By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
Photos copyright 20th Century Fox
I was recently made aware of just how many movies and television shows the younger generation have never heard of, never mind seen. So to that end, we look back at some characters you really need to see before you kick the bucket.
Decker: I’m not one of them. I’m here to destroy them. See, 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 Boone and the Breed together. I’m Death. Plain and simple.
If ever there was a villain to epitomise the ultimate serial killer it is Doctor Philip Decker in Nightbreed. Usually I would say that every villain has a degree of humanity that makes his evil so shocking to the audience but with Decker, there is nothing but pure evil. He has no soul, no remorse and no problem murdering children. He murders entire families wearing a mask earning him the name Old Button Face.
His initial appearance is ghostly as he murders yet another family, walking past the bottom of the stairs like a shadow as a child watches. After murdering his parents, Button Face walks up the stairs soundlessly brandishing his knife bearing down on the terrified boy.
What makes Decker so dangerous is that he is in a position of power and respect as a psychiatrist. He works with the police and is highly respected. His delivery is one of being quietly spoken. When he encounters Aaron Boone (Craig Sheffer) who is having nightmares about monsters in a place called Midian, Decker becomes obsessed. He needs to find it as it is the place where all sins will be forgiven. Boone meets a man, Narcisse in the hospital who is also seeking Midian and is also a patient of Decker. Decker is seeking anyone that can lead him to Midian, mentally twisting them to the point Narcisse starts to cut his own face off. Decker manipulates Boone into believing he has killed all these families and his dreams are memories of that.
Fleeing, Boone finds Midian where he flees as he is not welcome. He runs into the police and Decker who tells the police Boone has a gun. They kill him in a barrage of gunfire but having been bitten by one of the Midian inhabitants, he comes back to life.
Boon’s girlfriend follows him only to be followed by Decker who murders her friend by pinning her to a tree whilst manipulating the police. Decker will break his MO and do what is necessary to leave no witnesses. Indeed he begins wiping out anyone he finds. His exterior is always calm and collected but within him rages a fury the closer he gets to Midian. He escapes after almost killing Lori and brings the cops back to wipe out the inhabitants. At one point you think he is looking to go there to have his sins forgiven but he only wants to destroy. He is obsessed with destroying Midian and Boone and amid the war zone he creates where the Breed versus humans, he goes after Lori and Boone.
They fight as Midian collapses around them. Boone manages to drive his fist through Decker’s chest before he falls over the edge of a chamber. Presumably his body is consumed when Midian is blown apart. It could be this drive to wipe out Midian is because he doesn’t want to be be forgiven for his sins. He revels in the deaths of his victims. In the battle he beheads Narcisse and presents his head to Boone. Indeed it is an art form to him as seen when we see his massive secret collection of knives. His chamber is literally wall to wall with them. Decker lived in his own paradise with no glimpses of the evil within.
He is the perfect serial killer hidden behind status and respect in the community. Not even Hannibal Lector was this cold. He is a killer through and through with no redeemable qualities. Boone did the world a favour by putting him down.
The Time Warriors and Beyond 