Nightbreed: The Cabal Cut (2012) Review

When they perish in the film’s rousing, action-packed Cops and Decker Vs. Monster finale, we feel no great loss, but merely enjoy Barker’s surreal, gothic take on a Sam Peckinpah shoot-out. Said finale must be mentioned as one of the finest directorial accomplishments in Barker’s brief filmography, ranking with the introduction of the Cenobites in Hellraiser and the disturbing sorcery showdown climax of Lord of Illusions.

Barker isn’t shy about his love for gun-play and monster attacks of all sorts, and its here where Nightbreed‘s attention to background detail and mythos really pays off. If nothing else, Barker makes you believe a city full of monsters is going toe-to-toe with Canada’s most corrupt crew of cops. From the unleashing of the Berserker’s to Decker and Boone’s last rumble, Nightbreed‘s action packed finale is enough to make one forget about the film’s major flaws… in the moment, anyway. The Cabal Cut removes much of the polish delivered in the theatrical version for extended violence and alternate angles, brings a more visceral approach to the action, but also loses some of its grace. Which brings us to another dividing factor in the Cabal Cut…

The majority of the film is sourced from bad VHS tape, which Cherrington himself described as “’80s porn quality.” That assessment is generous — at some points, The Cabal Cut borders on unwatchable, making up at least 80% of the Cabal Cut. If Nightbreed is to ever receive its ultimate edition, the amount of work that will have to go into digitally restoring this rough-looking footage will be nothing less than staggering. Miller and Cherrington have already done a lot of the work — color correction, the re-dubbing Doug Bradley’s performance as Lylesberg (a particularly astounding touch), but I believe the Cabal Cut has a long way to go before it is worthy of the Blu-ray format.

Which is why, despite my criticisms of the cut, horror fans need to support Cherrington and Miller’s efforts to get Barker’s original vision into hi-def fighting condition and onto store shelves. Despite its many amendments and inclusions, the film is still a failure — I have no doubt in my mind about that. Yet the film is such an interesting failure. It’s Clive Barker’s imagination unleashed — on a large budget, with a huge cast of monsters, epic sets, one of Danny Elfman’s best scores, a hugely entertaining turn by David Cronenberg, and, given the current struggle for gay and transgender rights, themes that are more contemporary now than they’ve ever been.

The Verdict:

Whether or not the film is good isn’t necessarily important — the film is important. It needs to be seen, bought, rented, and shared by horror fans the world over. Nightbreed: The Cabal Cut isn’t just an alternate version, it’s in many ways a completely different movie. Whether or not I prefer it to the original is hard to say, but overall I enjoy (and in some scenes absolutely love) both despite their faults, and believe my fellow horror fans will too. Nightbreed: The Cabal Cut needs to be given its fair shake by Fox and horror fans alike, plain and simple.

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