Nightbreed [Collector's Edition] [4K Ultra HD Blu-ray/Blu-ray]

Director: Clive Barker Clive Barker

Overview

Multimedia horror maven Clive Barker followed the success of his feature directorial debut, Hellraiser, with this equally surreal effort, based on his novella Cabal. The story involves the plight of Aaron Boone (Craig Sheffer), a young man tormented by visions of monstrous, graveyard-dwelling creatures. Seeking the aid of his clinically cold therapist Dr. Decker (played by Canadian horror auteur David Cronenberg) in deciphering his nightmares, Boone becomes convinced that his frequent blackouts are linked to a recent spate of mutilation murders in the area. His frantic search for the truth leads him to the subterranean city of Midian, the dwelling place of a mythical race of undead nocturnal monsters known as the "Nightbreed." But it is only after he is cornered and shot dead by police that Boone's real journey begins -- he finds himself resurrected as one of the Breed. Though Barker's unique and graphic vision is somewhat blunted by choppy editing (thanks to relentless tampering from the studio), this is nevertheless a fine sophomore project from a talented storyteller; the central conceit of presenting the monsters as the "good guys" -- at least compared to the gun-and-bible-toting lunatics who hunt them -- is handled with verve and originality.

Product Details

Release Date:	08/01/2023
UPC:	0826663237658
Original Release:	1990
Source:	Shout Factory
Language:	English
Time:	1:42:00
Format:	Blu-ray
Sales rank:	9,493

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Craig Sheffer	Aaron Boone
Anne Bobby	Lori
David Cronenberg	Dr. Philip Decker
Charles Haid	Capt. Eigerman
Hugh Quarshie	Detective Joyce
Hugh Ross	Narcisse
Doug Bradley	Lylesberg
Catherine Chevalier	Rachel
Kim Robertson	Babette,Babette
Malcolm Smith	Ashberry
Bob Sessions	Pettine
Oliver Parker	Peloquin,Poloquin
Todd Thaler	Actor
Simon Bamford	Ohnaka
Tony Bluto	Leroy Gomm
David Young	Otis and Clay
Mac McDonald	Lou Rickman
Daniel Kash	Labowitz
Bradley Lavelle	Cormack
Stephen Hoye	Gibbs
George Roth	Kane
Peter Marinker	Pathologist
Lindsay Holiday	Morgue Assistant
Kenneth Nelson	Emergency Doctor
Ted Maynard	Bartender
Mitch Webb	Jail Cell Doctor
Eric Loren	Ambush Cop
Alan Harris	Stand-In
John Agar	Special Appearance
Nicholas Vince	Kinski
Danny Elfman	Composer
Shirley Walker	Composer

Technical Credits

Clive Barker

Clive Barker	Director,Screenwriter
Gabriella Martinelli	Producer
James G. Robinson	Executive Producer,Producer
Joe Roth	Executive Producer,Producer
Christopher Figg	Producer
Image Animation	Special Effects
Bruce Nyznik	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

The lurid imagination of writer-director Clive Barker (Hellraiser) runs wild in Nightbreed, the horror maven's 1990 tale of undead misfits that is based on his novel Cabal. Craig Sheffer portrays Boone, a psychologically disturbed young man who ends up joining an oddball subterranean community of mutant dead known as the Nightbreed, with his persistent girlfriend Lori (Anne Bobby) and evil psychiatrist Philip Decker (David Cronenberg) on his trail. As is typical of Barker's work, Nightbreed has enough plot and back-story for ten movies, all jam-packed into rapid-fire scenes, almost all of which involve violence. Barker employs a smorgasbord of horror legends in Nightbreed, with aspects of vampire and werewolf myths mixed freely with tropes of his own design. The acting is hardly subtle, but it suits Barker's purpose perfectly. Horror auteur Cronenberg is a standout, however, offering a creepy, low-key performance that can stand as the archetype of the Mad Shrink. But Nightbreed's greatest achievements are the extravagantly conceived creatures of the night, as garishly bizarre as any array of characters you're likely to find.

Barnes & Noble - Gregory Baird

Unfairly maligned upon initial release as the result of a faulty advertising campaign and extensive studio tinkering, Clive Barker's ambitious follow-up to the breakout success of Hellraiser (1987) remains a remarkable fantasy epic that never fails to intrigue despite its undeniably distracting shortcomings. Based on Barker's Cabal, this mythical tale of physical transformation amidst an underground world inhabited by an ancient race of monsters was pitched to audiences as a low-rent slasher film, a campaign which served as a box-office death knell following a series of mind-numbing Friday the 13th and Halloween sequels. Add to that the fact that distributor cut the film by roughly 25 minutes, and it's hard not to see that the film was doomed to failure. Weighing in on such heavy issues as questions of mortality and violent xenophobia that alluded to historically significant events like the Holocaust, this story demanded a much wider canvas than Barker, a master of complex storytelling on the written page, was capable of translating given external desires for a commercially acceptable film. With the tables turned and humans portrayed as villains incapable of living with creatures whom they choose not to understand, Barker used a technique of placing real-world issues in a fantasy context in order to create a marked and safely removed social commentary. In this respect, Nightbreed uses the horror genre as it is most effective, and one can only speculate on the potency of this message if it had reached audiences in its pure form.

All Movie Guide - Jason Buchanan