Nightbreed (1990)Listening to one of my favorite podcasts, The Bloody Good Horror Podcast ep37, I found myself enjoying their coverage of the 1990 Clive Barker flick Nightbreed. I recommend your downloading and listening to the cast when you can, it is lively, entertaining and thoughtful -- and silly, but heh, that's what makes it fun. http://www.bloodygoodhorror.com
Now, Nightbreed isn't a movie that I remember fondly nor did it make a great impression on me. I've had the opportunity to catch again from time to time and find myself not really interested in doing so. With that said, I wasn't really interesting in listening to guys from BGH chat about it for a half hour or so -- meh. However, it turned out to be a good listen and I found myself intrigued with the movie, if just ever so slightly.
Trying to remember what I didn't care for when I first saw this film, I recall that it was all over the place and lacked a solid focus. I remember being confused by the variety of monster, none of which had much pathos to them - say like a Frankenstein. I also remember being confused by the mad Dr. Decker character played by David Cronenburg. I also remember that the lead Craig Sheffer (Boone) didn't do much for me either - I wasn't drawn into his plight. While I enjoyed the character effects and design work, the direction and story left me cold and distant.
The podcast brings this up as a common reaction to the movie at that time. Could it have been that the movie was just made at the wrong time for the audience to relate - could it have been the social climate, the state of horror or just different trends? Hmmm. Interesting.
Okay, so now I have to give it another try sometime. Yet another film to add to my TiVo wishlist. Even though the guys at Bloody Good Horror made a good case for taking another chance on this film, I would wager that it won't live up still. Benefit of the doubt however. I'll give it another try and with my mind as open as possible.
