read reviews. Therefore, the film had to be sold to the lowest common denominator. They refused to preview the film for critics, a decision which angered Barker. Reception Critical response Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports 48% of 33 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating was 5.5 out of 10. The site's consensus states: "Nightbreeds imaginative world-building and startling creature designs are no match for its clumsy, uneven plotting". In his review for the Toronto Star, Henry Mietkiewicz wrote "Nightbreed might have been a monster movie milestone, if Clive Barker's directorial abilities had kept pace with his skill as a master of British horror fiction. Unfortunately, Nightbreed probably will be remembered as much for its haphazard plotting and underdeveloped characters as its delightfully daring concept". Derek Malcolm wrote in his review for The Guardian that "it is neither direct nor subtle enough as a piece of film-making. It is difficult to suggest that evil is human and monsters have souls within the context of a mountain of special effects. The result is patchy in the extreme and not always capable of transcending a genre that has become less and less intriguing as less and less is left to the imagination". However, Entertainment Weeklys Ty Burr gave the film a "B" rating, writing: "From the film's Gothic sets, fantastic makeup, and nightmarish plot line, it's clear that Barker owes as much to Poe and Lovecraft as to classic Hollywood screamers like Island of Lost Souls. But Barker's most perverse touch is that he makes these creatures the good guys (no wonder the PR flacks were bamboozled). Despite their grotesque appearance, they're a more colorful and engaging bunch than the emissaries of the normal world. Barker piles on more subversive subtext than his story can bear — it's a monster movie, after all — but his daft, Grand Guignol vision has real power. The quality that freaked out the studio, Barker's ambition, is precisely what makes Nightbreed so impressive". Box office Nightbreed was released on February 16, 1990, in 1,488 theaters, grossing $3.7 million on its opening weekend. It went on to make $8.8 million in the United States and Canada and $7 million internationally for a worldwide total of $16 million on an $11 million budget. Accolades Merchandise Comic books In 1990, to tie in with the film's box office release, Epic Comics produced a four-issue