After the cult success of his directorial debut in 1987 with Hellraiser, based on his short story - The Hellbound Heart; in 1988 author, writer and director Clive Barker turned to another of his shorts for his second movie. Based on his novella Cabal, Nightbreed starring Craig Sheffer (whom would later star in Hellraiser: Inferno) and fellow horror director David Cronenberg was not well recieved by critics, yet regardless it became another cult horror movie, like Hellraiser before it.
The version of Nightbreed released in 1990 was not the version intended by Barker. Studio 20th Century Fox felt that the initial run time of two and a half hours was too long for audiences to endure, and demanded that almost an hour of the movie be cut, leading not only to a new, shorter 102 minute run time for the theatrical release of the movie, but also the resignation of editor Richard Marden.
The Directors Cut:
- Disc 1: Unrated Director’s Cut of the film on Blu-ray plus bonus features (details forthcoming).
- Disc 2: Unrated Director’s Cut of the film on DVD (details forthcoming).
- Slipcase includes artwork approved by Clive Barker.
The Limited Edition:
- Only 5,000 numbered sets produced.
- Disc 1: Unrated Director’s Cut of the film on Blu-ray.
- Disc 2: The 1990 R-Rated theatrical version of the film on Blu-ray (through a special licensing agreement through Warner Bros.).
- Disc 3: EXCLUSIVE-TO-THIS-SET Bonus Blu-ray disc packed with extras (details forthcoming)
- Includes Collector’s Book with an essay and rare photos
- Slipcase includes newly designed artwork approved by Clive Barker.
Barker himself, speaking recently to Arrow in the Head, expains how the new Blu-Ray Directors Cut and Limited Editions, pictured and detailed above and available to buy October 28th, came to be...
"This is film history and beyond my wildest dreams of realization. When Scream Factory told me that they found the NIGHTBREED film footage I was gob-smacked! This is the ultimate validation of choices made by myself and Mark Miller [of Seraphim Films] all the way back in 2008. As we embarked down the road of attempting to track down the lost footage, we looked at each other and said, 'Maybe one day they'll find it.' It's my pleasure to announce that the day has come. Speaking personally, I didn't allow myself to believe that it would. Even if we did find some footage (which we did in 2009 in the form of heavily degraded VHS tapes) and even if we did find a company willing to release the film (which we did in 2013 with Scream Factory, God bless them) the prospect of finding the actual lost film materials was remoter than I'd wanted to admit out loud. If the footage could not be found by those who had worked closest on it the same year it had been released, then what were the odds we'd be able to find anything 20 years on? But Scream Factory, in their commendable determination, kept up the search and thanks to them total reconstruction has been made a possibility. There's never been a reconstruction that's had as little chance of succeeding and yet has succeeded on as many fronts as this film has. It's unprecedented. To now have a movie that we can put together in the way that I fully intended it to be seen when I first set out to make this film in 1989 is extraordinary. The project has moved inexorably to this conclusion. Fate and the hard work of individuals such as Mark Miller, Russell Cherrington, Phil and Sarah Stokes, Occupy Midian, Morgan Creek, and ultimately, Scream Factory have made this a possibility and I could not be happier."
Reportedly, Morgan Creek Television is actively seeking to bring Nightbreed to the small screen with a new TV series based on the movie.
