Nightbreed
Encyclopedia
Nightbreed is a 1990
American fantasy
horror film
written and directed by Clive Barker
, based on his 1988 novella
Cabal. The film features Craig Sheffer
, Anne Bobby and David Cronenberg
. The story centers in a community of mutant
outcasts that hides from humanity, known as the "Nightbreed".
Nightbreed was a commercial and critical failure. In several interviews, Barker protested that the film company tried to sell it as a standard slasher film
, and that the powers-that-be had no real working knowledge of Nightbreeds story. Since its initial theatrical release, Nightbreed has achieved cult
status.
Barker has expressed disappointment with the final cut
and longs for the recovery of the reels so it might be re-edited. Behind the scenes
footage of some of the lost scenes has been uncovered and can be seen at Barker's Revelations website.
, a place where monster
s can go to be forgiven and accepted. As a means of coping with these recurring nightmares, and at the request of his girlfriend Lori, Boone is seeing psychotherapist
Dr. Phillip K. Decker, who convinces Boone that he has committed a series of gruesome murders. In reality, Decker is a serial killer
who dons a grotesque mask and has been murdering several families, all whom he sees as disgusting "breeders". Decker attempts to pin the blame for his killing spree on Boone. He gives Boone a bottle of lithium
(actually LSD
) and twenty four hours to turn himself in. Boone wanders the streets in a hallucinogenic haze. He is hit by a truck and taken to a hospital. In the hospital, Boone overhears the drug addled cries of Narcisse, who is waiting for the monsters to take him to Midian. Boone makes Narcisse believe that he comes from Midian with the purpose of finding the location of it. Narcisse tells Boone the way to Midian and suddenly starts to tear the skin from his face, in order to show his "true face". Boone escapes the hospital and makes his way to Midian, an entire city standing under a massive graveyard. Boone encounters two supernatural creatures, Kinski and Peloquin, who inhabit the city. Kinski says they should take him below but Peloquin states that whereas they are "Nightbreed", Boone is a "natural" and thinks he should die. Boone pleas that he is a murderer and hence belongs with the monsters, but Peloquin says he can smell innocence and confirms that Boone is innocent. Peloquin bites Boone on the shoulder intending to devour him, but Boone manages to escape and leaves the graveyard, only to run into an entire squad of police who gun him down. At the morgue, Boone comes back to life due to Peloquin's bite, becoming a Nightbreed. He makes his way back to Midian (Narcisse has also returned). Boone is schooled in the laws of Midian and is inducted into Midian's society by Lylesburg, the leader of the Nightbreed, and is then made to touch the blood of Baphomet
, the deity
of Midian.
Lori, seeking to understand why Boone left her, resolves to investigate Midian for herself. She befriends a woman named Sheryl Anne and drives out to the cemetery. She wanders into the cemetery, leaving Sheryl Anne waiting at the car. She finds a dying creature out in the sunlight and at the pleading request of a woman named Rachel, picks it up and takes it into the shadows, where it transforms into a little girl; Rachel's daughter Babette. Lori asks after Boone, only to be rebuffed by Lylesburg, who assures her that Boone is now Nightbreed, and hence no longer part of her world. Lori tries to make her way into Midian but is scared off by Peloquin. As she leaves the cemetery, she is greeted by the sight of Sheryl Anne's body and her killer, who reveals himself as Decker. He tries to kill Lori in order to bring Boone out of hiding. Decker chases Lori back into the cemetery where he knocks Lori unconscious and attempts to kill but Boone shows up. Decker stabs him only to learn that Boone cannot be killed. Decker manages to escape and Boone takes Lori into Midian, where she regains consciousness deep inside the city. Lori is told of the history of Midian by Rachel: the monsters of lore
were peaceful beings, hunted to near extinction by frightened and superstitious humans. Boone and Lori are then banished from Midian by Lylesburg. Meanwhile Decker interrogates a local mechanic, who once wanted to join the Nightbreed, and learns how they can die. He then murders the residents of the hotel where Boone and Lori are staying. Boone finds the murder scene, and unable to control his thirst for blood, begins to drink. The police find him and take him into custody. At Decker's urging, the local police and militia
, led by Captain Eigerman, form up a small army to attack Midian. They release a drunken priest
named Ashberry, to serve them as God's servant in the battle. Lori, Rachel, and Narcisse race to the jail to release Boone. Lori shows Boone that she loves him even as a "monster". The four head back to Midian where Boone convinces the scared Nightbreed to fight back.
During the battle, Ashberry is horrified to learn that there are women and children among the Nightbreed and tries to stop the attack but is roughly beaten down by Eigerman. Ashberry then finds the statue of Baphomet. He drops his cross and Bible and moves forward to swear allegiance, but is splashed, severely burned by the blood of Baphomet and transformed. The Nightbreed manages to fight back, but Boone learns from Lylesburg that Baphomet is going to destroy all of Midian. He tells Lylesburg to release the Berserkers, a monstrous, feral breed that were imprisoned due to their sheer insanity. Lylesburg attempts to open the cages but is killed, leaving Boone to release them. The Beserkers attack the humans furiously, turning the tide of the battle as the humans flee in fear. Boone and Decker then face each other in the burning wreckage of Midian. The two fight and Boone kills him. Boone then goes to Baphomet, who says that he has caused the end of Midian, but also that this was foretold. Baphomet charges Boone with finding a new home for the Nightbreed, and renames him Cabal. Boone makes his way out of Midian with Lori. The remaining Nightbreed meet in an old barn, and Boone says his goodbyes to Narcisse, promising that he will not forget the Nightbreed, and that he will find a place where they will all be safe. Meanwhile, in Midian, Ashberry stands infront of Decker's corpse and states that he wants to exact vengeance on Baphomet and the Breed. He takes some of the blood of Baphomet and pushes it into Decker's wound. Decker suddenly springs back to life with a scream, as Ashberry chants "Hallelujah
" over and over again.
Nightbreed was the first of a planned three-picture deal Barker had with Morgan Creek
, Joe Roth
's production company, that included an adaptation of Son of Celluloid and a sequel to Nightbreed. The first compromise Barker made was to change the title of the film from Cabal to Nightbreed because Morgan Creek insisted on a more commercial title and thought that the original one did not mean anything. He was given a budget of $11 million which was a considerable increase from the $2 million he had to work with on Hellraiser
. His goal was to make the Star Wars
of horror films. The monsters in the book are represented impressionistically over two or three paragraphs and the challenge Barker faced was to visualize them in much greater detail for the film.
and shot on location in Calgary
, Canada
. Bob Keen
and his crew had two months to play around with ideas before doing any modeling work. They used computer-controlled animatronics
but only where necessary. Towards the end of principal photography, Barker brought Star Wars concept artist Ralph McQuarrie
in to paint mattes for the Necropolis sequences and design the history of the Breed in a symbolic way on an enormous mural across a 60-foot space on the set at Pinewood to be used in the opening credits.
Barker was contractually obligated to deliver an R-rated film and could not make it as gory as his previous picture Hellraiser. Barker previewed the first cut of Nightbreed with a temporary soundtrack that did not go well as people were confused by the characters' motives. He made some changes and the second test screening was much more successful. However, the ending with Decker's death was not well-received and Barker changed it. In late July 1989, the studio announced that the release date for Nightbreed was being pushed back from its original autumn 1989 date to early February 1990 instead. The press release cited "the complex demands of the film's ground-breaking post-production optical effects", but this also included McQuarrie's mural and matte painting
s, and a week of additional shooting in late August that would see key parts of the narrative re-shot. Barker shot extra scenes over three days in Los Angeles
in late 1989 which included additional scenes with David Cronenberg which expanded and clarified his character. Barker's original version ran two-and-a-half hours and Fox asked for almost an hour to be cut prompting editor Richard Marden to leave the project in protest. Nightbreed was cut to two hours and then again to 102 minutes.
and conducted by Shirley Walker
, who wrote additional cues for the films climax and received an onscreen credit.
Danny Elfman said of his score, "Once again it was time for me to stretch out... Combining dark/fun/sweet/tribal all into one. The great joy in the score for me, other than working for Clive Barker, was being able to use the children's voices and a whole slew of ethnic drums and instruments together with an orchestra, in an attempt to bring a unique musical tone to the film."
but "not so good at selling the quirky stuff".
The studio argued that there was no point showing Nightbreed to critics because the people who see horror films do not read reviews. Therefore, the film had to be sold to the lowest common denominator. They refused to preview the film for critics which angered them.
, Caryn James wrote, “But surrounded by Mr. Barker's visual clutter and lack of narrative energy, Mr. Cronenberg's presence only highlights the difference between a gruesome but first-rate psychological horror story like Dead Ringers
and a mediocrity like Nightbreed”. Henry Mietkiewicz wrote in his review for the Toronto Star
, “Nightbreed might have been a monster movie milestone, if Clive Barker's directorial abilities had kept pace with his skill as a master of British horror fiction. Unfortunately, Nightbreed probably will be remembered as much for its haphazard plotting and underdeveloped characters as its delightfully daring concept”. Derek Malcolm wrote in his review for The Guardian
that “it is neither direct nor subtle enough as a piece of film-making. It is difficult to suggest that evil is human and monsters have souls within the context of a mountain of special effects. The result is patchy in the extreme and not always capable of transcending a genre that has become less and less intriguing as less and less is left to the imagination”. In his review for the Washington Post, Richard Harrington wrote, "Sure, the visual effects (by Image Animation) are quite wonderful, but in the end, Barker seems to have expended all his energies on masks that cannot hide the terminal deficiencies of his script".
Entertainment Weekly
magazine’s Owen Gleiberman
gave the film a “C+” rating and wrote, “Barker spins grisly fantasy out of sexual obsession, yet his style here couldn't be less obsessive. It's cluttered and rather incoherent, as though the trailers to four different horror movies had been spliced together”. However Ty Burr
, also of Entertainment Weekly, gave the film a "B" rating, writing "From the film's gothic sets, fantastic makeup, and nightmarish plot line, it's clear that Barker owes as much to Poe and Lovecraft as to classic Hollywood screamers like Island of Lost Souls. But Barker's most perverse touch is that he makes these creatures the good guys (no wonder the PR flacks were bamboozled). Despite their grotesque appearance, they're a more colorful and engaging bunch than the emissaries of the normal world. Barker piles on more subversive subtext than his story can bear — it's a monster movie, after all — but his daft, Grand Guignol vision has real power. The quality that freaked out the studio, Barker's ambition, is precisely what makes Nightbreed so impressive."
Filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky
liked the film, calling it "the first truly gay horror fantasy epic."
produced a four-issue adaptation of the film, which included significant differences from the finished movie, more closely related to Clive Barker's original script. The comic book continued to run past the end of the movie, ultimately stretching to twenty five issues before it was cancelled. A two part Hellraiser vs Nightbreed: Jihad graphic novel was also produced, featuring the Cenobites
as agents of order against their chaotic nemeses, the Nightbreed. Nightbreed returned in 1992, as a short story in the second issue of the four issue Epic anthology series.
, Amstrad CPC and DOS. The games were intended to be released as a trilogy. The first game released was called "Nightbreed, The Action Game". This was literally an action type game based on the film. The second was called "Nightbreed, The Interactive Movie". This was based on the film as well, but there was less gameplay involved and it was more of an interactive movie
type game. Due to the poor success ratings of both games, the third game was never made.
1990 in film
The year 1990 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* CGI technique is expanded with motion capture for CGI characters, used in Total Recall .* The first digitally-manipulated matte painting is used, in Die Hard 2....
American fantasy
Fantasy film
Fantasy films are films with fantastic themes, usually involving magic, supernatural events, make-believe creatures, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered to be distinct from science fiction film and horror film, although the genres do overlap...
horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
written and directed by Clive Barker
Clive Barker
Clive Barker is an English author, film director and visual artist best known for his work in both fantasy and horror fiction. Barker came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories which established him as a leading young horror writer...
, based on his 1988 novella
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
Cabal. The film features Craig Sheffer
Craig Sheffer
Craig Eric Sheffer is an American film and television actor. He is known for his leading role as Norman Maclean in the film A River Runs Through It and of Keith Scott on the television series One Tree Hill.-Early life:...
, Anne Bobby and David Cronenberg
David Cronenberg
David Paul Cronenberg, OC, FRSC is a Canadian filmmaker, screenwriter and actor. He is one of the principal originators of what is commonly known as the body horror or venereal horror genre. This style of filmmaking explores people's fears of bodily transformation and infection. In his films, the...
. The story centers in a community of mutant
Mutant
In biology and especially genetics, a mutant is an individual, organism, or new genetic character, arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is a base-pair sequence change within the DNA of a gene or chromosome of an organism resulting in the creation of a new character or trait not...
outcasts that hides from humanity, known as the "Nightbreed".
Nightbreed was a commercial and critical failure. In several interviews, Barker protested that the film company tried to sell it as a standard slasher film
Slasher film
A slasher film is a type of horror film typically involving a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a graphically violent manner, often with a cutting tool such as a knife or axe...
, and that the powers-that-be had no real working knowledge of Nightbreeds story. Since its initial theatrical release, Nightbreed has achieved cult
Cult film
A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
status.
Barker has expressed disappointment with the final cut
Final cut privilege
Final cut privilege is a film industry term, usually used when a director has contractual authority over how a film is ultimately released for public viewing.- Condition :...
and longs for the recovery of the reels so it might be re-edited. Behind the scenes
Making-of
In cinema, a making-of, also known as behind-the-scenes, is a documentary film that features the production of a film or television program...
footage of some of the lost scenes has been uncovered and can be seen at Barker's Revelations website.
Plot
A young man named Aaron Boone is plagued by dreams of a city called MidianMidian
Midian , Madyan , or Madiam is a geographical place and a people mentioned in the Bible and in the Qur'an. It is believed to be in northwest Saudi Arabia on the east shore of the Gulf of Aqaba and the northern Red Sea...
, a place where monster
Monster
A monster is any fictional creature, usually found in legends or horror fiction, that is somewhat hideous and may produce physical harm or mental fear by either its appearance or its actions...
s can go to be forgiven and accepted. As a means of coping with these recurring nightmares, and at the request of his girlfriend Lori, Boone is seeing psychotherapist
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
Dr. Phillip K. Decker, who convinces Boone that he has committed a series of gruesome murders. In reality, Decker is a serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
who dons a grotesque mask and has been murdering several families, all whom he sees as disgusting "breeders". Decker attempts to pin the blame for his killing spree on Boone. He gives Boone a bottle of lithium
Lithium
Lithium is a soft, silver-white metal that belongs to the alkali metal group of chemical elements. It is represented by the symbol Li, and it has the atomic number 3. Under standard conditions it is the lightest metal and the least dense solid element. Like all alkali metals, lithium is highly...
(actually LSD
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
) and twenty four hours to turn himself in. Boone wanders the streets in a hallucinogenic haze. He is hit by a truck and taken to a hospital. In the hospital, Boone overhears the drug addled cries of Narcisse, who is waiting for the monsters to take him to Midian. Boone makes Narcisse believe that he comes from Midian with the purpose of finding the location of it. Narcisse tells Boone the way to Midian and suddenly starts to tear the skin from his face, in order to show his "true face". Boone escapes the hospital and makes his way to Midian, an entire city standing under a massive graveyard. Boone encounters two supernatural creatures, Kinski and Peloquin, who inhabit the city. Kinski says they should take him below but Peloquin states that whereas they are "Nightbreed", Boone is a "natural" and thinks he should die. Boone pleas that he is a murderer and hence belongs with the monsters, but Peloquin says he can smell innocence and confirms that Boone is innocent. Peloquin bites Boone on the shoulder intending to devour him, but Boone manages to escape and leaves the graveyard, only to run into an entire squad of police who gun him down. At the morgue, Boone comes back to life due to Peloquin's bite, becoming a Nightbreed. He makes his way back to Midian (Narcisse has also returned). Boone is schooled in the laws of Midian and is inducted into Midian's society by Lylesburg, the leader of the Nightbreed, and is then made to touch the blood of Baphomet
Baphomet
Baphomet is an imagined pagan deity , revived in the 19th century as a figure of occultism and Satanism. It appeared as a term for a pagan idol in trial transcripts of the Inquisition of the Knights Templar in the early 14th century...
, the deity
Deity
A deity is a recognized preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by believers....
of Midian.
Lori, seeking to understand why Boone left her, resolves to investigate Midian for herself. She befriends a woman named Sheryl Anne and drives out to the cemetery. She wanders into the cemetery, leaving Sheryl Anne waiting at the car. She finds a dying creature out in the sunlight and at the pleading request of a woman named Rachel, picks it up and takes it into the shadows, where it transforms into a little girl; Rachel's daughter Babette. Lori asks after Boone, only to be rebuffed by Lylesburg, who assures her that Boone is now Nightbreed, and hence no longer part of her world. Lori tries to make her way into Midian but is scared off by Peloquin. As she leaves the cemetery, she is greeted by the sight of Sheryl Anne's body and her killer, who reveals himself as Decker. He tries to kill Lori in order to bring Boone out of hiding. Decker chases Lori back into the cemetery where he knocks Lori unconscious and attempts to kill but Boone shows up. Decker stabs him only to learn that Boone cannot be killed. Decker manages to escape and Boone takes Lori into Midian, where she regains consciousness deep inside the city. Lori is told of the history of Midian by Rachel: the monsters of lore
Lore
Lore may refer to:* Loré , a city and subdistrict in Lautém District* Lore , the region on each side of a birds face between eye and bill* Lore , a fictional android* Lore Sjöberg, an internet humourist...
were peaceful beings, hunted to near extinction by frightened and superstitious humans. Boone and Lori are then banished from Midian by Lylesburg. Meanwhile Decker interrogates a local mechanic, who once wanted to join the Nightbreed, and learns how they can die. He then murders the residents of the hotel where Boone and Lori are staying. Boone finds the murder scene, and unable to control his thirst for blood, begins to drink. The police find him and take him into custody. At Decker's urging, the local police and militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
, led by Captain Eigerman, form up a small army to attack Midian. They release a drunken priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
named Ashberry, to serve them as God's servant in the battle. Lori, Rachel, and Narcisse race to the jail to release Boone. Lori shows Boone that she loves him even as a "monster". The four head back to Midian where Boone convinces the scared Nightbreed to fight back.
During the battle, Ashberry is horrified to learn that there are women and children among the Nightbreed and tries to stop the attack but is roughly beaten down by Eigerman. Ashberry then finds the statue of Baphomet. He drops his cross and Bible and moves forward to swear allegiance, but is splashed, severely burned by the blood of Baphomet and transformed. The Nightbreed manages to fight back, but Boone learns from Lylesburg that Baphomet is going to destroy all of Midian. He tells Lylesburg to release the Berserkers, a monstrous, feral breed that were imprisoned due to their sheer insanity. Lylesburg attempts to open the cages but is killed, leaving Boone to release them. The Beserkers attack the humans furiously, turning the tide of the battle as the humans flee in fear. Boone and Decker then face each other in the burning wreckage of Midian. The two fight and Boone kills him. Boone then goes to Baphomet, who says that he has caused the end of Midian, but also that this was foretold. Baphomet charges Boone with finding a new home for the Nightbreed, and renames him Cabal. Boone makes his way out of Midian with Lori. The remaining Nightbreed meet in an old barn, and Boone says his goodbyes to Narcisse, promising that he will not forget the Nightbreed, and that he will find a place where they will all be safe. Meanwhile, in Midian, Ashberry stands infront of Decker's corpse and states that he wants to exact vengeance on Baphomet and the Breed. He takes some of the blood of Baphomet and pushes it into Decker's wound. Decker suddenly springs back to life with a scream, as Ashberry chants "Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Halleluyah, and the Latin form Alleluia are transliterations of the Hebrew word meaning "Praise Yah". The last syllable is from the first two letters of the name of God, YHWH, written JHVH in Latin). Hallelujah is found primarily in the book of Psalms...
" over and over again.
Cast
- Craig ShefferCraig ShefferCraig Eric Sheffer is an American film and television actor. He is known for his leading role as Norman Maclean in the film A River Runs Through It and of Keith Scott on the television series One Tree Hill.-Early life:...
as Aaron Boone/Cabal - Anne Bobby as Lori Desinger
- David CronenbergDavid CronenbergDavid Paul Cronenberg, OC, FRSC is a Canadian filmmaker, screenwriter and actor. He is one of the principal originators of what is commonly known as the body horror or venereal horror genre. This style of filmmaking explores people's fears of bodily transformation and infection. In his films, the...
as Dr. Philip K. Decker - Charles HaidCharles HaidCharles Maurice Haid III is an American actor and director, with notable work in both movies and television. He is known for his portrayal of Officer Andy Renko in Hill Street Blues....
as Captain Eigerman - Hugh QuarshieHugh Quarshie- Early and Personal Life :Quarshie is of mixed Ghanaian, English and Dutch ancestry and was born in Accra, Ghana, to Emma Wilhelmina and Richard Quarshie, and emigrated with his family to the United Kingdom when he was aged three...
as Detective Joyce - Hugh RossHugh RossHugh Ross may refer to:* Hugh Ross , American choral director and conductor* Hugh McGregor Ross , computing pioneer and specialist in the Gospel of Thomas...
as Narcisse - Doug BradleyDoug BradleyDouglas William "Doug" Bradley is an English actor best known for his roles in the Hellraiser film series.- Early life :Bradley was born in Liverpool, England...
as Dirk Lylesberg - Catherine Chevalier as Rachel
- Bob Sessions as Pettine
- Malcolm Smith as Ashberry
- Debora Weston as Sheryl Ann
- Oliver ParkerOliver ParkerOliver Parker is an English film director.-Biography:Parker was born in London, the son of Jillian, Lady Parker, a writer and GP , and Sir Peter Parker, formerly Chief executive of British Rail...
as Peloquin - Nicholas VinceNicholas VinceNicholas Vince was born in West Germany in 1958 and lives in South London. Whilst he was at Mountview Theatre Academy, he met Clive Barker and was later cast as The Chatterer Cenobite in Hellraiser in 1987 and in its sequel Hellbound: Hellraiser II in 1988. He also played the Chatterer II. Vince...
as Kinski
Development
Barker always loved monsters and felt that "there's a corner of all of us that envies their powers and would love to live forever, or to fly, or to change shape at will. So, when I came to make a movie about monsters, I wanted to create a world we'd feel strangely at home in". He was interested in creating a "horror mythology from the ground up" and developing characters that would live on in sequels. As he finished writing the novella Cabal, he realized that it would make a good film that he would direct himself. He originally envisioned a trilogy of films.Nightbreed was the first of a planned three-picture deal Barker had with Morgan Creek
Morgan Creek
Morgan Creek is a stream in Mono and Inyo counties of eastern California, in the western United States.It flows from the high eastern Sierra Nevada in the Inyo National Forest, through Round Valley, to its confluence with Pine Creek near the Owens River northeast of Bishop in the Owens...
, Joe Roth
Joe Roth
Joe Roth is an American film executive, producer and film director. He co-founded Morgan Creek Productions in 1987 and was chairman of 20th Century Fox , Caravan Pictures , and Walt Disney Studios before founding Revolution Studios in 2000.-Life and career:Roth was born in New York, New York,...
's production company, that included an adaptation of Son of Celluloid and a sequel to Nightbreed. The first compromise Barker made was to change the title of the film from Cabal to Nightbreed because Morgan Creek insisted on a more commercial title and thought that the original one did not mean anything. He was given a budget of $11 million which was a considerable increase from the $2 million he had to work with on Hellraiser
Hellraiser
Hellraiser is a 1987 British and American horror film based upon the novella The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker, who also wrote the screenplay and directed the film. Hellraiser explores themes of sadomasochism and morality under duress and fear. The film spawned a series of sequels...
. His goal was to make the Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
of horror films. The monsters in the book are represented impressionistically over two or three paragraphs and the challenge Barker faced was to visualize them in much greater detail for the film.
Filming
For the film, Barker used three soundstages at Pinewood StudiosPinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios is a major British film studio situated in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, approximately west of central London. The studios have played host to many productions over the years from huge blockbuster films to television shows to commercials to pop promos.The purchase of Shepperton...
and shot on location in Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Bob Keen
Bob Keen
Robert "Bob" Keen is a British film director. He has directed eight films, including The Lost World, but he has also written screenplays, as well as working on special, visual and make-up effects....
and his crew had two months to play around with ideas before doing any modeling work. They used computer-controlled animatronics
Animatronics
Animatronics is the use of mechatronics to create machines which seem animate rather than robotic. Animatronic creations include animals , plants and even mythical creatures...
but only where necessary. Towards the end of principal photography, Barker brought Star Wars concept artist Ralph McQuarrie
Ralph McQuarrie
Ralph McQuarrie is a conceptual designer and illustrator who designed Star Wars , the original Battlestar Galactica , E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Cocoon, for which he won an Academy Award....
in to paint mattes for the Necropolis sequences and design the history of the Breed in a symbolic way on an enormous mural across a 60-foot space on the set at Pinewood to be used in the opening credits.
Barker was contractually obligated to deliver an R-rated film and could not make it as gory as his previous picture Hellraiser. Barker previewed the first cut of Nightbreed with a temporary soundtrack that did not go well as people were confused by the characters' motives. He made some changes and the second test screening was much more successful. However, the ending with Decker's death was not well-received and Barker changed it. In late July 1989, the studio announced that the release date for Nightbreed was being pushed back from its original autumn 1989 date to early February 1990 instead. The press release cited "the complex demands of the film's ground-breaking post-production optical effects", but this also included McQuarrie's mural and matte painting
Matte painting
A matte painting is a painted representation of a landscape, set, or distant location that allows filmmakers to create the illusion of an environment that would otherwise be too expensive or impossible to build or visit. Historically, matte painters and film technicians have used various techniques...
s, and a week of additional shooting in late August that would see key parts of the narrative re-shot. Barker shot extra scenes over three days in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in late 1989 which included additional scenes with David Cronenberg which expanded and clarified his character. Barker's original version ran two-and-a-half hours and Fox asked for almost an hour to be cut prompting editor Richard Marden to leave the project in protest. Nightbreed was cut to two hours and then again to 102 minutes.
Soundtrack
The score was composed by Danny ElfmanDanny Elfman
Daniel Robert "Danny" Elfman is an American composer, best known for scoring music for television and film. Up until 1995, he was the lead singer and songwriter in the rock band Oingo Boingo, a group he formed in 1976...
and conducted by Shirley Walker
Shirley Walker
Shirley Walker was an American television and film composer and conductor. She was one of the few female film score composers working in Hollywood...
, who wrote additional cues for the films climax and received an onscreen credit.
Danny Elfman said of his score, "Once again it was time for me to stretch out... Combining dark/fun/sweet/tribal all into one. The great joy in the score for me, other than working for Clive Barker, was being able to use the children's voices and a whole slew of ethnic drums and instruments together with an orchestra, in an attempt to bring a unique musical tone to the film."
Track listing
- "Main Titles" – (2:40)
- "Dream" – (1:03)
- "Carnival Underground" – (3:23)
- "Into Midian" – (2:31)
- "Meat For The Beast" – (2:10)
- "Resurrection Suite" – (3:37)
- "Boone Transforms" – (0:56)
- "The Initiation" – (2:50)
- "Scalping Time" – (1:54)
- "Rachel's Oratory" – (1:04)
- "Party In The Past" – (:51)
- "Poor Babette" – (1:41)
- "Uh-Oh Decker" – (1:39)
- "Then Don't Say It!" – (1:28)
- "Boone Gets A Taste" – (2:44)
- "Breed Love" – (1:52)
- "Mayhem In Midian" – (1:43)
- "Baphomet's Chamber" – (2:01)
- "Farewell" – (0:59)
- "2nd Chance" – (1:34)
- "End Credits" – (4:33)
- "Country Skin" (Performed by Michael Stanton) – (4:15)
Marketing
According to Barker, the studio did not promote it well with posters that misinterpreted the content. When he saw the way they were selling Nightbreed, he "freaked out and said, 'What you doing? This isn't the movie, and was given all kinds of excuses ... 'Well, there isn't time to change it, we have to release it now'". The head of marketing at Morgan Creek never watched all the way through because it "disgusted and distressed" him, according to Barker. The studio did not understand it, it had no movie stars, it was violent, and it had elements of fantasy and horror which they saw as a weakness while Barker saw it as a strength. They ended up marketing Nightbreed as a slasher film with television teasers that were confusing and did not represent it. The trailer was sent to the MPAA and it was rejected 12 times. They forbid any monster footage and it was cut down to someone being terrorized with a razor which constituted only five minutes of Barker's film. Looking back, Barker realized that Fox was better at promoting films like White Men Can't JumpWhite Men Can't Jump
White Men Can't Jump is a 1992 American sports comedy drama film starring Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes as streetball hustlers, co-starring Rosie Perez...
but "not so good at selling the quirky stuff".
The studio argued that there was no point showing Nightbreed to critics because the people who see horror films do not read reviews. Therefore, the film had to be sold to the lowest common denominator. They refused to preview the film for critics which angered them.
Critical response
Nightbreed was not well-received by critics. In her review for The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Caryn James wrote, “But surrounded by Mr. Barker's visual clutter and lack of narrative energy, Mr. Cronenberg's presence only highlights the difference between a gruesome but first-rate psychological horror story like Dead Ringers
Dead Ringers (film)
Dead Ringers is a 1988 psychological horror film starring Jeremy Irons in a dual role as identical twin gynecologists. Director David Cronenberg co-wrote the screenplay with Norman Snider; their script was based on the novel Twins by Bari Wood and Jack Geasland...
and a mediocrity like Nightbreed”. Henry Mietkiewicz wrote in his review for the Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
, “Nightbreed might have been a monster movie milestone, if Clive Barker's directorial abilities had kept pace with his skill as a master of British horror fiction. Unfortunately, Nightbreed probably will be remembered as much for its haphazard plotting and underdeveloped characters as its delightfully daring concept”. Derek Malcolm wrote in his review for The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
that “it is neither direct nor subtle enough as a piece of film-making. It is difficult to suggest that evil is human and monsters have souls within the context of a mountain of special effects. The result is patchy in the extreme and not always capable of transcending a genre that has become less and less intriguing as less and less is left to the imagination”. In his review for the Washington Post, Richard Harrington wrote, "Sure, the visual effects (by Image Animation) are quite wonderful, but in the end, Barker seems to have expended all his energies on masks that cannot hide the terminal deficiencies of his script".
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
magazine’s Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman is an American film critic for Entertainment Weekly, a position he has held since the magazine's launch in 1990. From 1981–89, he worked at the Boston Phoenix....
gave the film a “C+” rating and wrote, “Barker spins grisly fantasy out of sexual obsession, yet his style here couldn't be less obsessive. It's cluttered and rather incoherent, as though the trailers to four different horror movies had been spliced together”. However Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Ty Burr has been a film critic for the Boston Globe since 2002 where he reviews films alongside Wesley Morris.Born in 1957, he studied film at Dartmouth College and New York University and has written three books: The Hundred Greatest Movies of All Time, The Hundred Greatest Stars of All Time and...
, also of Entertainment Weekly, gave the film a "B" rating, writing "From the film's gothic sets, fantastic makeup, and nightmarish plot line, it's clear that Barker owes as much to Poe and Lovecraft as to classic Hollywood screamers like Island of Lost Souls. But Barker's most perverse touch is that he makes these creatures the good guys (no wonder the PR flacks were bamboozled). Despite their grotesque appearance, they're a more colorful and engaging bunch than the emissaries of the normal world. Barker piles on more subversive subtext than his story can bear — it's a monster movie, after all — but his daft, Grand Guignol vision has real power. The quality that freaked out the studio, Barker's ambition, is precisely what makes Nightbreed so impressive."
Filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky
Alejandro Jodorowsky
Alejandro Jodorowsky Prullansky, known as Alejandro Jodorowsky, is a Chilean filmmaker, playwright, actor, author, comic book writer and spiritual guru...
liked the film, calling it "the first truly gay horror fantasy epic."
Box office
Nightbreed was released on February 16, 1990 in 1,488 theaters, grossing $3.7 million on its opening weekend. It went on to make $8.8 million in North America, below its $11 million budget.Accolades
| Award | Category | Recipients and nominees | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saturn Award Saturn Award The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed in 1972, who felt that films within... s |
Best Horror Film | Nightbreed | |
| Best Director | Clive Barker | ||
| Best Make-Up | Bob Keen, Geoffrey Portass | ||
| Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival | Silver Scream Award | Clive Barker | |
| Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival | Special Jury Award | Clive Barker | |
| Fantasporto Fantasporto Fantasporto, also known as Fantas, is an international film festival, annually organized since 1981 in Porto, Portugal. Giving screen space to commercial feature films, auteur films and experimental projects from all over the world, Fantasporto has created enthusiastic audiences, ranging from... |
Critics' Award | Clive Barker | |
| International Fantasy Film Award | Best Film - Clive Barker |
Comic books
In 1990, to tie in with the film's box office release, Epic ComicsEpic Comics
Epic Comics was a creator-owned imprint of Marvel Comics started in 1982, lasting through the mid-1990s, and being briefly revived on a small scale in the mid-2000s.- Origins :...
produced a four-issue adaptation of the film, which included significant differences from the finished movie, more closely related to Clive Barker's original script. The comic book continued to run past the end of the movie, ultimately stretching to twenty five issues before it was cancelled. A two part Hellraiser vs Nightbreed: Jihad graphic novel was also produced, featuring the Cenobites
Cenobite (Hellraiser)
The Cenobites are extradimensional beings who appear in the works of Clive Barker, including the novella The Hellbound Heart and the nine Hellraiser films...
as agents of order against their chaotic nemeses, the Nightbreed. Nightbreed returned in 1992, as a short story in the second issue of the four issue Epic anthology series.
Video games
Two videogames based on the film were released on the Commodore Amiga shortly after the movie's release. Loosely following the same plot, it intersperses various action sequences. A traditional action game was also released for the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX SpectrumZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
, Amstrad CPC and DOS. The games were intended to be released as a trilogy. The first game released was called "Nightbreed, The Action Game". This was literally an action type game based on the film. The second was called "Nightbreed, The Interactive Movie". This was based on the film as well, but there was less gameplay involved and it was more of an interactive movie
Interactive movie
An interactive movie is a video game that features highly cinematic presentation and heavy use of scripting, often through the use of full-motion video of either animated or live-action footage.-Philosophy:...
type game. Due to the poor success ratings of both games, the third game was never made.