NightBreed (1990)
|
Aaron Boone is having some bad dreams and thinks his shrink can help but his shrink is going to tell Aaron that Aaron has 24 hours to surrender to police - on suspicion of being a brutal murderer. 6 families have been sliced and diced and the shrink is ready to rat his own patient out. But that's only because the shrink is the killer and needs a scapegoat. Boone tries suicide while thinking he was guilty but after the attempt fails and he realizes he didn't do it, his only choice left is to go to the place he knows in his heart is safe: Midian. Midian is a graveyard filled with monsters and animals that once had human form but have been changing physically and once there, Boone realizes he is one of them. But Dr. Decker isn't ready to give up the fight to convict Boone of his crimes and he's prepared to rid Midian of all living things. But Boone has one more trick up his sleeve: destiny!
Overall: The short story called "Cabal" by Clive Barker is much better and crisper than the film is but I think both suffer from just being too weird. The short story focuses more on Boone's destiny with Midian and with Lori's obsession into figuring all of this out. It follows Lori fairly closely and for a few chapters, it is as if Boone isn't even there. The film really lets Lori be more of a "follower" and entirely skips sections involving the sheriff and the priest and Decker's interactions with people, including with Lori and the murder of Lori's friend. It also fails to appropriately attend to why Decker is killing anyone and what Boone's connection to Decker is. In fact, the film shows Boone visiting Decker and asking about the deaths as if Boone already knew, yet the book has Decker rush to find Boone so he can give Boone the 24 hours out of caring for his friend (which we know is a lie), but the way the book tells it, at least makes more sense with the plot. The idea of why humans are turning into the monsters is never addressed by either. The first thing that stood out to me was the setting of Canada. Is Canada more prone for underground monsters? The film fails to address much of what holds the story together, most likely so it could fit in the 100 minutes for the film length. Surprisingly Clive himself made the film, so you would have thought the movie would have greatly followed the book. Sorry to disappoint ya. What can I say good about the film? David Cronenberg as Decker is awesome and I think some graphics are decent, but the monsters just reminded me of the theatre play "Cats." Comparison: Cats Meets Analyze This |
Links to other sites at The Sinning Room
Horror Films L-Z Review Page
Horror Films Review Page
