Review of Nightbreed (1990) by Andy N — 25 Dec 2014

Nightbreed is a Clive Barker film that I somehow missed, perhaps overlooked in my youth for the horror titles that are so easily recognized. As I go back to the well to find new and interesting films I rediscovered this film and as it's Christmas morning and I lie awake in bed, well, that just sounded like the best time to watch this film.

I don't read much so I can't speak as to how the film holds up to the short story but it's written and directed by Clive Barker so I figure it's close enough to what he wanted and as per the name would suggest this film is delightfully batshit crazy. The writing and dialog leave something to be admired and Barker isn't one to not cheese it up every once in a while.

The scoring by Elfman is terrible. Like most of Elfman's work the music is indistinguishable from his other work. I half expected Batman to pop out of nowhere and start punching people in the face.

The monster design is top notch I just wish they had a director capable of filming them in all their glory.

The story is twisted and bizarre. A man troubled by his prophetic like dreams is fooled by his psychologist into believing he is a serial killer. The man goes on a quest to find the city in his dreams, a city where monsters live and the sins that he's "committed" will be forgiven. The film attempts to tackle duality and the nature of who we show vs. who we truly are.

With that said, I couldn't help but feel I was watching parts of a much bigger story. It's only sort of explained who and what the Nightbreed are. It's also never explained why the psychologist wants to destroy Midian (the prophetic city). Then the film leaves you wanting more.

Fantastic creature design, a scattershot story, spotty dialog, and a score by Elfman that sucks as usual but filled to the brim with gore Nightbreed is an interesting film that I would love to see remade and or get a sequel to.