Nightbreed: The Directorâs Cut
Clive Barker is certainly one of the greatest authors in the history of horror fiction and (while not necessarily a walking human franchise maker like Stephen King is) has certainly seen a fair number of his literary works translated into cinema gold, most notably Hellraiser (which he himself directed) and its first couple of sequels. In 1990 he directed another one of his books (that being Cabal) into a movie that was heavily hyped for a time as being the âStar Wars Of Monster Moviesâ, not to mention something that was being prepped for an entire franchise featuring ongoing sequels documenting the main groupâs continuing struggles. Unfortunately, the studio had other ideas, cutting nearly 20 minutes out of the movie, forcing Barker to redo and reshoot several scenes, and even falsely promoting it as more of a generic slasher movie rather than as the monsterfest that it was intended to be (although in all fairness the slasher element was still an important part of the story, albeit not the main one). It wasnât until 2014 that Barker was allowed to reedit the film using the newly rediscovered footage to make more of what he had intended it to be, an audacious concept where the admittedly gruesome monster characters were depicted as being the noble, heroic figures and the human ânaturalsâ as the more sadistic, evil, depraved types without neither honor nor scruples who wanted nothing more then to hunt down those who are different then them for just that very reason. Of course, a large number of allegories or metaphors can be drawn from various events in our own world whether it be from black people in the civil rights movement to gay / transgenders fighting to use whichever bathrooms they please (keeping in mind that Barker IS a gay man). However this movie smartly leaves out any overt, direct references to such real life scenarios in order to prevent anyone from making an inaccurate correlation (unlike Bryan Singer who did just that with his X Men films) and just lets these creatures get their groove on in all of their grotesque glory without doing anything that can be considered morally questionable unless itâs in self defense. Instead, it focuses on the tangled web of those who resent the âpowerâ that belonging to this group entails and thus setting elaborate plans in motion in order to put an end to it. Craig Sheffer (a guy who had starring roles in a LOT of well known movies but yet still never made the A list in spite of that) stars as Aaron Boone, a well meaning mechanic with a small time pop singer girlfriend (Anne Bobby) who nonetheless suffers from horrific nightmares featuring many of the denizens of Mideon (the monsterâs hideout underneath a cemetary) whom he has never actually met. He makes the mistake of consulting a psychiatrist (David Cronenberg, well assured as being one of the top 5 greatest horror directors to ever live here doing a rare straight up acting gig) who seems to be caring and understanding of his plight but is actually harboring a much darker secret. It turns out that Cronenbergâs Dr. Decker is actually an honest to God serial killer in his own right (thus is where the slasher element is incorporated) who goes around butchering entire families (all while wearing a bizarre mask) for a purpose that appears to be twofold which is to first completely and utterly frame his own patient Boone (who is stated to have had some history of violent behavior but has never been criminally charged) so that he may not only be hunted down but also lead the authorities straight to Mideon while doing so and secondly (though not nearly as clear) because the families themselves might possibly be potential Nightbreed still in human form and thus killing them now prevents them from ever joining the ranks later. Indeed, one story flaw that is never adequately explained despite Cronenbergâs consistently creepy and understated performance is what is the Decker characterâs exact motivation for why he feels such an intense personal need to destroy the Nightbreed and wipe them off the planet, with theories ranging anywhere from him being some kind of a renegade Breed himself to him being literally The Devil or even Death Incarnate (or at least being crazy enough himself to think that he is), but Cronenbergâs own smooth as silk stylings in the acting realm here makes him all that more compelling as a villain even if we canât quite get a handle on that. Boone eventually does escape and makes his way to Mideon, an impressive subterranean marvel of set design where he meets most of the other important characters including Lylesberg The Lawgiver (Hellraiserâs Doug Bradley doing some very solid work), Narcisse (Hugh Ross), at first a seemingly crazy âactorâ who rips his own face off in order to show what he is underneath, Rachel (Catherine Chevalier), a seductive shapeshifter, Peloquin (Oliver Parker), a beastly and masculine type who at times openly mocks the âlawâ that his people have plus everything else from a porcupine woman to a fat guy with snakes in his belly to a demonic looking devil creature whoâs actually pretty amicable along with several others who only get a few seconds of screen time particularly during the filmâs best scene when Booneâs girlfriend tracks him down to Mideon and proceeds to walk alone (although she is allowed to by Lylesberg who still forbids her verbally) down into their world so that she can see for herself what these beings are all about, including a brief flashback history lesson where it is gently implied that Christian minded types were the ones who had tortured and persecuted them down to the scarce numbers which they have now. Meanwhile, Decker has also made his way to the area and (along with butchering several of the innocent locals for his own fun and amusement as well as continuing to frame his intended target) started rounding up allies for an impending offensive on the cemetary where Mideon is located, including the local police captain (Charles Haid), an apparently VERY far right wing type who comes complete with his own hillbilly lynch mob / elite fighting force who call themselves the âSons Of The Freeâ and are extremely armed, prepared, and ready to march into Mideon in order to blast and slaughter these freakos back to wherever they came from. They also drag along a drunken priest (Malcolm Smith) and implore him to bring with him his âbibles and crosses and whatever the hell else it is that you people useâ in order to somehow justify their hateful, mindless actions as being some kind of a holy crusade. And then weâre on to the big battle sequence where all kinds of hell breaks loose even as the priest himself tells Haid that there is no evil here and thus no reason or justification for what he is doing before that same priest descends down into the bowels of Mideon in order to seek whatever god it is that they worship. And indeed, that god turns out to be Baphomet (a real life known figure in a number of actual pagan religions) who appears to be a statue that comes to life whenever he has something important to say. And the importance of this whole ordeal (as well as the story itself) is that Boone is some sort of a prophesized figure who was meant to bring on the destruction of Mideon so that he can lead the survivors on a pilgrimage for a new home and refuge where they can once again be safe from the uncaring world at large and be left to their own devices, a message both still relevant today and yet also one which does call for a better sense of humanity amongst our own ranks, as we must concede that for all of their bizarre and sometimes disgusting ways, these creatures are still of a certain moral and humane fiber which the freakishly evil real monsters and animals like the mass murdering Decker (despite his suave outer appearance) can only dream of being, not to mention Haidâs extremist law enforcement officer who is so hateful that he even continues firing his (now empty) pistol at his own men who are fleeing in retreat while he curses them for cowards. Even in its completed Directorâs Cut form, Barker may not have made a perfect movie or even a great one, but he definitely made one with a lot of great makeup effects and a searing message about the differences between right and wrong values or even just unique onesâŚ
8/10