Disc Reviews
Nightbreed 4k Review
Boone is a troubled young man in a loving relationship, but stretched to the end of his nerves by dreams of monsters. The reality sets in when he happens across a place called Midian, the place where monsters live. But not all is as he perhaps feared. This could well become a place he calls home.
Before long, Boone finds himself bitten by a beast and then set up for murder, which ends with the police gunning him down. But the bite has a magic of its own which brings Boone back, and now he is one of the monsters too! The local police, the love of his life, his own psychiatrist and more come hunting for Boone, and the place called Midian, and a fight ensues. Witness the glory of Clive Barker’s imagination as he shows us who the real monsters are!
Clive Barker’s second film has followed the path to cultdom like many others have. The film was not well received at the time, didn’t do much business at the box office, found a life on video, and then, since then, fans kept it alive. But then word got out about alternative cuts of the film, and slowly but surely, a couple of different cuts of the film emerged through festivals and then eventually by physical media suppliers. This is the latest release of such to get the treatment. This two-disc set houses the Theatrical Cut and the Director’s Cut. The Theatrical is missing a lot of character meat for sure and an almost entirely different third act, but the Director’s Cut, although reinstating a lot of this, isn’t quite the smooth ride that the Theatrical version is and lacks pace. Both are fascinating to watch and well worth your time.
The extras are almost beyond measure. There are several commentaries (4 in total across both versions), there are some carried over extras, including a lengthy making-of documentary, as well as a newly edited together documentary utilising footage from the EPK at the time, which is just as fascinating to watch. Naturally, a ton of exposure to the design and creation of the sets and particularly a lot of time spent on the visuals and make-up effects, as this is gleefully a monster movie that has incorporated work that stands up perfectly well today.
The picture quality across both is maybe a little uneven in places, but it retains a lot of natural grain. It can seem a bit patchy from scene to scene, but it’s the best the version has looked in this 4K upgrade from Arrow Video. Hellraiser may be Barker’s masterpiece, but there are plenty of people who prefer to return to Nightbreed, as it has a much richer tapestry of characters and content.
Steven Hurst
2-DISC 4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
• 4K restorations of both the Theatrical Cut and Director’s Cut
• 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray™ presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) of both cuts
• Original lossless 2.0 stereo audio and optional DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio for both cuts
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for both cuts
• Reversible sleeve feature original and newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx
• Perfect-bound collectors’ booklet featuring writing on the film by Mark Salisbury, co-author of Clive Barker’s Nightbreed: The Making of the Film, and Barker archivists Phil and Sarah Stokes
• Double-sided fold-out poster featuring newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx
DISC 1 – THEATRICAL CUT
• Audio commentary by critics Adrian J. Smith and David Flint
• Vintage introduction by writer/director Clive Barker
• Monsters, Maniacs and Midian: The Making of Nightbreed, a brand new feature-length documentary incorporating never-before-seen interviews and behind-the-scenes footage shot on location at Pinewood Studios for an Electronic Press Kit in 1989
• Memories of Midian, an interview with actor Nicholas Vince
• Walking the Line Between Heaven and Hell, an interview with critic Kat Ellinger
• Speaking up for the Monsters, an interview with critic Kim Newman
• Deleted and alternate scenes
• Extended torture scene
• Theatrical trailers and TV spots
• Extensive image galleries, including early sketches, set photos, poster and pre-production art, stills from the UK launch party at Tower Records, and more
• Original screenplay
DISC 2 – DIRECTOR’S CUT
• Introduction by Barker and restoration producer Mark Alan Miller
• Audio commentary by Barker and Miller
• Brand new audio commentary by critics Kim Newman and Stephen Jones, and Barker collaborator Peter Atkins
• Brand new audio commentary by Miller and director’s cut editor Andrew Furtado
• Tribes of the Moon: Making Nightbreed, an extensive documentary on the making of the film, featuring actors Craig Sheffer, Doug Bradley, Anne Bobby and many more
• Making Monsters, a documentary on the film’s creature designs, featuring special makeup designer Bob Keen
• Fire! Fights! Stunts!, an interview with second unit director Andy Armstrong
• Cutting Compromise, an interview with editor Mark Goldblatt
• The Painted Landscape, an exploration of the work of concept artist Ralph McQuarrie
• Monster Prosthetics Masterclass, an interview with Keen on the film’s incredible prosthetic effects
• Matte painting tests
• Makeup tests
• An exploration of the film’s abandoned stop motion animation tests, with special makeup designer Bob Keen
• Rehearsal test
• “Johnny Get Angry” music video
Nightbreed is out on 4K Blu-Ray May 25th