"Nightbreed" (1990)

• Written & Directed by: Clive Barker
• Starring: Craig Sheffer, Anne Bobby, David Cronenberg

     A common stereotype in Hollywood is that the higher-ups working in the Land of Dreams frequently miss the big picture. The idea is that an executive's brain has been so completely fried from years of looking at box-office receipts that the only thing they understand is money. Unfortunately, there's been little to disprove that stereotype, and no where is that more apparent than in the handling of Clive Barker's underrated horror opus, "Nightbreed".
     "Nightbreed" tells the story of a tortured young man named Aaron Boone (Craig Sheffer) who constantly dreams of a mystical city called Midian, which is populated solely by monsters. He is convinced that this dream city is real, while his cold, calculating psychiatrist, Philip Decker (David Cronenberg), believes that it is merely a fiction developed by his "sick" mind. Little does Boone know that Decker is also a murderous madman, hellbent on cleansing the world of "filth," who subsequently frames Boone for murders that he himself committed.
     Delirious with guilt, Boone ventures to a graveyard on the outskirts of town, where he discovers that Midian is indeed real, but the creatures who live there, convinced that Boone is an "innocent," do not want him. But, after Decker tricks the local police force into killing him, he is resurrected by the monsters of Midian and transformed into one of them, a Nightbreed. Meanwhile, his faithful girlfriend Lori (Anne Bobby), convinced that he is not really dead, sets out to Midian to find him. Unfortunately, Decker is close behind, and what ensues will decide the fate of Midian itself.
     "Nightbreed" is one of those rare films that gradually grew much better the more that I watched it. The first time I saw it, I dismissed it as a film full of wasted potential, with visuals that didn't live up to Barker's previous directorial effort, "Hellraiser". Nothing could be further from the truth. "Nightbreed" is a unique, gory, and utterly imaginative fantasy film that was unfairly maligned by its studio and snobby film geeks like me.
     Unfortunately, Barker's vision of "Nightbreed" far surpassed what anyone at its studio, Morgan Creek, wanted. The original cut of the film was over 2 and a half hours long, with plans for a trilogy of films. The studio made Barker cut over an hour of footage, spent little money on marketing, released soporific trailers that didn't properly represent it, refused to hold screenings for critics, and completely misunderstood what the picture was about. Consequently, "Nightbreed" made very little money at the box office and all but destroyed Clive Barker's film career.
     This unfortunate meddling is what leads to most of "Nightbreed's" flaws. With more than an hour missing from a 160 minute film, events shoot by at a lightning pace, giving the film absolutely no time to set up its world or characters properly. People are killed just as quickly as they show up, seemingly important plot points have almost no screen time while other, seemingly unimportant plot points spring out of nowhere, and nearly everybody is reduced to paper-thin characterizations.
     Yet, despite all this, the picture still rises above its shortcomings, and while "Nightbreed" is not a great film, it is a good one. One of the reasons for that is the incredible concept. By casting the monsters as the good guys and the humans as the villains who destroy what they don't understand, the film weaves a gripping story that will speak to anyone who has felt like an outcast or a loner. I think that, perhaps, as a gay man, Barker felt very close to this story, and his love for it shows through every frame. After all, who among us wouldn't wish to be a powerful creature of the night?
     The film also represents tremendous growth for Barker as a director. In "Nightbreed," his budget has graduated from a meager 1 million dollars (on "Hellraiser") to a substantially more workable 11 million, and he's eager to prove himself. Make no mistake, if you love monsters, if you love special effects, you will love this picture. Barker pulls out all the stops, and in Midian he conjures up a dark, majestic city, packed with strange creatures of all shapes and sizes. Within lives a man with purple skin, head tentacles, and fangs. A strange, birdlike woman who shoots quills out of her back. A dark-skinned, curly-horned devil. Oh, and the Berserkers. Just wait until you see them.
     It's spurred along by a fantastic Danny Elfman score, and the cast is uniformly solid, David Cronenberg being the biggest surprise. While he's known more for his fantastic films, he turns in the movie's strongest performance as the detached and icy Decker. While there are a few things about the movie that don't gel (monsters cursing, weird comedic moments), and its final cut is a complete mess, Barker's visual richness and abundance of ideas work together to pull it out of the mud, and what emerges is a deeply flawed, but wholly fascinating love letter to monsters. If you love monsters, you owe it to yourself to see this underrated gem.