Nightbreed (1990)

Nightbreed, boiled down to its essence is a horror-fantasy about a group of monsters and mutants who take refuge under an isolated cemetery. There they are threatened by a mass murderer (David Cronenberg) who wants to see them all destroyed. There's a love story of course but its promptly overshadowed by the garish monster effects.Now by no means is Nightbreed a conventionally good film. While the makeup, set-designs and effects are very good, the mood and the overall story pushes a lot of boundaries and makes for some intriguing social commentary. We are meant to feel sympathy for the nightbreed despite their outward appearance and seemingly satanic customs. Indeed the quasi-religious imagery and constant gross-out horror makes the finished product indigestible to mainstream audiences.The subtext itself is even more subversive when you consider the homosexual undercurrents. Homosexuality as a theme is cloaked under the auspice of uncontrollable bloodlust. Therefore the monsters themselves are metaphors seen as perverse and evil when in reality they are only trying to chisel out a living on the out-skits of society.Now its not quite clear but it seems the nightbreed have a psychic link to those with violent fantasies like the lead Boone (Craig Sheffer) and later Ashberry (Malcolm Smith). Those who cannot be nightbreed such as Boone's lover (Ann Bobby) and the old man at the service station have no violent tendencies whatsoever, despite their desire to join the nightbreed i.e. to not be sexually repressed.The relationship shared by Cronenberg's character Decker and Boone is the most intriguing contextually speaking. They are meant to show unrealized sexual tension and self-loathing on the part of Decker who is also Boone's psychiatrist. While Boone becomes aware of his bloodlust by fighting on behalf of the nightbreed i.e. constructive political violence, Decker cloaks his under a mask lying to himself and the world. Only when his mask is on can he indulge in his most unsavory fantasies.I could be grasping at straws here. After all such themes could be a guise for xenophobia, racism or any social fear of the "other". And while those are arguments to be made its worthwhile to note that Clive Barker came out during the early nineties and his novels and short stories almost always have strong sexual themes. Nightbreed could then be considered almost as a coming out party.Ultimately I'd recommend this film, not only for its challenging social commentary and audacious set and makeup design but also because so many horror films nowadays lack such ambitions. And even if those ambitions aren't cranked up to eleven as they should be you have to admit Nightbreed is a gay ol' time.

Clive Barker, did you know you wrote the story this movie is based on? How did you f*ck that up? It's your story, you own it you wrote it-surely surely SURELY when you wrote it you did not envision the film adaptation to be this movie. You did the same thing to your masterpiece The Last Illusion, you turned it into that mediocrity Lord Of Illusions. Clive, baby, what is going on? Do you hate movies, is that it? Do you hate your work? David Cronenberg was profoundly miscast, once again, Mr. Barker, did you even read your story? David f*cking Cronenberg is how you saw the character, Decker? Are you f*cking sure? Dude, Clive Barker, you are one of the all time greatest horror authors ever, f*cking class it up next time.

Clive Barker is one of my favorite authors because of how he mixes both horror and fantasy and really creates an elaborate world or mythos to them. Out of a lot of the live action adaptations of his work, this one believe it or not is my favorite one and it's also one of my favorite films of all time.I really like the story which is a wild but cool idea, in a way the story is kinda an "X-Men" tale only instead of mutants endangered by racism and prejudice it's monsters (ok, it's kinda the same difference). I like how these monsters are not portrayed as mindless, two dimensional brutes but actually as living people. We see that these are a species that have always lived amongst us in secret and aren't looking for trouble but unfortunately trouble found them.The music is excellent as it's by one of my favorite composers Danny Elfman whom in the 90's was really on a hot streak at that time, I love the theme which is one of my favorite themes of all time. The make up work is just fantastic, this is probably the finest practical make up work I've ever seen in any movie and a prime example showing that old fashioned is still the best way to go. The Nightbreed are all colorful and unique they all have different features about them. I even like the underground world Midan they've constructed, from all the passages and everything and the culture that exists it really made me wish to know more about it.There is even some action mainly the final battle at the end which is one of my favorite battles of all time. It's not exactly wall to wall but that's because it's kinda realistic as we are betting on the monsters to survive and overcome the supremacists that are trying to destroy them. I like how each of the monsters beat their opponents in unique ways, one favorite kill of mine is a I dare say a sexy female Nightbreed woman (forgot her name sorry) whom is kinda a humanoid porcupine as she produces quills which then stab one of the supremacists in multiple places, I thought that was cool.The characters are really solid if not the deepest. Arron Boone/Cabal (Craig Sheffer) is a decent/solid protagonist, his character is sympathetic because he's on the run from a crime he didn't commit but worst of all has no memory of his origins. Once he discovers them he it makes him struggle all the more as he is finding balance with both his human and monster identity.Dr. Philip K. Decker played surprising well by David Cronenberg whom is one of my favorite movie directors and turns out to be a capable actor; I can't help but wonder what this film could of been if he directed it. Anyway he's a solid antagonist as he is a psycho that is highly intelligent and uses that as his guise for his insanity, which makes sense with most serial killers. He's really creepy he's armed with giant knives and has that really creepy mask almost as creepy as the Michael Myers mask. But also we see he want to hunt and kill the Nightbreed not out of racial prejudice but out of jealousy and envy because this is a human monster that desires to be a monster which I'll admit is something different.It's true there is a lot of them and we don't know them in great depth but each of them have a particular personality which gives you a good feel for them and even makes them all the more sympathetic. Which is part of why I love this film because usually in a horror film we are sympathetic toward the human protagonist that is being hunted and chased by the monster. Here it's the other way around as we see it's the monsters that are being hunted and chased.I really like how this film deals with the issue of racism and prejudice. We see that the real monsters are the supremacists that hunt them which makes sense because Supremisists are the greatest human monsters in history from the Nazis to the Ku Klux Klan whose sole desire is to wipe out any living creature that is different by their false and corrupt standards; pretty much putting up more tombstones for humanity and their own conscious.Overall, this is a great horror film that any fan of Clive Barker and horror should check out. Real monsters aren't always hidden in the dark but are in plan sight where you least see them.Rating: 4 stars

I'm no stranger to looking past how certain movies have aged over the years. I can still enjoy a film from decades gone by and overlook their special effects and production values from the time. However, there are certain aspects I have a hard time ignoring. A lack of cohesive editing and scrambled arrangement is the downfall of "Nightbreed."There's always been a lot of talk about studio tampering when it comes to the theatrical version of "Nightbreed." Clive Barker's cut of the movie is a disjointed mess of scenes that jumps back and forth giving it a scattered and clumsy feel. It doesn't convey its creator's genius the way it should.If you look past all its negatives, "Nightbreed" does a great job showing Clive Barker's talent at manufacturing characters that are both sympathetic at a human level and unique in design. The creatures found in the movie each have their own characteristics and look, much the way Barker did for the Cenobites of "Hellraiser." You empathize with each one even if they do appear frightening on the outside. From a religious standpoint, most fundamentalist Christians are going to have serious issues with "Nightbreed." The title group worships Baphomet, which is an idol or deity most commonly associated today with the Church of Satan. Aside from that, it's referred to as a representation of the sum total of the universe – male and female, good and evil, etc. From what I understand, Barker is an atheist so it's safe to say he uses Baphomet as a symbol of the latter. Either way, its pagan in design which won't make Christians comfortable watching it."Nightbreed: The Director's Cut" is unrated but could easily hold an "R." There's some nudity and gore, but nothing that sends it into NC-17 territory. There's the usual amount of violence and gore found in horror films as well. It's said that Clive Barker was attempting to create a world of horror the likes of what "Star Wars" did for science fiction. As far as characters and settings go, he accomplished his goal. However, the breakdown for "Nightbreed" was in its lack of cohesion when it comes to narrative arrangement. Its unconventional editing and thrown-together feel hijacked any chances of conventional moviegoers catching on to it. I do believe it's ripe for a sequel in a day and age where older concepts and movies are being re-booted and given another chance.