Many, many moons ago, I spent several weeks on the set of Clive Barker's Nightbreed, co-writing the making of book with former Fear editor John Gilbert.The book didn't turn out quite as we wanted it to, in much the same way as the released version of the film didn't end up being the hymn to the monstrous that Barker had originally planned. Publishing deadlines meant the book had to be delivered before the movie was finished principal photography (don't even ask), and there were many behind-the-scenes issues we weren't at liberty to document (politics, politics).
Needless to say, I was delighted to see that someone had found Barker's 145-minute work print and even more delighted to see that it's being screened at the Horrorhound Convention on March 27 in Indianapolis, hopefully in advance of a DVD/Blu-ray release.
6 comments:
Well, if you check out Barker's official website it doesn't sound like studio is too eager to release Barker's cut claiming that there is a limited audience for something like this. I sure hope it happens as I would love to see what the film was like before the studio eviscerated it.
I really need to find my Nightbreed tapes. All the interview transcripts were lost on an ancient word processor. But somewhere I'll have my trusty TDKs...
Yeah, that would be cool. Any chance of an "author's cut" of your NIGHTBREED book? ; )
I haven't even looked at it in years. But I suppose if I could find my tapes I might be able to do some kind of extended article...
I was bitterly disappointed with "Nightbreed" upon its initial release, being aware of it's troubled studio history and run in also with the MPAA.
I thought the directors/work print stories were apocryphal, so was delighted to read this article.
If the current owners of the film don't want to play ball as they see no ROI on it, I'm sure some more enterprising label/company can buy the rights. Just like Lions Gate did with the uncut version of "My Bloody Valentine".
This book changed my life, and the form how I thought. I really recommend it because it helps you to understand why the things happen.
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