Incidentally, my copy was a VHS that I picked up maybe 10 years ago. It's funny, after a month of watching horror movies, the most startled I've been was from this VHS tape. The last person to have it was *not* kind and did *not* rewind, so I had to do it. I try to avoid doing so (I feel my VCR is fragile and don't even know how to replace it if it breaks), but what can you do. So I started the rewind, and it was loud, but fine for a minute or so. Then, as it got to the end of the tape, it got louder and more squealy - like in a horror movie where the music (usually strings) just keep getting more chaotic and higher pitched to ratchet up the tension? And then it hit the end of the tape with a bang. It was super loud - way more vicious than I've heard from this machine before. It made me exclaim "shit!" out loud, and made my heart race a bit. Good jump scare, VCR! (I think something was wrong with that part of the tape, because there were some visual problems in the first 20 minutes of the film). Cool story, huh?
Anyways, onto the movie. Our hero Howard Hallenbeck (David Dukes) and his family are traveling around Ireland - he's working on a book about old churches and their potentially pagan roots. He visits and old church and notices an (awesome) stained glass window with some crazy demon on it. Meanwhile, some farmers removing a big stump/phallic looking thing in the middle of a field. It's extremely difficult to move, but eventually he gets it loose. Up from the hole comes the titular monster - Rawhead Rex! Turns out he is a pre-christian pagan demon who has been trapped for centuries... and now he's out for blood and revenge on the town that trapped him for thousands of years!
What I didn't like
Most of the things I didn't like about Rawhead Rex stem from the monster design (which could also be indicative of a low budget). He just looks pretty bad, and looks a little too man-in-suit for even my tastes. Except for his face, he pretty much just looks like a really tall rocker dude with long, black, puffed-out hair. He's wearing what looks like a leather jacket/pants. Honestly, when you'd get a shot of him from behind, he looks like a murderous, mid-70's era Gene Simmons in his elevator boots.
But the real problem is his face. There is almost zero articulation on any of the facial features. His horse-looking mouth can move around just a little bit, and his eyes glow red, but that's about it. It is just so obviously a mask, that it really takes you out of the movie anytime you get a close-up. I know that it's 1986 and there probably wasn't a lot of money around, but still - you could do so much better.
And they don't shy away from showing him either. He's prominently featured right away once the farmer removes his tombstone. I almost wonder if they would have been better off just waiting to show him and build a little tension about it... who knows? Also, he sounds pretty bad too - sometimes when Rex is doing his thing, it really just sounds like a guy just going RWAAR! with no additional audio editing.
Whenever I hear about this movie, it's always how it's a "good B-movie" or "good for a laugh only." But I really think it's just because the monster looks so bad. You wouldn't be able to show this to any non-horror fan - they would just dismiss it outright once they see Rex. It's too bad, because other than that I thought it was a well-written, surprisingly smart, and overall fun monster flick.
What I liked
Like I mentioned earlier, I'm a big fan of Clive Barker's horror stories. He wrote the screenplay for this one, and I can see the strengths of his writing shine through in this movie. I've always liked how he treats his horror and his characters seriously. Horror can be inherently unbelievable (and likewise inherently silly), but I've always enjoyed how Barker inserts real world issues into his stories. Not that issues like sexuality and parenthood are unique to his writing, but he treats his characters realistically and with respect. (For instance, I like how the main couple - Howard and his wife Elaine bicker like actual people bit also frankly talk about their sex life. It's not meant to be titillating - it just makes them seem real.)
But there is humor to be found here - some of it is really corny, (referring a collection of clocks: "that's a striking collection" and the response "thanks, it passes the time.") and some of it is rather biting. ("May I get you a cup of tea?" - "Why don't you just fuck off.") And much like Hell Baby, there is always something fun about seeing priests be vulgar.
The Irish setting is pretty unique too. This isn't the beautiful Irish countryside that you may be familiar with - it's more of a working class farming town. Which isn't to say it isn't visually interesting. Sure it's a dreary setting, but it works to the films advantage. You get the idea that this town is isolated and must tackle their (literal) demons from their past without any outside help. Also, one of Rex's big attacks takes place in a trailer park. You don't often see those in movies, and when you do, it's often looked down upon as being trashy or played up for laughs. Here' it's just portrayed as another place where people live, which was refreshing.
The performances were pretty good across the board. My personal favorite was Ronan Wilmot as Declan O'Brien, a priest with dubious intentions at the church who gets obsessed with helping Rex. It's a really fun, unhinged performance, and he was enjoyable every time he was on screen.
The gore/FX aren't really anything to write home about either, but they're serviceable. Overall, this is a movie that overcomes it's (admittedly dumb looking) monster and thrives on it's strong writing, good story, and good characters.
Ultimately
I would show you a picture of Rex. If you didn't dismiss it outright, I would recommend this film.
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