Cabal - Die Brut der Nacht

Its been along time since I seen the original, but the directors cut seemed a vastly superior movie. The version I recently saw, as there are several out there, had a 2 hrs long running time.

Undeniably, Hellraiser was Clive Barkers best movie by far. Nightbreed has far larger sets and much more ambitious effects, as the cast is much larger. For the best part it succeeds, and is an impressive creature feature/ fantasy horror. Hellraiser just had a better, more personal, darker story to tell in my opinion. It was a hallmark in the evolution of horror in the 1980s. It was one of those movies which really touched a nerve.

Comparisons a side, this is very decent genre entry.

Various cuts of Nightbreed have surfaced since its original theatrical release, one as many as 155 minutes long. I watched the 120 minute directors cut released by Shout! Factory in 2014. Based on Clive Barker's 1988 novella, Cabal, Nightbreed is an elaborate and indulgent fantasy-horror with heavy handed themes of love, intolerance, incitement, abuse of power, manipulation, and monstrosity. Although the film's richly colorful cinematography, elaborate makeup, and conceptual elements are strong, its convoluted storyline, mediocre acting, and over the top writing and aesthetic transform what could have been a compelling fairy-tale-esque parable into an exercise in gory, campy excess.

Clive Barker is, by far, the best horror writer of this century, and a fine visual artist as well. Few of the films made from his fiction are satisfactory "Clive Barker Experiences". This is partly because his main strength as a writer is, naturally, his use of language to provoke emotional reactions and to evoke very special moods above (beneath?) and beyond ordinary shock and revulsion. He raises horrific imagery and psychological situations to the level of poetry. This is not easy to do in film, a purely visual medium. The image of a monster or a monstrous act in film is a picture: there it is before you. A description of same in fiction can be given all sorts of depths and angles in the mind in writing. "Nightbreed" almost works as an adaptation of Barker's "Cabal". Unfortunately, as is apparent, most of Barker's budget was blown on the monsters (which are excellent movie monsters), with insufficient funds remaining for factors like cast. The actor who played the all-important role of Boone was not up to it at all. He conveyed almost nothing of the depth of Boone's torment, which exists on a number of levels. A talent should have been sought instead of a hunk. This is symptomatic of the film's weakness in general. Too many (albeit high-quality) monsters and too little time and attention spent on the basic human values (simply, character) which must underlie all fiction, no matter what its genre.

I was peeved that the best make-up academy award went to Dick Tracy, a horrible film with horrible make-up. The Nightbreed (based on the better titled "Cabal" novella) look terrific, the acting is excellent and David Chroneburg makes for a truly creepy and terrific antagonist.

The plot focus's on Aaron Boone, who has recurring nightmares about a society of monsters living under a cemetery. Is he making it up or are they real and calling to him? His Pyschologist (Chroneburg) convinces him he's a murderer, a slayer of families.

Troubled and suicidal, Boone seeks refuge in Midian but the monsters don't want him at first. He is also tracked by his girlfriend, Lori who refuses to give up on him even after he dies and comes back cold and monstrous.

But Decker isn't about to let Boone continue on. He raises the locals on an all out assault on Midian, like a holy war in gods name led by the devil.

Barkers themes of misunderstood monsters may come from his experiences as a homosexual male, but they are always strong and honest. Nightbreed turns the genre on it's head. The monsters are just trying to survive and want to be left alone, but man is hunting them.

A 20+ minute longer cut was originally submitted by Barker, but the studio chopped it into this fractured masterpiece. Barker is hard at work trying to locate the missing footage for a directors cut release. Until then, this version will have to do.

Boone is a man plagued by secrets and nightmares. His situation is greatly worsened when his therapist reveals his darkest deeds. With his girlfriend in tow and the therapist hot on his heels will Boone be able to find this town of monsters in his dreams and what will happen when he finds it and they find him. I've always enjoyed this film since its' release. It is a good solid monster flick with some gore and a little mythology to boot. The creature effects are even to this day some of the darkest and twisted ever seen. The directing and look of the film are solid. Translating Clive Barker's imagination is probably very hard…even by Barker himself. The acting of the leads is very good and Cronenberg (a director in his own right) is sedate and creepy. If Hopkins wasn't available to play Hannibal the cannibal I would have chose him. The main detractor is the way the studio hacked up the original cut. And poor marketing didn't help either. Please release a director's cut someone. 7/10