Clive Barker is one of horror cinema’s most recognizable names due mostly to the Hellraiser films, but he’s also the mind behind Candyman, Lord of Illusions, and The Midnight Meat Train. Of all his films though my favorite remains 1990’s Nightbreed. The tone is uneven, some of the actors do a pretty shitty job, and the digital effects look like they were created on a Casio calculator… but damn if it isn’t an incredibly fun and creative monster movie. The myriad creatures on display run the gamut from the whimsical to the savage, and every time I re-watch the movie I curse movie-goers for only buying $9 million worth of tickets thus ensuring that no sequel would ever be made.
Well, there’s still no talk of a sequel, but the next best thing is one step closer to reality… Barker has been very vocal that both 20th Century Fox (shocker) and Morgan Creek (remember them?) failed Nightbreed from post-production through the marketing and release. He’s spoken of lost footage and a longer cut for years now but always with a heavy dose of pessimism as to the possibility of anyone ever seeing the additional scenes. That may be about to change…
Revelations, the official Clive Barker website, has just posted some extremely encouraging news. A friend of Barker’s apparently took it upon himself to pursue the missing footage, and he’s received a very surprising answer. He explained what happened in an email to the website.
One fan set out in search of the truth, armed only with a few phone numbers and the power of a name… On one call I was transferred to a production executive. You already know what I told him, so let me tell you what he told me: He Can Access The Lost Nightbreed Footage At Any Time. My jaw dropped. Struggling to remember my already limited vocabulary, I asked what had to happen in order for the footage to see the light of day. He explained to me that someone, namely one of the higher ups, had to have a good reason to pull it out of storage. I, having that good reason, nodded and thanked him. He couldn’t have been a nicer guy. Excited, I pictured myself walking through large dusty warehouses filled from floor to ceiling with ancient reels of arcane footage. I’m sorry to report, that’s not what happened. Shortly after, one of said higher ups was gracious enough to give me a moment of his time. I was shocked when he told me there wasn’t a big enough audience for the film and that the answer to my request must be no. ‘Not even worth the cost to upgrade to Blu-ray,’ he said. Ouch.”
Ouch indeed… tons of far lesser shit gets released on Blu-ray every damn week. And do they honestly not think there’s an audience out there eager to scoop up and devour a director’s cut of Nightbreed? A restored cut of Al Pacino’s Revolution was released last week for christ’s sake! Have you ever seen or even heard of that movie? Nobody has! And it made $8 million less than Nightbreed at the box-office!
So here’s what you need to do… head over to Revelations and follow their lead by adding your name to the email petition, or email them from right here! Give them your name, country of residence, and maybe a sentence as to why you want to see this movie released!
Would you buy a director’s cut of Clive Barker’s Nightbreed on DVD?
