Starring: Craig
Sheffer, Anne Bobby, David Cronenberg, Charles Haid, Hugh Quarshie, Doug
Bradley, Oliver Parker, Simon Banford, Hugh Ross,
Plot: A troubled young man is drawn to a mythical place called
Midian where a variety of monsters are hiding from humanity.
My Review and Thoughts:
Behold the Yellow Brick road to Hell.
Behold the Yellow Brick road to Hell.
Stunningly beautiful. Shout/Scream Factory re-created this imaginative
masterpiece in a re-fixed clarity that defies the mind. The image is vibrant,
crisp and elegant laced beauty. Shout/Scream Factory did an extraordinary job with this
amazing Blu-ray. I absolutely love what they did. A beautiful work of
perfection and gave this movie what it deserved at long last. One of the great
imaginative experiences in film.
Shout Factory brought out a perfection on this quality
Blu-Ray. A perfect added beauty to anyone's movie collection. The enhanced new
form and amazing restoration is worthy of awards. Shout/Scream Factory and all those
involved in bringing Clive Barker's vision to a new light deserves; around of
applause.
Nightbreed will always remain dear to my movie loving soul
and Shout Factory made it all the tighter in my movie loving soul. Clive
Barkers original vision and the restored clarity gives this generation a whole
new vision and a whole new film to explore and to experience over and over
again.
Both versions of this special edition Blu-ray are worthy to
own. The 2-Disc Special Edition Directors Cut and the 3-Disc Limited Edition are
both highly praised by A Bucket of Corn and if there was a national award show
for best Blu-Ray release it would go to Scream Factory's Nightbreed.
I can't speak enough upon the restoration and the restored
footage. I was in heaven experiencing this whole new film. I first saw
Nightbreed at the movies on a Saturday night in 1990. I
remember it vividly. I was eleven years old. I was one of only about a dozen
people in the darkened audience. I remember it so vivid because my mother had
purchased my ticket for me and allowed me to go to the movies by myself. It was
the first alone experience in a theater I ever had and it was the defining moment
in building my love of imaginative cinema.
This was like that experience all over again. Nightbreed
Directors cut is something so new and so fresh that I fell in love with it.
Midian is alive. Scream Factory created movie watching bliss. I thought it
was solid. I loved the restoration and the whole new feel.
I willingly accept an invitation to Midian. Nightbreed is
a different style of film and is one of those over the rainbow oddness of
horror. It's not for everyone. It builds upon the imagination. The never never
land of nightmares. The monsters of the darkness and the boogie man of folk
tales and ultimate nightmares.
NightBreed was written by one of my favorite writers of all
time. A man who has a vivid imagination for the darkness and sexual reality of
evil or the nightmarish world he puts on page. Darkness bleeds off the pages
into the viewer’s mind and his movies are no different. I absolutely loved
Hellraiser and Lord of a Illusions, Candyman, and Dread. He just has a way
with creating interesting scenarios and vivid characters filled with backstory
and beautiful wide imagination. Clive Barker is one of the greatest creators of
different worlds, of different scenarios, of different darker realities. He is
your fantasy nightmare, or creator of darkness that shines in so many different
ways.
Sadly this movie never got the push and the reality that it
deserved when it first came out in 1990. It is based on his short story Cabal.
I think what the studio actually did to Barkers vision when it originally came
out, was screw him over. Barker did protest that the company tried to create
your basic horror film and crafted it as a slasher flick, but in reality
Nightbreed was so much deeper. So much darker. It detailed characters and a
vision into a fantasy reality that gets to the soul and the true nature of
Nightbreed. It’s a brilliance that only Barker could create. He tried to
transcend that creation onto film but the studios basically destroyed his
ultimate reality when it first came out.
Now amazingly it was originally intended to be a trilogy but
because of its box office failure, which basically is due to what the studio
did to the film; it never went forward. Sadly we never got to experience the
rest of the stories. The rest of the characters never got to move on. Barker
said that we all envy the power or the reality of being able to live forever.
He wanted to create a mythology around these characters and create their own
understanding in their own little world. I think that is what the movie does. We all can somewhat relate to and or become a part of the darkened imagination.
I for one love monsters. I love the reality behind the monsters. I've always
had an affection for vampires. I've always thought it would be interesting to
live as a vampire, as weird as that sounds I think we all have that imaginative
imagination to become some type of monster or some superpower that makes it stand out from so called normal (there is no normal in reality).
Nightbreed is a story that needed to be told in so many
different chapters of film. It could be explored throughout a comprehensive
understanding of each character or the reality of where all these characters
came from or to further explore the adventures of these odd and interesting monsters. I think further sequels could've done this movie justice in
exploring everything it had detailed. Barker had a vision and yet the studio
would not let him finish or create his vision. They chopped his film.
Originally it was supposed to be 2 1/2 hours but sadly when it was released in
1990 it ran 102 minutes, basically chopping out half of the film.
Starring the wonderful actor who I feel has never really gotten the stardom he deserves is the wonderful Craig Sheffer who plays your main star Boone in Nightbreed. Also starring the beautiful and stunning Anne Bobby as Boones girlfriend Lori Winston. Both shine in there parts and the chemistry between the two bring the film into all it's wonderful twisted glory with an old school style of love and a fleeting sunset kiss. The Director's cut was able to build these two characters in more of a personal reality which is a huge plus as more story or love is added to the film giving it a more personal touch.
Starring the wonderful actor who I feel has never really gotten the stardom he deserves is the wonderful Craig Sheffer who plays your main star Boone in Nightbreed. Also starring the beautiful and stunning Anne Bobby as Boones girlfriend Lori Winston. Both shine in there parts and the chemistry between the two bring the film into all it's wonderful twisted glory with an old school style of love and a fleeting sunset kiss. The Director's cut was able to build these two characters in more of a personal reality which is a huge plus as more story or love is added to the film giving it a more personal touch.
Something else that stands out is the soundtrack. The
original motion picture soundtrack by Danny Elfman is brilliant. I think it all
creates something composed for a different type of film. It leaves and works so
perfect in the end result of the film. I feel it brings to life a lot of the
unexplored darkness to the atmosphere and scenarios of the film. Elfman along with Shirley Walker crafted a
memorable soundtrack that stretches the viewer’s mind and gives everything into
one soundtrack. It combined so much darkness and yet it created that ancient
old African tribal type setting with the music. The drums and the voices
composed inside it was just an orchestrated odd masterpiece of music.
Through horrible bad marketing and lack of promotion and the
ultimate horrible editing and chopping of the movie, it failed miserably and
pretty much faded away from the public into obscurity. Except for cult status.
Except for the dear fan and the brilliant underground of movie lovers that know
what the original product was supposed to be and even with its odd somewhat
different film that it was in 1990; I still loved it. I still saw Barker in it.
I still saw his darkened vision and his unexplored spiritual recesses of the
flesh and of the darkness that we all can become afraid of and yet want to know.
I think Nightbreeds ultimate brilliance is the reality and
basis of the films content. The so-called normal people. The normal world or
the naturals as they are in the film are more evil and worse than the creatures
in Midian. There's a psychological concept there. There's a psychology reality
where anything that is an unnatural or anything that we don't understand we
destroy. They are freaks. There monsters. They need to be stuck in the netherworld
or ultimately destroyed by the so-called normal people which are the true monsters and not the Midianites.
Another thing that makes Nightbreed so brilliant is,
specifically in this directors cut, is the complete imagery of the makeup and sets and cinematography. The fantastic make-up and
special-effects which are stunningly brilliant lets the viewer explore these monsters as if they are real. The creatures and monsters are
a make-believe that becomes an impressive masterpiece of makeup and of
unexplored creatures of a dark nature. The fantasy monsters have a unique personality
to each one that shine through their ultimate creation.
Now just for fun lets look at all the actor connections in the Clive Barker world that is in Nightbreed. Something on an interesting note is the actors playing some of the parts became Clive Barker regulars. Such as Simon Bamford who plays the character of Ohnaka in Nightbreed. He played The Butterball Cenebite in Clive Barker's Hellraiser and Hellraiser 2 and also many of the other sequel's. He also played in Clive Barker's 2009's Book of Blood. Oliver Parker plays the character Peloquin in Nightbreed. He was in Clive Barker's Hellraiser and Hellraiser 2 in small parts such as a moving man and a work man. Catherine Chevalier who plays the character of Rachel in Nightbreed was Tiffany's mother in Hellraiser 2. Nicholas Vince who plays the character of Kinski also plays the cenobite known as Chattering in Hellraiser 1 and 2. McNally Sagal who plays a simple part of the motel receptionist plays in Clive Barker's Lord of Illusions as Detective Edison. Bradley Lavelle who plays the character of Cormack in Nightbreed plays the character of Officer Kucich in Hellraiser 2. Kenneth Nelson who plays a simple part as an emergency doctor in Nightbreed played the character of Bill in Hellraiser. Now the big actor that is a stable in Barker films is Doug Bradley. He plays the character of Dirk Lylesberg in Nightbreed. All horror fans know him as Pinhead in the Hellraiser series which is 8 films. He also played in Barker's two short films in Salome (1973) and The Forbidden (1978). He also was in the Barker movie Book of Blood.
Also I have to mention the wonderful cameo of a movie icon. The one and only drive-in b-movie master actor John Agar himself becomes a victim inside the nightmare that is Nightbreed. Agar needs no real introduction of his long and lasting career. From such classic drive-in features as Tarantula, The Mole People, The Brain from Plant Arous, Revenge of the Creature, Attack of the Puppet People, and so many others. It was a priceless cameo and a worthy experience to see this old school master of the acting talent of the olden days. Agar was a b-movie acting god and created so many interesting moments inside my movie loving mind and he being a victim of Decker in Nightbreed just is all the more iconic.
Now don't get me wrong I am not saying this movie is with out it's flaws for it clearly is a horror film and has the mistakes and flaws that many movies have. If I was to rate Nightbreed on it's imagination and makeup and strange odd and original style of story then it's a flawless masterpiece but I don't rate films like that. I rate films for the quality and the overall acting, direction, script and everything else that goes into making a film. Clearly this film is not for everyone. It has it's elements of a late night drive-in cult status film. It's flaws are simple yet brilliant all the same. From it's weird football shoulder pad wearing Berserkers to the clearly visible painted aerial shots of the cemetery. I over look these things because I consider this The Wizard of Oz of horror films. Instead of the yellow brick road to the Emerald city, its the yellow brick road bathed in blood to Midian. This has a style of story book imagination and an Alice in Wonderland trip down the hole into a whole other world and concept of reality. This makes me think and sends me back into a world where film was painted in techno color, but this time, the paint is thick and the story is thicker.
Also I have to mention the wonderful cameo of a movie icon. The one and only drive-in b-movie master actor John Agar himself becomes a victim inside the nightmare that is Nightbreed. Agar needs no real introduction of his long and lasting career. From such classic drive-in features as Tarantula, The Mole People, The Brain from Plant Arous, Revenge of the Creature, Attack of the Puppet People, and so many others. It was a priceless cameo and a worthy experience to see this old school master of the acting talent of the olden days. Agar was a b-movie acting god and created so many interesting moments inside my movie loving mind and he being a victim of Decker in Nightbreed just is all the more iconic.
Now don't get me wrong I am not saying this movie is with out it's flaws for it clearly is a horror film and has the mistakes and flaws that many movies have. If I was to rate Nightbreed on it's imagination and makeup and strange odd and original style of story then it's a flawless masterpiece but I don't rate films like that. I rate films for the quality and the overall acting, direction, script and everything else that goes into making a film. Clearly this film is not for everyone. It has it's elements of a late night drive-in cult status film. It's flaws are simple yet brilliant all the same. From it's weird football shoulder pad wearing Berserkers to the clearly visible painted aerial shots of the cemetery. I over look these things because I consider this The Wizard of Oz of horror films. Instead of the yellow brick road to the Emerald city, its the yellow brick road bathed in blood to Midian. This has a style of story book imagination and an Alice in Wonderland trip down the hole into a whole other world and concept of reality. This makes me think and sends me back into a world where film was painted in techno color, but this time, the paint is thick and the story is thicker.
Now thankfully through Mark Miller who is the co-head of
Barkers production company Seraphim Films went about looking and tracking down
the missing footage that was cut from the film. Miller thankfully discovered some of the footage in the studio back in 2009. Basically after much fan support and uproar to
bring out the beauty of this film; it worked. In 2013 Clive Barker announced
that Shout Factory through its horror label Scream Factory would be releasing
the film. Now this new version that Shout Factory announced would be a film
over seen by Barker himself with an added 20 extra minutes that was not in the
theater version and also contain 40 minutes of new and altered footage. Shout
Factory along with Warner home video located the original film elements from
the archives. Shout factory was able to bring the ultimate vision that Clive
Barker had wanted and also all the hard work of Mark Miller to finally give the
fan the ultimate edition which I am reviewing and obsessing over in this write up.
I have to say this is one of the most highly praised and
anticipated Blu-rays of my movie loving career and when Shout Factory announced
I quickly pre-ordered as soon as I could both versions and I proudly display
them on my shelf right now. Shout/Scream Factory gives me hope and the
exploration and the imaginative wonders of cinema through all their titles.
They craft with ultimate brilliance and bring out some of the hard-to-find
films in ultimate editions. This three disc limited edition is absolutely
brilliant and could not have been any better. It is the tour-de-force of
Blu-rays. The two disc Blu-ray is brilliant and amazing. Both versions are
highly mastered. Highly created through stunning vibrant care and love. This
film was restored and collected for a new generation to explore the wonder
that Clive Barker's mind is.
%2B-%2BCopy.jpg)
.jpg)
I bought both versions and both versions are well worth it. The 3 Disc is amazing and the 2 Disc is amazing. I like the 3 Disc Artwork, booklet and special features because it gives so much more. But if you decide to but the 2 Disc it's just as brilliant.
If you buy the 3 Disc I feel this is possible one of the best productions of Special Features out there and the only other thing that comes close is Shout Factory's 15 Disc release of Halloween Blu-ray which I love just the same. Scream/Shout Factory is a company of perfect gifts to the fan. They know what the fan wants and they give it with heart and soul to the fan.
Extras:
Nightbreed 2 Disc Information:
Bonus Features
New "Director's Cut" presentation of the film
which contains over 40 minutes of new and altered footage
Introduction by writer/director Clive Barker and restoration
producer Mark Alan Miller
Audio Commentary by writer/director Clive Barker and
restoration producer Mark Alan Miller
Tribes of the Moon: The Making of Nightbreed featuring
interviews with Craig Sheffer, Anne Bobby, Doug Bradley and more… (72 min.)
Making Monsters - interviews with makeup effects artists Bob
Keen, Martin Mercer and Paul Jones (42 min.)
Fire! Fights! Stunts! 2nd Unit Shooting - an interview with
Andy Armstrong (20 min.)
Original Theatrical Trailer
Nightbreed 3 Disc Limited Edition Information:
Bonus Features
--- DISC 1: THE DIRECTOR'S CUT ---
New "Director's Cut" presentation of the film
which contains over 40 minutes of new and altered footage
Introduction by writer/director Clive Barker and restoration
producer Mark Alan Miller
Audio Commentary by writer/director Clive Barker and
restoration producer Mark Alan Miller
Tribes of the Moon: The Making of Nightbreed featuring
interviews with Craig Sheffer, Anne Bobby, Doug Bradley and more… (72 min.)
Making Monsters - interviews with makeup effects artists Bob
Keen, Martin Mercer and Paul Jones (42 min.)
Fire! Fights! Stunts! 2nd Unit Shooting - an interview with
Andy Armstrong (20 min.)
Original Theatrical Trailer
--- DISC 2: BONUS DISC ---
Deleted and Alternate Scenes (approx. 20 min.)
Monster Prosthetics Master Class
Cutting Compromise – an interview with editor Mark Goldblatt
The Painted Landscape: The Concept Art of Ralph McQuarrie
Matte Painting Tests
Makeup Tests
Stop Motion Lost Footage
Extended Torture Scene
Rehearsal of Boone's dream
Extensive Still Galleries – Early Sketches, Deleted Scene,
Posters and Pre-Production art, On the Set, The Cast and Crew
--- DISC 3: THE THEATRICAL CUT ---
New transfer from the inter-positive
.jpg)
Overall:
I was so freaking happy when Shout/Scream Factory announced this ultra collector’s orgy of perfect amazing brilliance on their part. They are a company that I find to be one of the greatest companies releasing films for fans by fans.
Finally Clive Barker's, rich imagination gets it's just do. Uncut for the first time so that all fans can get a huge boner (that is if you have a weiner) on it's amazing reality. Some of the coolest characters ever.
I was so happy to get this in the mail. For if you are reading this and have not decided to buy yet, what are you waiting for.
These are out to purchase on Oct. 28th. You can pre-order now. Their are two versions, the basic 2 Disc or the Special Edition 3 Disc which only 10 Thousand Copies have been produced which comes with special artwork and a booklet.
Also if you buy from the company and if your one of the first 3,000 you get special 18/24 posters which are just amazing and will grace my movie loving wall as soon as I frame them.
Film Rating:
Theater Cut: 3 out 5
Directors Cut: 4.5 out 5
Theater Cut: 3 out 5
Directors Cut: 4.5 out 5
Product Rating: 5 out of 5
Extras Rating: 5 out of 5
Audio/Video Rating: 5 out of 5
Packaging/Inserts Rating: 5 out of 5
Overall a must own and must experience film in all it's new shining vibrant form.
