Official Synopsis
“Boone (Craig Sheffer) may be a troubled young man, but his troubles are just beginning. Set up as the fall guy in a string of slasher murders, he decides he’ll hide by crossing the threshold that separates “us” from “them” and sneak into the forbidden subterranean real of Midian. Boone will live among the monsters.”
For the first time we get to experience the entire film the way Clive Barker intended, with an additional forty minutes of extra footage added in, putting this bad boy at two hours and forty minutes. The official synopsis above doesn’t give this the justice it deserves. There is A LOT going on here, a lot to keep track of, and the additional forty minutes doesn’t help matters either.
As hard as it may be to summarize this film into one neat paragraph, categorizing the genre is hard to do as well. Is this a horror film? A monster movie? It has elements from several different genres that actually blend quite well and create something very unique and entertaining from start to finish.
We start off seeing Boone as a ‘bad boy’ persona, but perhaps he has the right to feel like the world owes him something. Every night he has terrible, vivid nightmares about hideous monsters who inhabit an underground city called Midian.
If that isn’t enough, his doctor is David Cronenberg. Playing Doctor Philip K. Decker, an obvious play on Philip K. Dick and his main character in the story which turned into Blade Runner, Cronenberg offers an puzzling choice as the main antagonist of the picture. Cronenberg has brought us some of the most grotesque and shocking scenes in cinematic history, but he doesn’t do the same for his performance. The motivations of his character are confusing, and half the time don’t make any sense.
Thanks to a false tip from Dr. Decker, Boone is cast under suspicion for the murders of several families. Does Boone hire a lawyer? Present an alibi? No, he does the only thing a troubled young rebel without a cause could possibly think of: find sanctuary in a place he has only dreamed about– Midian.
Boone finds Midian– a massive graveyard, perfect sanctuary from the law. Once inside he quickly notices something isn’t right, the fact that a demon looking creature, and a guy with a crescent shaped head are running around might have tipped him off. In an altercation with the monsters, he is bitten, forever changed and destined to be a creature of the night.
There are some people who can’t accept his disappearance. The police, obviously, his ‘lover’ Lori (Anne Bobby), and Dr. Decker. They all begin to search for Boone, risking the exposure of an underground sanctuary for strange creatures.
This film is very grand in its ideas and story, and thanks to the extra forty minutes we get to see a lot more of it. Nightbreed is a lot of fun, unique in its concept and creatures. The only thing I found out of place in a film full of vastly different monsters was Cronenberg’s character. The role of the antagonist shifts toward the end of the film, and you simply wonder why he is even still there. The theme, however, still rings true. Man is the true monster.
Video
Nightbreed is presented in 1080p 1.78:1, mastered in high definition from the original camera negative. The transfer is great, little to no defects noticeable. At times the picture looks rather soft and grainy, but doesn’t detract from the fact that this is the best treatment this film has received.
Audio
Here we’re going to get DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Danny Elfman’s score sounds fantastic, as do the countless explosions at the end of the film that seem to never stop.
Extras
The forty minutes of additional footage alone makes the extras on this set worth every penny. However, for Shout! Factory that simply isn’t enough. On this set you’re also going to see:
Tribes of the Moon: The Making of Nightbreed
Making Monsters: Interviews with Makeup Effects Artists
Theatrical Trailer
Fire! Fights! Stunts! 2nd Unit Shooting
Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Clive Barker and Restoration Producer Mark Alan Miller
Overall, if you’re a fan of the film this is a no-brainer. This is the best treatment this film has ever received, and is the true vision of Clive Barker. First time viewers will appreciate the change in the typical monster movie structure. The monsters are the heroes.
