Nightbreed (1990)

(In French, On Cable TV, May 2020) There is something far more interesting than usual in Nightbreed when compared to most other horror films of that era. It has authentic sympathy for the monsters that would be antagonists in other horror films, and much of the protagonist’s journey is joining and protecting those monsters from human opponents. (As per Wikipedia, there’s an entire queer subtext to Nightbreed that flew over my head upon watching the film.) When writer-director Clive Barker set out to make the film, he was aiming for a menagerie of creatures on par with Star Wars, and a quasi-mythological resonance to the story. He doesn’t quite get there, but his intentions certainly resonate in the final result. The version I was the much-decried original cut of the film rather than the more definitive “Cabal Cut,” so quite a bit got lost—The serial killer subplot does make the film far trashier than it should have been and the result isn’t quite as interesting as the creatures it features. As an American backwoods gothic, Nightbreed brings to mind an approach not dissimilar to Guillermo del Toro’s love of monsters and empathy in approaching the other. If you’re looking for another reason to watch the film, there’s David Cronenberg playing the antagonist, which is good for a chuckle or two. Still, and perhaps to the chagrin of Nightbreed’s considerable cult following, this film is more one of missed opportunities than outright success—it doesn’t quite work, and I’m not sure that even a recut version would be significantly better.