Nightbreed

"A new reason to fear the night."

1990 1h 42m EN

😐

6.4

MID

★6.4TMDB · 567

HorrorFantasy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A troubled young man is drawn to a mythical place called Midian where a variety of friendly monsters are hiding from humanity. Meanwhile, a sadistic serial killer is looking for a patsy.

“A new reason to fear the night.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Craig Sheffer
Aaron Boone
Anne Bobby
Lori Desinger
David Cronenberg
Dr. Philip K. Decker
Charles Haid
Captain Eigerman
Hugh Quarshie
Detective Joyce
Hugh Ross
Narcisse
Doug Bradley
Dirk Lylesberg
Catherine Chevalier
Rachel

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Clive Barker
Writers: Clive Barker
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America, United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 81% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

36 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United States of America, United Kingdom.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CAST

Did you know

202+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Clive Barker, shot by Robin Vidgeon. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Danny Elfman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Editor Mark Goldblatt shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Craig Sheffer and Anne Bobby and David Cronenberg carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Clive Barker directs. Robin Vidgeon behind the camera. Danny Elfman scores. Mark Goldblatt cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America, United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 81% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
236 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3International production across 2 countries: United States of America, United Kingdom.
4202+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
5Directed by Clive Barker, shot by Robin Vidgeon. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Danny Elfman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Mark Goldblatt shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Craig Sheffer and Anne Bobby and David Cronenberg carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "A new reason to fear the night.".
10IMDB entry: tt0100260 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Robin Vidgeon
Original score: Danny Elfman
Editing: Mark Goldblatt
Production design: Steve Hardie
Costume design: Ann Hollowood
Makeup / hair: Neill Gorton
Sound: Gary C. Bourgeois
Stunt coordinator: Andy Armstrong
Runtime: 102 min · 1h 42m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $11,000,000
Box office: $8,862,354
Return: 81% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Nightbreed (1990)

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Clive Barker

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Community reviews

What people are saying

tmdb152146182020-06-23
★ 6/10
The movie fails to provide vital information about its world, either early enough or altogether. Without an understanding of what's happening on the screen, the initial story developments fail to make an emotional connection. What the viewer is left with is an appreciation for the darkly fantastical world and the technical prowess it would have required by the film crew to create. (Some of us will also appreciate the protagonist's beauty.)
TheTenth2024-10-29
What a difficult thing it is to review this movie. First the movie most people have seen is not the movie Clive Barker created, as the studio did the final cut without Barker's approval or even contacting him at all. So the studio (and the infamous test audience, people with no intelligence and movie or art knowledge) released what they thought ot be a summer monster movie ... The Director's cut released way later is closer to what Barker wanted, but with time, some tapes had disappeared, and Barker had moved on, so what the prognal movie should have been is a mystery. So we have Boone, a guy plagued with nightmares of monsters living in a strange city, living with his girlfriend Lori that is a singer in a bar. He wants to live a normal life and has hopes his psychiatrist will help him. To make things short, the psychiatrist is interested in the monsters and Boone gets killed but is reborn as a monster. Then "humans" to eradicate them. I never go in the subtext of the movies as I look for entertainment in watching movies. So of course here its obvious that the theme is human instinct is to fear and kill what's different, either other humans or animals. But if you see only the in this movie, you'll lose 2 hours and won't like it as the monsters and Boone will just seem stupid to explore this theme. I prefer to think most Directors / writers will write a story based on the world they live in and the knowledge they have of it and the memories they have of history, what happeded to them and their close ones. Here Barker is much more interested in creating a world and legend of monsters than really showing humanity's weaknesses. And he does it brillantly. His monster society and history is deep, the craftsmanship of the costumes is insane, and even Dekker (played by David Cronenberg) is a good character, even the priest os a good character, even Lori is a good character, and that makes a good and enjoyable movie. I even enjoyed the "theatrical cut" as at the time we didn't know it was an awkward stodio cut.
misubisu2025-08-22
★ 10/10
This review is of the Director's Cut which has 45 minutes of changed footage (a lot added and some removed/replaced)... The Director's cut is basically a different movie, that tells a different and much more complete story. Way more footage of the monsters in Midian... backstory on the main monsters... an ending that makes total sense. The movie that Clive Barker wanted to release, before the studio tried to turn it into a slasher flick. The story in the Director's Cut is much closer to the story in the book [Cabal]. The movie as it should have been in the theatrical release. Well worth a watch (now).