An incoherent mess


After hearing quite a lot about this movie, I was finally able to watch it for the first time as the Director's Cut... What a dissapointment!
The whole movie felt like a two-hour compilation of a tv-series. Virtually no backstory for any of the characters, which lead to the complete lack of coherence. Like, what was Dr. Decker's deal? The priest character appeared completely out of nowhere etc.
Alternate cuts may be better, but I highly doubt that.
I think it would have played MUCH better as a fantasy tv-series.
And Craig Sheffer's acting was pretty wooden too.

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For all Barker's talk of the studio cutting the heart out of the movie and marginalising the monsters (the latter certainly not true), pretty much all of the restored footage is at the beginning and end of the film, which didn't need it, and not the middle, which desperately does need something to fill in the gaps. It feels like Barker had no interest in Midian, it's mythology or its creatures and just wanted to skim through all that stuff to get to the big battle, which now runs even longer.

It's one of those director's cuts that reveals that the movie Barker has been talking about for years is the one he thinks he made rather than the one he actually did.


"Security - release the badgers."

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i thought it was pretty good until boone woke up in the hospital after being shot up by the cops

then it seemed to turn into a bunch of ideas thrown together. some of the monster designs were pretty cool though

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I was finally able to view it today. No idea which version I saw but I switched it off after 75 minutes. I was bored to death. I nearly purchased the film as a blind-buy a few weeks back too. Dodged a bullet there.

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It would have been a much better TV series.
I was upset by how much I actually disliked this movie. There were so many things that I just couldn't get behind. At one point there was a scene where the porcupine looking female says "I dreamt of him" and that's it. Nothing further is done with that. If I remember correctly he makes a comment about her at some point too but that's it. I found that ridiculous as something could have actually been built on that even if it was just a friendship...something. There was a small build up that was expected to be forgotten.

Not to mention the detective that seemed to be a generally alright guy turned into a crazy lets kill all these guys person. On that note when the normal human society was gearing up to go fight these monsters( I presume out of fear that they exist) they were enjoying it a little too much. The cop that was explaining and handing out weapons ran wire over his mouth like he was so excited to use it and explain how it could be used. Instantly these people went from normal law abiding citizens to crazy murderers that weren't fighting back out of fear but purely to kill something.

Oddly enough the only character I thought was decent and kind of thought through was the actual killer with the mask lol.

Sorry for the rant but this movie was such a let down.

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It would have been a much better TV series.


I totally agree with you. I think the kind of audience that really enjoys the lore and slower paced shows would actually stay tuned for a TV series, but instead I think the director tried too hard to adapt the book to the mainstream cinema type audience, and that just did not really work.

At one point there was a scene where the porcupine looking female says "I dreamt of him" and that's it. Nothing further is done with that. If I remember correctly he makes a comment about her at some point too but that's it. I found that ridiculous as something could have actually been built on that even if it was just a friendship...something. There was a small build up that was expected to be forgotten.


I thought the exact same thing, and similarly about the murderous psycho killing rag tag hill billy raid. There were definitely a lot of good ideas that could have been worked on. Oh well.

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Glad you agree, and my biggest complaint about this whole ordeal is that I just could not enjoy this movie. There was so much about it that after digesting what I watched I wanted to like but it all just fell flat. Like the example I gave about the dreaming of him scene. There were plenty of scenes like that throughout.

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At one point there was a scene where the porcupine looking female says "I dreamt of him" and that's it. Nothing further is done with that. If I remember correctly he makes a comment about her at some point too but that's it. I found that ridiculous as something could have actually been built on that even if it was just a friendship...something.

Just a note about this thing specifically. She (Shuna Sassi) actually says, "I dreamt him". You probably missed it, but this is a reference to the beginning, when Boone is having dreams of Midian. What's left unexplored is not the relationship between Shuna Sassi and Boone, but rather Boone's pre-existing relationship to Midian. (Whether that should be left mysterious or not, is another matter.)

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Lol

Backstory? These type of movies had no back story.

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Never saw this. Is the "better cut" actually good?

-- Sent from my 13 year old P.O.S. Desktop®

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Never saw this. Is the "better cut" actually good?


You've never seen Nightbreed? Well, like any film with an extended cut, I would recommend watching the theatrical cut to see if you have any interest or not. I mean, it may not even be your cup of tea. If you do like it, then definitely watch the extended cut so you can better appreciate what was added to the film. I never recommend watching an extended cut first. In the end, you can make up your own mind about how you like it or which version you prefer. I enjoy both versions, though I prefer the extended cut. I have been a fan since the film came out in 1990. 

- - - - - - -
I am not a fan. I just happen to enjoy movies. Fans are embarrassing.

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I thought this was a pretty good film until I rewatch ed it recently. It is indeed distinctly average and a mush mash of ideas.

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I just started watching the director's cut on Netflix. Had to turn it off after the mom got 86'd. That wastoo graphic and sad for my tastes.

-- Sent from my 13 year old P.O.S. Desktop®

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Well I watched the director's cut on blu-ray last night and bloody loved it.

VERY of its time. But enjoyable as *beep*

Mr Annnderson.....!

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The priest and the Decker character do leave your head scratching, but aside from that, I find the narrative pretty straightforward (seriously, backstories are not something I would expect from this type of movie). While the make up and the music are perhaps the best things about the movie, I'd say this is a decent watch if you don't expect too much from it.


You want something corny? You got it!

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Yeah it's all over the place. The directors cut is anyway, don't remember if theatrical is any better but i doubt it. The monsters are great, their designs and makeup are so solid I can't say enough good things about them. Beyond that, this movie doesn't have a whole lot going for it. The writing, directing, acting, pacing, etc are all pretty mediocre. Half of it makes no sense, and characters just do things with no reason behind it. Entire subplots seem to be dropped, and you're constantly asking questions about what's happening.

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While I did quite enjoy the Director's Cut and even found the Theatrical Cut pretty entertaining, I do have one major gripe with the film still.

It feels like there's a good 10-15 minutes missing when Boone first arrives at Midian, and both versions of the film really bug me when that chunk of the film arrives. It's like Boone gets there then immediately leaves. Even just a couple short scenes showing him getting along and living there would have helped.

Other than that though, I find it a good, fun time.

And FURTHERMORE, this is my signature! SERIOUSLY! Did you think I was still talking about my point?

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