At the request of his girlfriend Lori, Aaron Boone begins visiting a shrink by the name of Dr. Phillip Decker. The troubled man has confessed to dreaming of an area called Midian, where monsters roam freely and, instead of being shunned, are accepted. Through manipulation and heavy drug use, the doctor convinces Aaron that he has actually committed multiple homicides that has plagued the news lately, leading to him running and searching for his dream utopia so that he may escape from this reality. When he happens upon a graveyard seemingly in the middle of nowhere, he discovers that Midian is in fact a new world beneath the burial grounds, though the residents are not too fond of normal humans trespassing and making their way below.
Clive Barker's cult classic Nightbreed may have been my most anticipated pick of the season. Initially released in the early months of 1990, the film was considered to be a commercial and critical flop, with some folks curious as to how and why this came from the same mind that created the more beloved first two installments in the Hellraiser franchise (a.k.a. the only two worth watching more than once). Over the years, many have attributed this failure to a number of problems, including heavy editing (there are THREE different cuts of this movie out there, with two being more easily accessible to the general public) and a marketing campaign that presented it as just another "slasher" picture. For any single person who wasn't sitting around playing with their cat's turds, we were aware that its proper classification is more akin to a darker fantasy epic with strong horror overtones, not a "blood and guts galore" knockoff of less sophisticated titles. I mean, if Stephen King can write a lengthy piece of macabre literature like It, who says he that isn't allowed to also pen something such as Stand By Me?
Mind you, I'm not going to say that Nightbreed met my expectations or exceeded them. In fact, for as many things that I could praise Barker's second directorial effort for doing right, it does just an average job on something else in return. Yes, Craig Sheffer (One Tree Hill....maybe the only time you'll see that show's name appear on here) and Anne Bobby are rather enjoyable as our two leads and lovebirds, but they seem to feel like the only rounded characters in the entire plot. Noted director David Cronenberg actually decides to get up from sitting down in the chair and decides to participate in more than just a cameo, turning in a rather odd, if not slightly obvious performance as Boone's psychotherapist who may or may not be living a bloody double life himself. The "breed" themselves seem to be having a rollocking good time, and while they are somewhat one-dimensional as the "sympathetic, misunderstood beasts," I often found myself sad whenever they weren't on screen. Hell, maybe that's what it was like to have an imaginary friend when you were a child. I wouldn't know though; mine grew up and moved out after I told them I liked Predator more than The Terminator and Bret Hart more than Shawn Michaels............what?
I was not surprised in the slightest to find that Doug Bradley (Hellraiser) has a small role in Nightbreed, as I'm almost certain that he and Mr. Barker are good friends and would want one another to achieve as much success as possible. One name that I did NOT expect to see was composer Danny Elfman (Batman, Beetlejuice), who turns in a pretty darn great score that is just ripe with personality, accentuating and enhancing the more fun and daring parts of the movie, while inserting hints of the more calming and gothic tone that could only be fitting for a Clive Barker work. Truth be told, the more technical and practical aspects of Nightbreed are what I think warrant the most attention from cinephiles. There are at least fifteen, yes FIFTEEN people who worked in the makeup department here, and though I'm far too tired to list them all, they all deserve praise for creating some absolutely wonderful monsters and set pieces (one particular lead's first exploration of the underground world of Midian is a glorified showcase for creations of all sorts). At an early point on in the film, Boone is given heavy psychedelics by Decker, and there are many moments during which you can't tell if he ever truly came down from his "trip," especially when you see women that have quills sprouting from their bodies or people who can turn into smoke. It is wildly inventive, making you wonder if toy companies such as NECA would ever decide to do a line based on this property.
Nightbreed is definitely far from perfect, but it's a very compelling experience that still ends up very watchable in the end, driven by an intriguing story and great imagery that only someone as bizarre as Clive Barker himself could imagine. I'm often guilty of repeating things during Unseen Terror entries (then again, I believe most people who write about motion pictures are), but I really would like to watch this again sometime in the near future, with my preference going to its mysterious "Cabal" cut that is apparently only available to the general public through very select festival screenings. If you are so inclined, the "Director's Cut" of Nightbreed is available to watch on Netflix Instant Streaming. Speaking of said cut, you can also order it from Shout! Factory on Blu-Ray and DVD HERE and HERE.
And hell, it beats sitting through Lord Of Illusions again.
Tomorrow, we go forward to 1991, and we take a look at an obscure gem directed by....one of the guys from Porky's?! Yeah, okay, why not.....
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