Geekery: Clive Barker’s ‘Nightbreed’ Coming to the Small Screen
Cabal is being developed into a series by Syfy. They think it’s the perfect time to return to Midian – but is there a story to tell after the multitudes of re-cuts and edits made to the original movie?
The original has… problems. Barker wrote a set of stories that were meant to examine race relations through his unique, horror lens. It didn’t really translate well. It’s got bad prosthetics, cheap sets, wooden acting, and its satire fails pretty horribly. It’s one of those early 90s monster movies that just didn’t plant the landing. The new project has that going for it: there is a lot of room for improvement.
“There has never been a more relevant time for us to turn to one of the genre’s great cult classics from our movie library to impact the national conversation with bold, compelling and unconventional storytelling. The team at Morgan Creek is very excited to partner with Clive Barker, Syfy and Universal Cable Productions on Nightbreed for a unique, trenchant and no-holds-barred exploration of race relations in today’s society. As a sophisticated twist on the classic graphic novel form, Nightbreed pits ‘Humans’ against persecuted monsters, using metaphor and parable to take on bias and prejudice with real-world consequences.”
No release date has been talked about just yet. I’d expect 2020 if it makes it past the pilot stage. Maybe a series will give them time to explore Midian more, and make Boon’s story more compelling. Give it some decent practical effects and better sets. It could prove to be what Barker fans have been trying to eke out of the multiple edits out there.
