea that a part of us secretly longs for some sort of special powers--the ability to fly, or immortality, for example. Barker recognizes this hidden desire of humans and capitalizes on it for this film. Clive Barker takes childhood fairy tales and mythology and adds the bleakness of adult experience (in this case racism and prejudice) to make a unique blend, and this really works well in "Nightbreed." The monsters and demons were rather good and reflected a great deal of imaginative creativity. I particularly enjoyed the monsters who weren't just created on the human form (although the Porcupine Woman was ultimately my favourite). The Gothic graveyard was a wonderful creation. The role of the town's cigar-smoking Police Chief--Captain Eigerman was played by Charles Haid of "Hill Street Blues" fame. This was a nice touch, and added to the mythological proportions of the story--displacedhuman WILL DVD EVER EMBRACE THE TRIBES OF THE MOON? Clive Barker's film NIGHTBREED is not your standard exercise in horror, but rather a surrealistic trip into a fantasy world laced with elements of the genre his work is generally attributed with. As opposed to the typical monster movie, this film's story presents a moralistic flip-side...the monsters from our darkest fears are actually good in comparison to the prejudice humans who seek to destroy what they do not understand. The movie is an adaptation of Barker's own novel, CABAL, and interestingly enough it both succeeds and fails in presenting his original story. The film actually improves upon the presentation of the monsters. The book never really fleshed them out in any way other than giving them names, never bothering to go into any types of description. Barker as a director has a very visual eye though, and the film is beautiful to look at. One can only imagine what he could do with a larger budget! Director David Cronenberg is on hand to play the notorious Dr. Decker, and he does a very good job in a role that seems to have been made for him. Composer Danny Elfman provides a unique score for the movie as well that retains the feeling of having ventured into another world. The awesome wall hieroglyphics seen during the film's opening credits, which tell the history of the Breed, were created by none other than famed conceptual artist Ralph McQuarrie! The film was an ambitious project at the time and was touted as being the most expensive horror film to date. It was budgeted at $11 million, which may be considered expensive for a "horror" film, but is actually relatively cheap (even back then) for a story of this scale. Unfortunately, the monsters themselves are a big disappointment overall. Yes, the main characters are well done. The monstrous Peloquin is everyone's favorite. Boone, the porcupine-like Shuna Sassi, the broken stone god Baphomet, and the devilish Lude are all nicely designed monsters. The remaining monsters are all made up of simple freaks of nature with twisted mouths or faces, different skin color, or simply individuals that are simply into acting weird and perverted. Kinski's moon shaped head is simply laughable, as are many of the goofball designs presented here. The denizens of Midian, being a city where the monsters go, should have at least somewhat represented a few more creatures of legend such as werewolves or vampires to name a few. The book describes ghostly apparitions that burst forth from the tombs and fly off into the night sky during the finale. That would have been really great to see. Sadly, it never happens in the film. A campy element infiltrates the proceedings from time to time, which dulls the effect of the overall proceedings. A more serious take throughout would have made a world of difference! The movie veers off into a different direction several times as opposed to the book. Some of these diversions are actually an improvement to the original story, while some are not. By the end, Buy Nightbreed at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Nightbreed Search with the Priority Search Engine on Nightbreed This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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