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Horror fans have waited for years to see Clive Barker’s original version of his 1990 film Nightbreed, and now the discovery of long-lost footage from that film might make a Director’s Cut a reality. Referred to by Barker as “the Star Wars of monster movies” before studio execs got involved in the final cut, the film chronicles Craig Sheffer as Aaron Boone, a troubled young man whose black-outs and detailed dreams about a creature-filled cemetary called Midian allow his psychiatrist (David Cronenberg) to manipulate him into believing that he is a serial killer.
The movie is memorably strange, but severely disjointed, and I’ve always wondered if a re-cut with the intended footage would actually turn it into a better film, or would it just be a longer version of the same odd, clumsy film that already exists? Now, I might actually find out.
From Clive Barker’s Twitter (tweets edited together for readability):
Unbelievable news.When Mark Miller (apologies.I am shaking with excitement) volunteered to try and find my cut of Nightbreed, I thought there was 25 minutes missing. I was wrong. Phil and Sarah Stokes called. They possess a video copy of my Work Print, 44 minutes longer than the theatrical release. Now all we need is somebody to fund the reconstruction of what was always intended to be Celebration of the Shamanic Outsider. When Nightbreed was released the only support came from the gay press. But the movie seems to have found a broader audience. Nightbreed‘s about outsiders. And if the Inside is grey fat hamburgers and eye candy I’ll stay outside with the monsters. It’s wonderful that people find something of value in Nightbreed, though it reveals my failings both as an artist and as a man. The failure as an artist is tied to the inability to fuction as a normal member of the species; to pack every sliver of time with signifigace, like capsules of humanity on craft sent to the stars.
You can read more about some of the lost footage here.
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