Cheap Nightbreed (DVD) (Craig Sheffer, David Cronenberg) (Clive Barker) Price

Related Products

Customer Reviews of Nightbreed

slick
Heres a really cool looking movie that just misses 5 stars. If only it darkened the mood and played up the sinister aspects instead of the fantasy...oh well. Its still excellent. The story involves boone and his belief that he is responsible for a series of murders. Through a bizarre turn of events, he seeks out midian, "where the monsters live..." for refuge. But there is someone else who also seeks out midian, the evil "buttonhead", whos mission is to destroy midian and those who dwell there.
As with other clive barker films, there is more than meets the eye here. Moral issues about what constitutes humanity and who the real monsters are are fleshed out as the film progresses. The film lacks a central protagonist (such as Pinhead in hellraiser or NIx in Lord of Illusions) and instead opts to focus on mankind as the force that drives the film. Barker holds up the mirror and we can see ourselves both in man and in the breed.
The Dvd Is clear and crisp, with the score really standing out. There isn't a whole lot in the way of features other than a theatrical trailer and some cast notes.

---

Finally, one of the greatest imaginative films gets its due!
Clive Barker's "Nightbreed," unfortunately still truncated by twenty mintutes (please release a director's cut!) reigns as one of horror's most creative films (along with Clive's other two directorial efforts, "Hellraiser" and "Lord of Illusions"). And at last we get to see a pristine, widescreen transfer of the film. A movie that focuses on a familiar Barker theme, where the real monsters are the humans (like in his new novel "Coldheart Canyon") and is permeated with perverse creations that could only come from one of the world's great imaginations. Open your mind, buy this movie, and experience one of the great horror opuses. Oh yeah, David Cronenberg is chillingly funny as Dr. Decker.

---

WILL DVD EVER EMBRACE THE TRIBES OF THE MOON?
Clive Barker's film NIGHTBREED is not your standard exercise in horror, but rather a surrealistic trip into a fantasy world laced with elements of the genre his work is generally attributed with. As opposed to the typical monster movie, this film's story presents a moralistic flip-side...the monsters from our darkest fears are actually good in comparison to the prejudice humans who seek to destroy what they do not understand.

The movie is an adaptation of Barker's own novel, CABAL, and interestingly enough it both succeeds and fails in presenting his original story. The film actually improves upon the presentation of the monsters. The book never really fleshed them out in any way other than giving them names, never bothering to go into any types of description. Barker as a director has a very visual eye though, and the film is beautiful to look at. One can only imagine what he could do with a larger budget! Director David Cronenberg is on hand to play the notorious Dr. Decker, and he does a very good job in a role that seems to have been made for him. Composer Danny Elfman provides a unique score for the movie as well that retains the feeling of having ventured into another world. The awesome wall hieroglyphics seen during the film's opening credits, which tell the history of the Breed, were created by none other than famed conceptual artist Ralph McQuarrie! The film was an ambitious project at the time and was touted as being the most expensive horror film to date. It was budgeted at $11 million, which may be considered expensive for a "horror" film, but is actually relatively cheap (even back then) for a story of this scale.

Unfortunately, the monsters themselves are a big disappointment overall. Yes, the main characters are well done. The monstrous Peloquin is everyone's favorite. Boone, the porcupine-like Shuna Sassi, the broken stone god Baphomet, and the devilish Lude are all nicely designed monsters. The remaining monsters are all made up of simple freaks of nature with twisted mouths or faces, different skin color, or simply individuals that are simply into acting weird and perverted. Kinski's moon shaped head is simply laughable, as are many of the goofball designs presented here. The denizens of Midian, being a city where the monsters go, should have at least somewhat represented a few more creatures of legend such as werewolves or vampires to name a few. The book describes ghostly apparitions that burst forth from the tombs and fly off into the night sky during the finale. That would have been really great to see. Sadly, it never happens in the film. A campy element infiltrates the proceedings from time to time, which dulls the effect of the overall proceedings. A more serious take throughout would have made a world of difference!

The movie veers off into a different direction several times as opposed to the book. Some of these diversions are actually an improvement to the original story, while some are not. By the end, several key developments are completely different, such as certain characters who survive in the book die in the film, and vice versa. Mr. Barker has often spoke of continuing both the books and the film adaptations, but one has to wonder exactly how he could have done so when key elements at the conclusion of this introductory story are so different from book to screen! It would seem to me that this series would have ended up being completely different entities altogether in their respective mediums had they both continued. Even in light of the missing twenty minutes of footage that has yet to be restored to the film, these changes would still be evident for the most part.

This DVD release by Warner Brothers is extremely disappointing. First, they offer up only the theatrical preview as a bonus supplement. Second, the film is not presented in it's true widescreen format. I just compared it scene by scene to my laserdisc and the DVD is definitely presenting us with the full screen presentation, which features black bars covering the top and bottom of the picture in order to mimic the widescreen format. I bought this DVD to see the film in widescreen for the first time since theatres, but I got cheated, What exactly is the point of doing this?? Well, at least they were good enough to clean up the picture, remaster the soundtrack in Dolby Digital 5.1, and give us an interactive menu! I hope that one day in the future Fox Studios will see fit to grant Clive Barker the chance to restore his original vision in the long rumored director's cut of the film. Mr. Barker deserves this chance, as do his fans!

The movie gets 3 ½ stars, this DVD release gets 2 stars!