On 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...
Phil 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.

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