User Reviews

Directed by Clive Barker and based on his 1988 novella Cabal, this movie was a commercial and critical failure. Barker has always claimed that the producers tried to sell the film as a run of the mill slasher, when it is anything but. In 2014, he finally was able to release a director's cut that fixed many of his issues.

Aaron Boone (Craig Sheffer, Fire in the Sky) dreams of a place called Midian where monsters are accepted. His girlfriend Lori has convinced him to start seeing a psychotherapist named Dr. Phillip Decker, who is ably played by David Cronenberg of all people. All along, Decker has been setting Boone up for the murders that he's been committing, giving his LSD instead of lithium and filling his head with details of the murders.

Decker urges Boone to turn himself in, but he's hit by a truck and sent to the hospital where he meets Narcisse, another man who knows about Midian. He explains to Boone how to get to the hidden story while he cuts off his own face.

Boone makes his way to Midian, where he meets the creatures who make it their home like Kinski (Nicholas Vince, the Chattering Cenobite from Hellraiser) and Peloquin, a demonic creature who smells Boone's innocence, letting him know that there's no way that the murders could have been his doing. He bites Boone, who runs into a police trap led by Decker and is shot and killed.

He'd be dead if it wasn't for Peloquin's bite. Soon, he returns to life in the morgue while his girlfriend decides to come looking for Midian herself. Boone becomes part of the Nightbreed thanks to their leader Dirk Lylesburg (Doug Bradley, Pinhead himself) and from the touch of their god, Baphomet.

What follows is a battle between the police and clergy versus the Nightbreed, ending with Boone rallying the supernatural creatures and destroying their home to stop the attacks. Decker is stopped, Baphomet discusses that this was all part of the prophecy and he renames Boone Cabal.

There are two different endings of the film, depending on the original and director's cut that change the story significantly. One raises Decker from the dead while another places Lori into the Nightbreed. Both set the stage for further adventures that never happened, sadly.

Barker wanted this to be the Star Wars of horror films and envisioned a trilogy of stories. But the film wasn't marketed well and never made back its budget. Barker said that the producers expressed a concern that "the monsters are the good guys," to which he replied, "That's the point."

Marvel's Epic imprint put out several comic books and there were serveral video games, but soon the film slided away into obscurity, Luckily, with the excitement around the director's and Cabal cuts of the film being released, SyFy, Morgan Creek and Barker have announced an entirely new series based on the movie.

Interestingly enough, Filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky spoked well of Nightbreed, calling it "the first truly gay horror fantasy epic", as he saw the movie being all about the "unconsummated relationship between doctor and patient."

There are plenty of music ties in this film, as the role of Ohnaka was first intended for singer Marc Almond and Suzi Quatro was in the film, but her scenes were cut. It's also one of the first films that Danny Elfman scored after Batman. Barker stated that "The most uncompromised portion of that entire movie is the score."

Nightbreed has more than held up, reminding me of the convention season of 1990 when you could see buttons and shirts of this movie everywhere. My excitement was at a fever pitch and I thought, "This is going to be huge." Shows how smart I was.

A masked serial-killer is slaughtering families. Meanwhile, the youngster Aaron Boone (Craig Sheffer) has nightmares with monsters in a place called Midian. He has therapy with the psychiatric Dr. Philip K. Decker (David Cronenberg) and his girlfriend Lori Winston (Anne Bobby) wants to travel on vacation with him. When Aaron visits Dr. Decker for a session, the doctor convinces him that he is a serial-killer and asks Aaron to turn himself in to the police. He also gives a medication to calm him down. However it is indeed a hallucinogen and Aaron is hit by a truck. He awakes in a hospital where he shares a room with the insane Narcisse (Hugh Ross). When he overhears the man talking about Midian, Aaron learns the direction to reach the place. He heads to the place and finds that Midian is a cemetery. Further, there are monsters hidden from the humans in the underground and is bitten by Peloquin (Oliver Parker). Aaron flees from the monsters and finds Dr. Decker, Detective Joyce (Hugh Quarshie) and a team of police officers waiting for him outside the cemetery. Decker lies and yells that Aaron has a gun and he is murdered by the police. However the bite revives him and he goes to Midian, where he joins a society of monsters hidden in the underground. Meanwhile Lori is seeking him out while Decker wants to destroy the ancient breed of monsters.

"Nightbreed" is a cult-horror-fantasy film by Clive Barker. The film is highly entertaining but screenplay has an abrupt beginning and a deceptive conclusion. The DVD I saw does not have an alternate ending in accordance with the director's cut, but the description gives a perfect conclusion to this film. Aaron says goodbye to Lori, but she suicides and resurrects as a Nightbreed. There is no resurrection of Decker and Ashberry kills Eigerman that is seeking revenge. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Raça das Trevas" ("Darkness Breed")

Note: On 19 July 2020, I saw this film again.

Troubled young man Aaron Boone (a likeable and passable performance by Craig Sheffer) gets set up as a serial killer by cunning and deranged psychiatrist Dr. Philip K. Decker (well played with chilling understatement by noted film director David Cronenberg). However, it turns out Boone is actually a monster messiah in disguise who Decker is using as a means of finding a mythical creature Shangri-La called Midian.

Writer/director Clive Barker delivers a potent and provocative horror/fantasy allegory on mankind's cruelty, hatred, and intolerance towards anyone or anything different that goes outside man's ability to understand and subsequently accept. Moreover, Barker presents a dazzling array of monsters that are exotic, grotesque, sympathetic, and wholly convincing: The magical underground world of Midian and its colorful inhabitants are both beautifully realized.

In addition, it's acted with zeal by an able cast: Anne Bobby as Boone's concerned girlfriend Lori Winston, Charles Haid as hateful bigot Captain Eigerman, Hugh Quarshie as the pragmatic Detective Joyce, Hugh Ross as the raucous Narcisse, Doug Bradley as peaceful Moses-like leader Dirk Lylesberg, Catherine Chevalier as the alluring Rachel, Oliver Parker as the ferocious Peloquin, and Malcolm Smith as weak drunken priest Ashberry. Popping up in nifty small roles are John Agar as an ill-fated gas station owner, prolific British bit player Harry Fielder as the redneck who gets taken out by little black demon Devil Lude, and splatterpunk writers John Skipp and Craig Spector as a couple of bloodied dead bodies in a hotel room. Robin Vidgeon's vibrant cinematography offers a wealth of stunning visuals. Danny Elfman's robust and majestic orchestral score hits the rousing spot. A superior creature feature.

It is interesting to see what people think of this movie, since it is, in fact, quite unique (though it bears some of the trademarks of Clive Barker's writing). Even though it might seem a bit cynical to say so, the movie is just intricate enough to deflect those that need standard Hollywood plot hooks, and layered, so that if you expect to be fed, you will see a normal monster flick with lots of monsters and a disjointed plot.

Those who need a linear, specific and untangled plot line will hate this movie, because the story lies, like in the novella, partially between the lines, or in this case, partially off screen, in comments and the imagination.

Another possible hang-up is the ending, of which I can say, without spoiling it, that it is not entirely good and not entirely bad. It is, in fact, not very defined at all, which I know sends some people into raging tantrums about that they didn't get to know what happened, but to me, and to many others, I'm sure, just adds another dimension to the story - the dimension of speculation, and, in addition, the point that great disruption has a tendency to cause ripples that extend quite far.

There is definitely moral here, but of a rather different kind than the standard Hollywood in-your-face-at-the-end-of-the-movie sort of display. Summing that moral up is simple, even though it is not quite that simply displayed; prejudice and the human tendency to hate the different.

I love this movie, even though, as many of the reviewers have noted, the expressions of the actors (with the exception of David Cronenberg, who does a wonderful appearance) are rather tacky. I'm not sure they are entirely to blame for their rickety appearance and lack of depth, though, seeing that these are common problems in converting literature to screenplay.

All in all, this is a great movie, provided that you do not expect it to be a standard horror movie.

This Clive Barker catastrophe was based upon his book "Cabal." A cabal is a small group of secret plotters, as against a government or person in authority. Don't expect the movie to be about that.

It's a Calgary, Canada crapfest that's somehow a freakish love story where a priest abandons his faith and a girl stabs herself in the stomach to join the ranks of the undead. Because, you know... love and crap. Dumbass YA's and the irrevocable decisions they make because they're too damn dumb to think long term.

This pile of Canadian goose poo would have us believe that a doctor accompanies police to apprehend serial killers. And that the doctor, not the police would be the first to engage said killer. And that when the doctor shouts, "He's got a gun!" the police just unload everything they've got into said suspect.

"Nightbreed" was bad enough to make me catatonic with bewilderment at how dumb it all was. The Nightbreeds were monsters, or mutants, or some species of creatures that ranged from very human to very alien. They lived in a cemetery called Midian. What once was a closely guarded secret with no admittance allowed became a well-known nightclub with no security at the door.

Because of a series of absurd events resulting in the main character, Aaron Boone (not the ex-NY Yankee) (Craig Sheffer), being dead and in jail, Midian became Hamburger Hill. It was the "naturals" versus the... unnaturals I guess... with the naturals having the edge with firepower and the Monstars (yes I'm making them a Space Jam basketball team) having the edge with mutant abilities.

Boone leads the underground shapeshifters to victory, immortalizes his irritating shadow of a girlfriend, and fulfills his destiny. He was the Luke Skywalker of horrible horrors. Now, excuse me while I try to go purge my memory before I lose my mind.

Aaron Boone (Craig Sheffer) keeps having dreams about strange creatures and a cemetery. His loving girlfriend Lori (Anne Bobby) stays with him because she loves him. Psychiatrist Philip Deeker (David Cronenberg) is trying to help Aaron...or is he? Aaron is killed and then the nightbreed (a breed of undead creatures) make him one of their own. It all ends up with an all out war.

As everyone knows this film is a disaster. Before it was released the studio (20th Century Fox) cut out almost 30 MINUTES out of the film much to the fury of writer/producer/director Clive Barker. What's left is a very interesting movie which (sadly) has huge gaps in the plot and very choppy editing. I blame the studio for this--not Barker. Also it was horribly advertised and died quickly. It DOES have some glaring faults--there was also a hilarious continuity error in which Lori is being chased in a graveyard and it goes from day to night and back to day again! Also Sheffer is lousy in his role and the ending was just horrible. I caught it in a theatre back in 1990. It WAS confusing and a mess but there was (and is) a lot of good material there to see what MIGHT have been.

The story lacked a real strong back story about the Nightbreed (I attribute this to the editing) but you understand enough to get the plot. The makeup and sound effects are excellent and Danny Elfman provides a GREAT score to the movie. Also there's impressive set designs--especially with Deeker's lair and the Nightbreed's home. Also the movie makes you feel for the Nightbreed at the end and puts the audience firmly on their side--NOT an easy thing to do. Sheffer aside the acting is great by everybody. The actors playing the Nightbreed seem to be having a whale of a time even though they have tons of makeup on. Also Bobby has nothing to do but whine and search for Aaron--but she pulls it off. Also look for Doug Bradley (Pinhead from the "Hellraiser" films), horror authors John Skipp and Craig Spector and genre great John Agar in small roles.

Hopefully we'll see a directors cut one day--but it's been 20 years so I don't think so. What's left is a flawed but very good horror movie. Worth seeking out if you're a horror fan.

This has got to be one of the dumbest/worst horror films I've ever seen - and that's saying so very much. I was very surprised that Barker - of all people - would make a movie as illogical, aimless and full of idiotic characters, dialogues and events, as any of Ed Wood's little films.

The most astounding aspect of the movie are the numerous unanswered questions. I usually don't nitpick at (fantasy) horror films, but if Barker wanted a more complex movie, hinting at things all the time but never answering, then that can't be overlooked, especially since it's annoying. Why did Schaeffer have dreams about Midian? Clearly, he was a "natural" before he was bitten, so why would he know about it through his dreams? And if he was chosen, why? Did Cronenberg the shrink know about Schaeffer's Midian connection before the latter became his patient, or afterward? And if it was afterward, then what a dumb coincidence that Cronenberg would just happen to be a crazed serial-killer. How did Cronenberg find out about Midian?

Cronenberg. If you want to see a famous quality director embarrass the heck out of himself, look no further. Not only was he miscast - the soft-spoken, mild-mannered, gay-looking almost-nerd becoming a brutal killer with a silly mask at night - but his acting is atrocious at times, and the character he plays almost single-handedly sinks this movie. (Actually, even without the shrink the movie would have stunk - it was that bad.) The shrink CONSTANTLY hangs around the cops, practically RUNNING THE SHOW! Whatever he says, the cops believe, and whatever he says they should, they do it! Why would the black detective not doubt the shrink's story about Schaeffer being still alive? What, he sees the dead rise from mortuaries all the time? How the hell did Cronenberg suddenly appear as the "new boyfriend" of that bar harlot? That was amazingly dumb/confusing. And how did Crony know in which hotel Schaeffer and his girlie would stay - and then kill everyone in it with amazing ease?? For someone who was as sophisticated and clever as the shrink was supposed to be, his motive for killing the nightbreeds is shockingly simplistic and unsatisfactory; he kills them because "they're there". (He doesn't use those exact words, but he might just as well have...) So why did he kill all those families then, as warm-up for slaying the monsters? Oh, I forgot, there is no rhyme or reason in the behaviour of a psychopath - and there sure is none in the script, at all.

In the "grand finale" we then have a silly, large battle between the nightbreeds and - guess who - the COPS (plus some rednecks). In this last half-hour there are so many dumb things happening that I'd need ten A4 pages of small-font text to cover them all. The behaviour of the cops is so generic, so anti-authority Hollywood-style lame; they're portrayed as gun-swinging mass-murderers and psychopaths, and their reactions to being suddenly confronted with grotesque monsters is absurd, illogical and badly acted out.

It was amazing to watch how this piece of cretinous celluloid unfolded. It doesn't start that badly, but by half-time the movie just grows exponentially dumb. It literally bombards you with an increasing barrage of nonsense scenes and plot-devices. Barker's movie is an amazing mess; even the make-up looks cheap half the time, and the less said about the "humour" aspects of certain scenes, the better...

I wonder why Cronenberg agreed to be in this. Was it a favour for a gay lover? I know Cronenberg has a wife and kids, but he does dabble in homo-erotic imagery in some of his films ("Naked Lunch" and the awful "Crash"), and Barker is of course openly gay. Hmmm... Or is Cronenberg simply a jackass, a silly person hiding behind that "intellectual" facade, just itching to have an opportunity to act like a clown?

If Barker expects everyone to read the book of the movie in order to understand the messy story, he vastly overestimates his importance and shows a lack of understanding of how movies should work.

I watched this for the first time yesterday, and after it was finished all I could think of is little monsters wyrg Fred Savage only with some morbidity and horror. The movie was both boring and enjoyable. The character development was weak aside from the make up of the creatures and the particular midian "Peliquan" whom was my favorite character of the movie. The scene of the guy cutting his own face off is pretty gruesome and classic. Midian itself is the place you remember from your nightnares, a place you wouldn't be able to comprehend if you actually were there. The climax of the movie could have been better. Great concept, put together at a mediocre level.