Nightbreed is a relatively obscure movie license from Ocean Software, based on the Clive Barker film of the same name (which was based on his 1988 book, Cabal). It was designed and programmed by Chris Kerry and Mark Rogers.

Chris Kerry you might remember from Jack and the Beanstalk and Monty Is Innocent infamy; Mark Rogers had programmed a number of games by this point, including Avenger and Run the Gauntlet.

Nightbreed is a flick-screen action game in which you play a character called Boone, who must fight his way through the monster-infested Midian, defeat ‘The Mask’ (played by David Cronenberg in the movie), and ultimately reunite with his girlfriend Lori and escape Midian.

The game is essentially a simple beat ’em up with key-collecting and puzzle elements. At one point in the game Boone is able to transform into his stronger and more powerful alter ago, Cabal, after being baptised by the God Baphomet.

Nightbreed (The Action Game) was followed-up by Nightbreed: The Interactive Movie on the Atari ST and Amiga. A third game – which would have made a trilogy of Nightbreed games in total – was never released due to the poor performance of the first two titles.

Nightbreed (The Action Game), like the film itself, is rather disappointing overall. While the film does have its fans (as can be seen by the recent BluRay Director’s Cut re-releases), the game is unlikely to have many followers. The graphics are bold but gaudy, and the gameplay is fairly standard Ocean Software movie license fodder. It’s an interesting curiosity in the Spectrum‘s history, and little more.

More: Nightbreed on Wikipedia