Oh god, anything but Rawhead Rex.
Anyway, I've finished watching the various movies adapted from the Books of Blood. It's been interesting to see how these stories carried over to film. For the most part, Barker has fared pretty well, much better than say Stephen King. Even though he may have Rawhead Rex made from his material, at least Barker never got a Lawnmower Man.
Candyman – Adapted from The Forbidden, Candyman is a rare instance when a film improves on the original source material. The Forbidden is a good horror story, but Candyman is an exemplary horror film. Bernard Rose took the original story, and smartly sees Barker's ideas through to their logical end.
The Forbidden may touch on the concept of myth, but Rose completely embraces the idea. By re-purposing the Bloody Mary story, Rose transformed the titular character into a modern day urban legend. In doing so, he defines Candyman in a way Barker never quite managed. Completing this transformation is Tony Todd. In Barker's story, Candyman was one note candy colored nightmare. Todd's presence imbues the monster with a sense of romantic tragedy and nobility, creating dimensions that didn't exist in The Forbidden.
While Rose may have invented a large chunk of what defines Candyman, he knew when to leave well enough alone. He largely keeps the trajectory of Barker's The Forbidden in place, including the unhappy ending. Because he was smart in his adaptation, Rose ended up crafting one of the best horror films of the nineties.
Lord of Illusions – When time came to follow up Nightbreed, Barker turned to the final story in the Books of Blood, The Last Illusion. This story sees the introduction of Harry D'Amour, a private detective that is drawn to the dark. The Last Illusion, is really straight forward. D'Amour is hired to protect the body of a world famous magician until it can be cremated. Because he accepts the job, Swan comes into conflict with supernatural forces seeking to claim the corpse.
Because the tale is pretty contained, Barker chose to greatly expand his adaptation. The major invention for the film is Nix, and his cult of worshippers. With Nix, Barker defines the nebulous dark force that was hungry to claim Swann. This major alteration results in a host of other changes. Character motivations are different, allegiances shift and even Swann's fate changes.
With all the changes, Barker kept one thing the same; Harry D'Amour. The film version of D'Amour is pretty much the same character from The Last Illusion; a regular guy cast into a world of magic and haunted by dark forces he doesn't understand. Scott Bakula brings heroism, a sense of detachment and a measure of goofiness to the role and really helps ground the proceedings.
Oh, and Famke Janssen is ridiculously hot.
Unfortunately gutted for it's theatrical release, Lord of Illusions holds up pretty well despite its early nineties computer effects. Quickly paced and nicely lensed, it stands as Barker's best effort as a director. It's a shame he hasn't directed a film since.
Nightbreed – Even though it wasn't a part of the Books of Blood, I decided to re-visit the Tribes of the Moon. I haven't watched the film since Warner's Bros. released it on DVD a few years back. I haven't read the novel on which it's based, Cabal, since I was in high school.
Nightbreed is an incredibly flawed film. It's pacing is relentless to a fault, never slowing to allow any of its ideas to register or its characters to develop. As a result, shit happens because it has to. There's talk of prophecies and revelations, but it's just mumbo jumbo. Characters pop up in service of the plot and are dispatched as soon as they outlived their usefulness. The climactic battle sequence is cut together with all the finesse of a monkey wielding a hatchet.
What makes the existing version of Nightbreed so tragic is, there's hints of a great fantasy movie. From what I gather The Cabal Cut, supposedly coming to Blu-Ray soon, goes a long way towards rectifying these issues, but because it's an assembly version its way too bloated for its own good. In a perfect world, Clive would be granted access to the original elements along with the time and money to deliver the version of Nightbreed he always intended.
I think it works better when you find a theme, and stick with it.
