Nightbreed: The Directors Cut [Blu-ray] [1990] [US Import]

(updated 10/17/14)

I have the disk in hand and have viewed both versions and all the extras:
Disk 1 Theatrical Cut. This is from the film inter-positive, not the negative, the result is grainy and sometimes murky looking, but over-all leaps above the DVD and easily the finest presentation the film has ever had. Nothing has been done to this, it's just the producers cut as seen on film, vhs and dvd these past 24 years. DTS 2.1 stereo mix is all it comes with, no extras, commentary, etc.

Disk 2, The Directors Cut. This is 40 min shorter than the Cabal Cut, for a few reasons. The Cabal Cut contained nearly the entire Theatrical release plus ALL the scenes they could find that didn't duplicate events. Clive excised 20 min from the theatrical (about 10 of that is the ending) and added 40 min back. The result is 120 min, and still does not contain some of the scenes many of us thought it would, but does contain footage not in the Cabal cut because it was not in the work print.

Most of the new footage is in the beginning and end, added back are some moments between Boone and Decker that explain Boones not been in therapy for four months, it shows Boone slowing getting worse and worse on the drugs Decker gives him, and stopping at the club Lori is singing at (she sings "johnny get angry" in it's entirety" the last 15 min is nearly all new, and the at least one character gets a fate not ever seen in any version.

The new sound mix is awesome, 5.1 DTS Master. unfortunately the score had to be recycled for scenes and that doesn't always work so well if you have seen the film as many times as I have and know the score as well.

The picture quality varies, though color corrected some scratches early on are visible. The new 40 min is from the original negatives and LOOKS BETTER BY FAR than the 80 mins left from the theatrical that are from the Inter-positive elements. Seems odd, they found the missing negatives but not the ones used for the Theatrical cut?

What's odd is what's missing. The love scene between Suna Sashi and Peloquin is partly in the extras, and actually discussed in detail in the documentary, but not in the final cut? I don't know if this was the love scene Clive has mentioned cutting out, or if the jail cell sex-scene in the book, but neither are here. The scenes of Decker talking to the button-eye mask are also not included, but two deleted scenes show that they didn't work on film, so while missed, it's better that way.

Over-all the Directors cut does not offer quite the epic Clive talked about or nearly all the scenes in the Cabal cut. Most of Decker's scenes are here, including some you might think must have been from the producer ordered re-shoots, but they work regardless and I'm happy they are still there. What this cut mostly offers are two things, a better sense of story and pacing, plot holes filled and characters fleshed and a better, more satisfying ending that mostly matches the novel. Also notable is the return of Doug Bradly's voice, not the silly, fake accent German overdub. Though it seems to return for one line at the end... Rachel's voice also seems to be overdubbed for the theatrical scenes and the actress's voice for the new scenes (guess they couldn't get her to come re-record her lines) it's minimal, but noticeable.

The extras are extensive, but don't expect all the deleted scenes, for reasons unknown they are not here. only about 15 min worth (it says 20 but the theatrical ending is pointless included, especially since it's on the theatrical disk!) Some of the VHS footage is here, but not much, the certainly didn't include all the cut scenes -- and considering the nature of the crowd work that went into this, not including every scene on an $80 set is disappointing. The documentaries are very thorough and even a little longer than they need to be sometimes. There's ample commentary tracks to wade through, easily 10+ hrs to watch every last thing here.

The packaging is heavy duty, not a cheap slip cover, the booklet is a nice, well printed touch. There's a new intro by Clive but not the original VHS intro (big drop of the ball there.)

Now, my original review, the story behind this thing.

After 20+ years the myth becomes real.

Clive thought all was lost, we all did. Morgan Creek had ordered extensive reshoots and 45min excised from Clive Barker's epic adaptation of the Novella "Cabal" and after years of searching, we'd all given up on the film elements with the cut footage ever being found, or existing at all.

Then a few years ago 2 VHS work prints where discovered, with the missing footage (grainy, washed and dismal but there) and a few brave souls re spliced the footage to match the screenplay, re-dubbed Doug Bradely's dialogue (it's his image and voice actors voice in the theatrical cut) and went on tour screening "The CABAL cut"

Then, finally, last year Scream Factory announced they would restore the VHS as best they could and give a delux blu-ray. This year, the did one better, they announced that they found 600 boxes of negatives and prints and with Clive Barker's direction reconstructed and fully restored his original vision. Thus, "Nightbreed: The Directors Cut"

One of the most sought after restorations in history of cinema, and fully unprecedented release, Nightbreed The Directors cut is must own for any horror / fantasy fan.

The story in brief, follows Boone, a troubled young man who's convinced by his doctor that he's been murdering families. after being injured in drug induced state he meets Narcissist, how he convinces to tell him about a place called Midian, a place where the monsters go, where all your sins are forgiven. Boone flees, but he's pursued both by his girlfriend, Lori (easily the most dedicated lover since Juliet) and Dr. Decker (the real killer).

In Midian, Boone finds more than he imagined, after a run-in with some locals, he's transformed, beyond death, he becomes both the cause of there destruction and possibly their savior.

Nightbreed is unlike anything you've ever scene. There's a unique twist of Barker's combination of Horror and Fantasy, the movie tells a tale of persecution, the monsters are not "good guys" but they are not evil either. Echoing the violence of racial and sexual bigotry and hatred, "the sons of the free" converge on Midian and havoc breaks loose. In the center is a serial killer who wants them wiped from the planet, and Lori, willing to go to her death and beyond to be with Boone.

It's not for everyone. Nightreed was fairly low-budget, now sports a running time pushing 3hrs (turns out Clive chose to excise 20+ min from the theatrical cut, and added 40 min new footage, bringing this to just over 2hrs. There are no plans for the 2hr 45 min Cabal cut)and is a violent and explicit tale. That said, Barker weaves a world unlike any other and this may be the best cinematic expression of his world-building and epic story-telling skills. If you dare, come take a journey with the dead of night.

If all you want is the film on blu-ray plus DVD with no extras disk or theatrical cut, there's a $20 - range version for mass release available.

I concur that $72 seems a pretty steep price for one film. But let's consider the context: A small company, Shout Factory, took great pains to locate the cuts that were left out of the theatrical release (over 600 boxes worth), restored it to their best ability, even going so far as to re-dub actor parts. Keep in mind that even Clive himself was convinced that it was all lost years ago. It was all a labor of love, with the ultimate goal of restoring the film to show audiences and fans Clive Barker's original vision for the movie. It's my understanding that with this 3 disc set you get the theatrical release of the film, the director's cut, and a third disc of extras. I'm pretty sure that the third disc of extras does not come with other DVD/Blu Ray combo pack. They made 3 batches of this limited edition: 1st has 1000 copies, 2nd has 3000 copies, and the 3rd brings the grand total to 10,000 copies. Some will get a Shout Factory tote bag and a limited edition poster (while supplies last.) I, for one, am anxious to see what Clive wanted us to see all those years ago. If the price tag is still too high, get the DVD-Blu Ray combo pack. You can't go wrong.

I had the rare privilege to see The Cabal Cut of this movie. Named for the book it's based on, The Cabal Cut was a rough piecing together together of dvd footage from the theatrical version with scenes that were cut or extensions of scenes thought lost. They were found in a box of vhses.

This year is going to be amazing for fans of what have now become cult classic horror films with this remastered and reconstructed bluray of the director's cut of Nightbreed as well as the fabled Halloween 6 Producer's Cut releasing as well. These 2 movies' secret cuts have been whispered about and demanded since the early 90s.

As someone who loves the theatrical Nightbreed I can honestly say Cabal Cut was even better, even in its non remastered vhs (and possibly overly long) format. The character of Lori especially gets the best service as she is no longer just a worried girlfriend of the protagonist, but a fully fleshed out dual protagonist herself. More depth is given to many side characters and creatures that got the bare minimum of development in the original film. The ending is also completely different!

Clive Barker's vision for this film was never fully realised, in fact it's why he got turned off working with Hollywood, until now. Due to enduring fans and hard work, Barker is so eternally grateful and I hope feels ready to extend the Cabal mythos as he originally intended to.

The great thing with this bluray limited edition set it has an extra disc of special features, and the Theatrical cut of Nightbreed on bluray for the first time too. It makes it easier to compare the two versions. Unfortunately it is in limited supply. Hopefully WB will see the demand and extend the rights and work with Fear to see this superb edition gets more release. It also has exclusive artwork approved by Clive Barker himself. Doug Bradley's revoiced his character as it was dubbed in the theatrical version. Long live classic horror!

Ok, so I have been a massive fan of this movie since I first caught glimpse of the trailer on a VHS of Dolly dearest back in 1990. As a young teenager I found the theatrical cut to an amazing fantasy film and held it in high regard since. As I grew older and learnt some of the mythology about the production and the complications with the studio, This cut had become a thing of legend...it had been said the story was completely different, the motivations of characters, more Breed, more mythology, less random scenes cobbled together..so i went into this Directors cut imagining that those things that didn't really add up in the theatrical would be rectified in Barkers Very own Directors cut...however this was not the case, this cut offers little more than a few deleted scenes at the beginning of the movie, which frankly made it drag and can understand the studios decision in removing them, they offered little more to the story apart from showing us a bit more of Lori and Boone together, Scenes were still not there that I expected or would have liked to have seen...a few extensions but nothing to have me believe this differed too far from the theatrical, it just slowed it down. The major change to this cut, is the Battle of midian is fleshed out but nothing to write home about and some pretty random stuff as well, Boone's character seems to just run around dishing out pieces of Wood to the Breed as if that will do anything against the raging arsenal of the Shearneck police...I expected a difference with Decker also, but apart from the shot with Narcisse demise, I noticed nothing different, and no insight into his motivation either, and to top it off, I found the alternate ending with both Eigerman (it was good to finally find out where he went, in the theatrical he just disappeared) and the ending on the hill to be a bit...lame. I had high hopes for this and found it to be a massive let down, scenes reported as to being shot are still not here and those that have made the cut just didn't add anything new or exciting to the movie...the holy grail of alternate cuts turned out to be just another extended version which had no real benefit to the actual movie as a whole! No doubt fans of Night breed (which I am I might add) will disagree but I just don't think it lives up to anywhere near the hype it has gathered over the years.

This is a 3 disc limited edition of the Director's Cut with a bonus disc (deleted scenes, alternate endings, rehearsal footage, prosthetic and make-up footage....) and a remastered version of the theatrical release. This edition is 10,000 Numbered Pieces - also includes a Collector's book. If you aren't a collector of such pieces, then get the "nicer priced" edition that only includes the director's cut and no bonus features.

LIMITED EDITION 3-DISC BLU-RAY SET (10,000 Numbered Pieces - also includes Collector's book)

DISC 1: THE DIRECTOR'S CUT

New "Director's Cut" presentation of the film which contains over 40 minutes of new and altered footage
Introduction by writer/director Clive Barker and restoration producer Mark Alan Miller
Audio Commentary by writer/director Clive Barker and restoration producer Mark Alan Miller
Tribes of the Moon: The Making of Nightbreed featuring interviews with Craig Sheffer, Anne Bobby, Doug Bradley and more… (72 minutes)
Making Monsters - interviews with makeup effects artists Bob Keen, Martin Mercer and Paul Jones (42 minutes)
Fire! Fights! Stunts! 2nd Unit Shooting - an interview with Andy Armstrong (20 minutes)
Original Theatrical Trailer
1:78 Widescreen/DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1/Dolby Digital 5.1/English Subtitles

DISC 2: BONUS DISC

Deleted and Alternate Scenes (approx. 20 minutes)
Monster Prosthetics Master Class
Cutting Compromise – an interview with editor Mark Goldblatt
The Painted Landscape: The Concept Art of Ralph McQuarrie
Matte Painting Tests
Makeup Tests
Stop Motion Lost Footage
Extended Torture Scene
Rehearsal of Boone's dream
Extensive Still Galleries – Early Sketches, Deleted Scene, Posters and Pre-Production art, On the Set, The Cast and Crew

DISC 3: THE THEATRICAL CUT

New transfer from the inter-positive
1:78 Widescreen/DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1/English Subtitles

BLU-RAY & DVD COMBO SPECIAL EDITION SET

New "Director's Cut" presentation of the film which contains over 40 minutes of new and altered footage
Introduction by writer/director Clive Barker and restoration producer Mark Alan Miller
Audio Commentary by writer/director Clive Barker and restoration producer Mark Alan Miller
Tribes of the Moon: The Making of Nightbreed featuring interviews with Craig Sheffer, Anne Bobby, Doug Bradley and more… (72 minutes)
Making Monsters - interviews with makeup effects artists Bob Keen, Martin Mercer and Paul Jones (42 minutes)
Fire! Fights! Stunts! 2nd Unit Shooting - an interview with Andy Armstrong (20 minutes)
Original Theatrical Trailer
1:78 Widescreen/DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1/Dolby Digital 5.1/English Subtitles