NIGHTBREED: THE DIRECTOR'S CUT?

News - DVD & Blu-Ray

FANGORIA #90On page 55 of FANGORIA #284, our 30th Anniversary Issue, cover artist and horror legend Clive Barker dropped some details on the possibility of unearthing the lost footage from his 1990 film, NIGHTBREED (pictured left on the cover of FANGORIA #90).

"I have a friend, Mark Miller, who came to me and said, 'I want to pursue the missing Nightbreed material. I have some time off from my work. I want to do this.' I said, 'Well, there's no money, Mark. There's nothing in it for you except a huge thanks from me and from many, many, many fans if you were to be successful..."

Tonight I received an email with more details on the "missing" footage, and how YOU can help it to be seen for the very first time...
FANGORIA #284Phil and Sarah Stokes from Clive Barker's official website have been in contact with Mark Miller, and have discovered that the lost footage was never lost at all, and in fact is very much accessible. BUT, the studio feels that there's no market for an extended release.

Mark Miller: "One fan set out in search of the truth, armed only with a few phone numbers and the power of a name...
On one call I was transferred to a production executive. You already know what I told him, so let me tell you what he told me: He Can Access The Lost Nightbreed Footage At Any Time.

My jaw dropped. Struggling to remember my already limited vocabulary, I asked what had to happen in order for the footage to see the light of day. He explained to me that someone, namely one of the higher ups, had to have a good reason to pull it out of storage. I, having that good reason, nodded and thanked him. He couldn’t have been a nicer guy.

Excited, I pictured myself walking through large dusty warehouses filled from floor to ceiling with ancient reels of arcane footage. I’m sorry to report, that’s not what happened.

Shortly after, one of said higher ups was gracious enough to give me a moment of his time. I was shocked when he told me there wasn’t a big enough audience for the film and that the answer to my request must be no.

'Not even worth the cost to upgrade to Blu-ray,' he said.

Ouch.
"

Miller continues, "So endeth my search, thus far. But this doesn't mean that all hope is lost. What’s important is that we’ve all learned two very essential pieces of information:
1. The footage is not lost; it’s in waiting.
2. The only thing standing between us and the director’s cut of Nightbreed is - good news - its already loyal audience...
It ain’t cheap to restore and release a movie. Let's show the powers-that-be that it's worth their while, shall we?
"

Phil and Sarah add the following:

...If there's a demonstrable audience for an extended Nightbreed then that could well influence a release as a pure commercial decision, but we need to figure out just how large that audience really is. A small but noisy group will not make a difference here - we need to see just how many people would actually put down their hard-earned money for this...

Remember, there isn't a Region 2 DVD release at all and the Region 1 release is a bare bones version missing the 25 minutes of footage that Clive would love to get back into the movie - a song, some violence, some structure... There's also the prospect of a commentary and hours of potential bonus content...

What do you think?

If you're interested in showing the size of audience or demand for an extended version of Nightbreed, please either e-mail us This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it -  or send us a Tweet to @philandsarah (find us at our Twitter page here).

Just your name or screen name is fine but please feel free to add your country of residence and / or a sentence or two on why this would be a great idea. We'll collate responses at the bottom of this page and build a picture of support for Nightbreed here!

Spread the word too... The more will definitely be the merrier for all of us...

On behalf of Clive, Mark Miller and ourselves - thanks in advance for your thoughts and comments!


So what do FANGORIA Readers think? Do YOU want a properly restored, Clive Barker-approved release of NIGHTBREED? Chime in via the comments section below, and be sure to share your thoughts with Phil and Sarah via the contact info above! And, for even more NIGHTBREED, check out further details on Clive's site by clicking here.

Thanks to Camden Natysin for additional info.

FANGORIA #284, our 30th Anniversary Issue is on-sale now, with an ultra rare pressing available for sale here.
Comments (17)
  • Frank Wilson
    avatar
    OMG!! Yes i want this badly, yes i would buy this immediately and as fast as inhumanly possible upon its release but with the dark masters permission hopefully before. We as fans all need to push for this and make sure this happens or by hell itself, the full force of our fury will be unleashing upon the party responsible for denying us this awesome release.

    -Thank You-
  • Marc Daneker
    avatar
    I've always felt the choppy editing was the downfall to this film, the attempt to rush the film from gore shot to gore shot rather than build a story of character, along with the awkward cut-aways to remove seconds of gore made the film look cheap.

    This could be a true genre bending classic if restored. I suggest a digital theater release followed by blu-ray. No film was ever more deserving of a second chance. Let's face it, Howard the Duck will get a blu-ray release, is there really a bigger audience there?
  • SeB
    avatar
    Ce serait juste enorme !!! il faut que ce film puisse ressortir dans une édition digne de ce nom !!!!
  • Shane Donnelly
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    This needs to be released. I've loved this movie since I was twelve. True there are plenty of haters out there, but that can be said about any movie. The only reason that this movie has such a bad reputation is because the ones that don't like it are always so vocal about it. The fans on the other hand, don't feel the need to talk it up, because we feel the movie speaks for itself. Movie execs never have a clue about how large the audience of cult film really is, so they just write it off as a loss. We need to start letting them know that it would be worth their time and money to re-release this. We need to drown out the voices of the assholes who have nothing better to do than violently pick apart movies that they don't like.
  • FangsFirst
    avatar
    Clive is my favourite author and painter. I would ABSOLUTELY shell out money for a version of his film that had everything he wanted in it still in it. No question.
  • tshoffie
    avatar
    as a big fan of clive barkers i sent my email in wanting to show my support for a directors cut
  • John Beutler
    avatar
    ...I am most hard-pressed to imagine where the powers that be, who claim that there 'isn't a target audience large enough for a extended special edition of "Nightbreed", get their information from. Many, if not all of my genre-devoted friends throughout the years, since the film's release, have told me that it is one of their favorite Cline Barker adaptions...second only to "Hellraiser". I, for one, would absolutely relish and treasure a special edition of "Nightbreed", replete with the assumed 'lost' footage, associated commentary, and whatever other 'breed goodies, which might be crammed into such a release. Let's get the word out, folks!!!
  • Bane Unreinen
    avatar
    Although Nightbreed was not my favorite of Clive's movies, I certainly would want the additional footage.
    Considering how profitable this could be, I can't help but wonder if the executive is just pulling some BS to get a viral message out.
  • John Bishop
    avatar
    I already sent an email to Phil and Sarah. Knowing that the footage is AVAILABLE, I'm burning to see Clive Barker (excuse me, but isn't he a MASTER OF HORROR in more than one art form?) get the chance to release his preferred cut of his second and last directorial effort. I know it's gotten iffy reception, but I own the previous Region 1 DVD and would double dip without hesitation should this be a reality. They've released Hellraiser enough times on DVD, and now it's being remade. I don't care if they give it bad cover art or plan the release date to coincide with the new "Hellraiser."
  • Ashley Thorpe
    avatar
    Let's hope all the Clive Barker fans rally behind this one. It's a really under rated film and ther genuinely isn't anything else out there like it - a celebration of the monstrous. It absolutely deserves to be released complete.
  • Cory
    avatar
    I would pay for it. This is one of my favorite movies,I remember reading about the lost footage years ago.What is wrong with the CEO's of that compan? There is so much overly formulated direct to DVD movies in Horror that people tend to watch only once that not releasing a full version of a highly regarded classic by Clive who's name alone would drive sales would just be stupid.
  • antipax
    avatar
    I really would be interested in buying a DVD set of the Director's Cut for Nightbreed. In this day and age, where originality seems to have gone out the window, and all we have are remakes, it would be great to look back to the good movies which were terribly underrated like Nightbreed. If only to bring it forward to a new and wider audience. Plus, all the fans of the movie would be thankful forever to Fox. Despite Fox being the studio who marketed the movie badly and cut its legs in the first place. They would only benefit from re-releasing this DVD: They would redeem their bad job and they would please fans, plus make a profit for sure.
  • Jason Wilkinson
    avatar
    Oh man I'd definately shell out the money to get the extended DVD!!! And I already own a copy of the DVD that's out now, the extra footage and features would definately be worth it.
  • NIGHTTHING
    avatar
    At the time of its release NIGHTBREED was unique amongst horror (or dark fantasy) films and the complete version deserves to be seen.

    This HAS to happen!

    If other less-known films like CASUALTIES OF WAR can receive the extended treatment so should Barker's monster-mash. (Perhaps we need Quentin Tarantino to mention it a few times in interviews...)
  • Philip LoPresti
    avatar
    Really hope to see this! This director's cut of Nightbreed we've been reading/talking about for sooo many years is like the fucking holy grail of horror movies for a lot of us fans, and it would be amazing to finally get to watch and own it. It's sad these ''suits''don't treat genre films with the respect they deserve. This film and many more like it are just as artistic and brilliant as a Fellini film. If not more.
  • tristan
    avatar
    I hope this gets released. This is one of my favorite movies of all time. I went and skipped school to see this film when it came out on it's opening day. I loved this film so much that I went and saw it 4 more times at the movies. I ended up buying it on vhs and I have bought it on DVD twice already. I love Clive's movies, and this one definitely needs to be re-released as a Director's Cut.
  • steve
    avatar
    I'd love to see this! Pretty sad that the CEO's don't believe the sales would warrant producing a disc like this! Is the horror market so niche driven these days that even Clive Barker's name has little effect on sales? Really strange...and I really would love to see the longer version. I hope there's more footage with Cronenberg in it as well!
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