History Film / Nightbreed

* CanadaEh: Downplayed, though not to the extent that CanadaDoesNotExist. Characters acknowledge that they live in Alberta (specifically, Calgary, or "within driving distance"; Edmonton is mentioned to be close by, too) and Boone's Canadian passport is visible in an early scene. The cops have maple leaf emblems on their uniforms and there is a Canadian flag in Eigerman's office. The landscape of rolling forests and mountains is also distinctively Canadian.

** Eigerman, furious at the the Sons of the Free fleeing when it becomes clear they're outmatched by the Nightbreed, starts shooting at them as the run by him.

* CorruptHick: Many residents of Shereneck County appear to be rednecks of some sort.

* BladeEnthusiast: Dr. Decker prefers to use huge carving blades to kill his victims, often appearing with [[DualWielding one in each hand]]. He's briefly seen in his apartment with an entire collection of knives and blades laid out in front of him on a conference-style table.

* KnifeNut: Dr. Decker prefers to use huge carving blades to kill his victims, often appearing with [[DualWielding one in each hand]]. He's briefly seen in his apartment with an entire collection of knives and blades laid out in front of him on a conference-style table.

A [[MalevolentMaskedMen masked]] SerialKiller is stalking the families of the city, killing them brutally, and Aaron Boone (Creator/CraigSheffer) has been having nightmares where he sees the crimes through his eyes. In his [[PsychicDreamsForEveryone nightmarish dreams]] he also sees the strange, undergound city of Midian and its monstrous inhabitants, feeling a strange pull towards it. The nightmares are so bad that he had been seeing Doctor Philip Decker (Creator/DavidCronenberg), who is worried he's getting worse. After Dr. Decker's "lithium" nearly gets him run over by a truck, he meets Narcisse (Hugh Ross), a touched man who babbles about Midian, and claims to know where it is. Deciding to take the chance, Boone heads there and promptly gets killed for being suspected of being the serial killer.

-->'''Rachel:''' You call us monsters, but when you dream, [[NotSoDifferent it's of flying and changing, and living without death]]. You envy us. And what you envy...

* GothicHorror: A typical aspect considering it's the brainchild of Creator/CliveBarker after all. The Midianites all have gothic appearances.

* AdaptationalVillainy: [[spoiler: Ashberry in the novel ends up crippled and spouting prophetic gibberish. Eigermann intends to decrypt to aid him in his revenge on the Nightbreed. In both versions of the film, he's the one intent on hunting them to extinction. The Boom Comics series even goes so far as to make him secretly a zealot SerialKiller.]]

* AntiVillain: Inspector Joyce is just concerned that Boone is the one killing people, so he reluctantly cooperates with Decker, and later Eigermann. [[spoiler:He's also visibly horrified when Ohnaka starts burning in the sunlight, and in a deleted scene, he pulls a HeelFaceTurn by returning Babette to Rachel and then leaving.]]

* AxCrazy: Not initially the case with Decker, but over the course of the movie, he becomes more reckless and violent in his attempts to frame Boone. Played straight with Eigermann.

* BloodKnight: Eigermann and his men seem ... a little too enthusiastic about wiping out the 'Breed.

* CanadaEh: Downplayed, though not to the extent that CanadaDoesNotExist. Characters acknowledge that they live in Alberta (specifically, Calgary, or "within driving distance"; Edmonton is mentioned to be close by, too) and Boone's Canadian passport is visible in an early scene. The cops have maple leaf emblems on their uniforms and there is a Canadian flag in Eigermann's office. The landscape of rolling forests and mountains is also distinctively Canadian.

* BigBad: Dr. Philip Decker, Boone's PsychoPsychologist who frames him forces murders and starts a war against the Nightbreed.

* DarkIsNotEvil: The Midianites... though definitely ''not'' harmless. And definitely not all of them if the ImAHumanitarian tendencies of Peloquin are anything to go by.

* KnifeNut: Dr. Decker prefers to use huge carving blades to kill his victims, often appearing with one in each hand. He's briefly seen in his apartment with an entire collection of knives and blades laid out in front of him on a conference-style table.

* TheSociopath:
** Dr. Philip Decker, a PsychoPsychologist who kills families because he despises humanity, gaslights Boone into thinking he did them, and declares war on the Nightbreed for no apparent reason. Throughout all this, he remains deathly calm, seemingly feeling nothing but hatred.
** Captain Eigerman, a RabidCop who makes no pretense of pleasantries even when speaking with other departments, and decides to slaughter the Nightbreed for seemingly no reason other than sick thrills.

* OurVampiresAreDifferent: All of the Nighbreed are vampiric to some extent. They crave blood and flesh and the sunlight hurts them. But the variety of their appearances and individual traits are vast. Aaron Boone is the closest to "your average vampire," having a typical "monstrous" face and biting Boone on his shoulder.