My thoughts on the Director's Cut (I loved it overall)

Decker was never meant to be central to what the novel Cabal, which Nightbreed was based on, was about. He exists merely as an antagonist which pushes our main characters into action. He's there to set up Boone as a murderer, which is the catalyst that will lead him to Midian. Barker has some fun with the Decker character in his murderous actions, but basically he is just a psycho who gets a thrill from carving people up. He isn't interested in the Nightbreed so much as killing Boone and Lori because they know his secret. Decker is somewhat of a generic character in the book, but like I said, he is NOT central to the plot and only serves as a catalyst. He adds some thrills and scares to the story, but a lot more is going on with Cabal than a slasher villain killing people. The novel served as a sort of coming out of the closet for Barker and has sometimes been referred to as the gayest monster story ever told. There are lots of allegories that Barker is focused on in telling his tale, and none have to do with a serial killer, per se.

I obtained the new "Cabal and Other Annotations", which did mention in one of the essays that three factions of the monstrous side of humanity are on display in the characters of Eigerman who represents the failure of law, Ashberry who represents the failure of religion, and Decker who represents the failure of science and who masquerades as a healer.

Decker doesn't know anything about Midian's existence in the book. Decker is merely concerned with using Boone's troubled past as a way to pin his crimes on him. Boone knows of Midian only through whispers heard from others he had encountered during his time in mental wards, a place promising forgiveness which he now feels he needs since he believes himself to be a murderer. Decker only becomes aware of Midian in his efforts to track Boone down after he apparently isn't dead after being shot down. Like I said, though, Midian and the Nightbreed aren't really Decker's concern. He simply wants to kill Boone so as not to be exposed.

Barker changes his own story and expands it in the film. He added a mythological aspect to the story where Boone is not only aware of Midian, but plagued by dreams of it. As the story unfolds we see that Boone has been prophesied (as depicted on the Mural). Boone is destined to lead the Breed into a new world, the man who unmade Midian. There is a line in the script that mentions him being the seventh savior of Midian, though I am not sure if this was ever actually filmed or not. In any case, this element is new to the story and adds some interesting facets overall that I think works well. I very much enjoy the mythological underpinning that Barker added.

Decker does not believe in the Midian that Boone tells about and dreams about. They simply discuss it in his therapy. As you can see in the film, Boone is at a point where he knows that it is all just dreams and fantasies, so even though the dream continues, he dismisses them. Decker only stumbles across Midian because he and the authorities follow Boone there, and the disappearance of Boone's body poses a possible threat that he is not dead and could still expose him. Remember the tape Decker listens to?

Decker: "Death is the end, Boone."

Boone: "No, in Midian it isn't. In Midian I live forever. So maybe death isn't the end, doc."

This enrages Dr. Decker and he smashes the recorder. Decker feels threatened by the great what if. What if there was more to what Boone was talking about? What if he really is alive? What are the chances that he found a place in the real world called Midian and that is where he "died"? What if death really isn't the end, as Boone proclaimed? This is why Decker is motivated to follow Lori. He knows that Boone still being alive isn't really possible (or shouldn't be), but he must cover all of his tracks. It is important that Boone not be allowed to tell his secret. What ifs! There is enough strange things that seem a bit more than coincidence to fuel his pursuit of this great what if.

In the original cut of the film, audiences didn't understand Decker's motivation. The first cut had Decker wanting to slaughter the Nightbreed, which seemed to come out of nowhere. Reshoots were ordered to beef up the Decker character, mainly because the studio was only interested in making Decker a central character (hence his resurrection at the end). Barker wisely crafted a new scene starring John Agar in which Decker pays the old man a visit and tortures him to find out about the Nightbreed and whether they can die or not. Barker also uses this opportunity to make a connection between why Decker kills families and thus why this would carry over into a desire to kill the Breed.

Decker: "I've cleaned up a lot of breeders. Families like cesspools. Filth making filth making filth...and I did it over and over and over again, but it was all leading me here. I was born to destroy them and the Breed together."

I am glad Barker opted to keep this sequence in the director's cut. The film version of Decker feels that he has a mission to fulfill in his murders, cleaning up the filth that keeps on breeding. This scene doesn't really make Decker center stage, but simply establishes a better motive for his hatred of the Nightbreed as he rallies the authorities to fight a battle which he can't win on his own.

The biggest mistake the theatrical cut made was the studio's desire to turn it into somewhat of a slasher film by adding more Decker scenes. Some new Decker scenes are welcome, actually, but the resurrection at the end was terrible (well, cool scene but one that doesn't make good sense in context of the story). Decker was meant to stay dead. Decker is not intended to carry forward in sequels. His purpose has been played out. He is the catalyst that drove Boone to Midian. That is his sole importance to the story more than anything else. He was never intended to take on such an important role as a resurrected monster teamed with Ashberry.

I hope I didn't babble too much here. I do love Cabal and Nightbreed quite a bit and have been a fan for twenty-four years now. The movie I saw in theaters and it inspired me to read the book.

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Whose idea was it for the word LISP to have an S in it?