“They’re not pretty. They’re not neighborly. They’re not even… human. “

With the upcoming 2014 release of Clive Barker‘s Cabal Cut of Nightbreed, take a look back on the theatrical trailer for this fantasy-horror box-office failure turned cult hit.

Based on Barker’s own novel Cabal, Nightbreed follows a group of monsters hiding from the modern world in Midian, a cemetery that Aaron Boone – a mental patient who has seen visions of this hidden world – stumbles upon. Nightbreed takes the classic approach of setting up monsters as heroes and mankind as the true monster, as the trailer above so obviously points out via narration.

Much has been written about how botched the release of Nightbreed was – with a heavily edited down running time, and tv-spots that sold the film as a slasher. The trailer above seems to be more in line with the tone of the finished product, though maybe it reveals a bit too much – holding the viewers’ hand throughout the trailer and laying out the entire plot. I’ve actually never seen Nightbreed, as my most vivid memory of the film was the box art at my local Video 99. I never did rent it, though I always wanted to.

Thankfully, the 155 minute Barker approved Cabal Cut is finally seeing the light of day thanks to internet petitioning and the fine folks at Scream Factory – so now might just be the best time for me to finally visit Midian.