It seems that Nightbreed has always captured the imagination of horror movie fans.
And with good reason.
A tagline couldnt have missed the point ofNightbreedmore if it tried.
Nightbreeds quest for a marketable identity would continue.
20th Century Fox buried the lede of their own film, and box-office failure was assured.
The history ofNightbreedis almost as fascinating as the killers and monsters of Barkers film.
For those not in the know,Nightbreedwas based onClive Barkers 1988 novel,Cabal.
Both book and movie center on a lost soul named Boone who searches for the hidden land of Midian.
Boone was framed for murders that were actually committed by his trusted psychiatrist, Dekker.
Dekker pursues Boone to Midian and a war ensues between humanity and the monsters of the underworld.
So,Hellraiserwas whatHellraiserwas.
It was a $900k movie, and there wasnt anything I would have done differently.
ButNightbreedwas taken away from me.
It was thought that its meaning wasnt… Its meaning didnt chime with the producers.
The thought of making a movie in which the monsters were the good guys was just financial suicide.
Fans saw the potential of a film with the makings of a horror classic.
When I say language I almost mean a shorthand.
There was a lot of freedom on that set in many ways.
But it wasDavid Cronenbergwho stole the show as the button eyed killer, Dekker.
Dekker was the ultimate human monster and the perfect antithesis to the real monsters of Midian.
He was the beast even the beasts rejected and Cronenberg made Dekker one of the genres most chilling killers.
Barker said about what Cronenberg brought toNightbreed:
Hes cold, man!
Hes not an actor, no, but what I liked was that there was a weirdness to him.
An actor would have played a villain, whereas David didnt.
When he wasnt working hed just sit around and write his William Burroughs script.
He was great fun to have around.
TheNightbreeddirectors cut became as difficult to find and unlikely to see the light of day as a chupacabra.
Nightbreedlove is so strong that a television series is in the works, and is in continued development.
We have a few more details on thathere.
Little did they know that people havealwaysloved monsters.
