For a film that quickly found obscurity RAWHEAD REX is a horror film with a very poor reputation . On its release it quickly disappeared without a mummer and even in the VHS era it was a film that hardly anyone thought was worth hiring from a video shop . One legacy it did do was that screenwriter and original author Clive Barker decided if you wanted someone to adapt your work as a film then it's a good idea to direct the movie yourself which led to Barker directing HELLRAISER , one of the most memorable and haunting horror films ever made . So is RAWHEAD REX as bad as is often made out ?In truth it's not dreadful but neither is much good . Seen over 20 years after it was produced there's something painfully old fashioned in every aspect of its conception and execution . ,. A monster stalking the nocturnal countryside , it's something that we've all seen in science fiction B movies from the 1950s or DOCTOR WHO , or read about in medieval folklore , it's a story that's effectively centuries old and RAWHEAD REX brings nothing to to this type of tale . Perhaps most disappointingly Barker brings little new to his original short story and merely pads it out with needless characters and the occasional bloody set piece One obvious problem with the film is the production values which are often laughable and unfortunately this extends to the eponymous monster itself which resembles a man in a badly fitting rubber suit and is never menacing and often laughable as it head wobbles around whilst dispatching sundry monster fodder . victims . . The horror genre is not known for its cerebral ethos but when you've got a monster that elicits chuckles rather than chills then someone has made a huge mistake In summary RAWHEAD REX is a very cheesy old fashioned creature feature . That said it's completely unpretentious which is not something that can used to describe much of Barker's output and many of us have a soft spot for this type of silly B movie horror

An Irish farmer ploughing his fields removes an ancient seal from it, to only release a demon and Howard Hallenbark an American historian on a working vacation in Ireland might be the only one who can put an end to its terrifying rage.An over-the-top and daft, but deliriously entertaining monster (ancient Irish demon) on the rampage low-budgeted opus. "Rawhead Rex" is an adaptation of Clive Baker's short story, who he also penned the film's screenplay. The ideas covered by Baker are unhinged and fascinating enough, but the tacky and sloppy execution of it is hard to take seriously and this especially goes for the monster creation. It's simply looks like a mutated head-banger crossed ape with its rippled muscles, long black hair and googly red eyes attached to a rubber mask. Oh it's a sight --- just wait for its spectacular entrance and you don't have to wait long either! While toweringly imposing in presence I didn't think it created much fear, but it sure was aggressive and destructive when in action/and gnawing upon its victims. Little bit of gruesome gore is chucked in and some bright optical FX work within its climax, but it remains pretty cornball. Where it scored high points for me was the choice of locations, rich rural Irish backdrops were atmospherically brought across and it was professionally photographed. Even the sound effects had certain eeriness and the music score, while overcooked was forebodingly judged. Something about its air had a dark mythical (its religious outlook) / fairytale (good vs. evil) edge, which only cemented how unusual it was and within it had that old-fashion tailoring of older monster features. Only if it didn't succumb to its pulpy silliness, but director George Pavlou (who also previously directed another Baker adaptation "Transmutations") presented some ghastly and humorous moments along with few stunning images. The performances are reasonable, as David Dukes is committed in the central role. Niall Toibin, Niall O'Brien and Ron Wilmont offer fine support. Could have been better, but still trashy fun.

If you were not frightened by the atrocity of The Leprechaun I must say that that movie has an older brother, which is even more atrocious and even more not frightening.Something evil in the forests of Ireland lurks - the terrifying Rawhead Rex. It has awoken from a centuries long slumber released from its womb of the earth.Red-eyed, ripped like Arnie in Commando and apparently 8-9 feet tall. Albeit the last feature is not much of a feat in countryside Ireland, since most Irish seem to be the same height as Rawhead Rex. It could be possible that Rawhead just didn't want to seem too tall on set (tall actors are mostly perceived as bad actors) and decided to crouch, so that he could see eye to eye with his meals. I must however state that he does try to give a delicious performance as a reject from Twisted Sister with a bad hair day and a piranha attached to his face.The movie itself can be used for Irish sex lessons for the catholically challenged. It gives great insight as to why pregnancy is a gift and also convincingly introduces you to the notion that kissing is gross.Apart from that one must admire the tremendous acting abilities of a certain priest (played by Ronan Wilmot), who hands out very well verbalised 'fcks' and does as stand up job as a latrine.Must give some negative comment about the lack of good screaming actresses, which did subtract somewhat from the watching pleasure. Also not enough chasing of females in woods and people tripping over their own feet.I had to double check if this wasn't a Troma film. Surprisingly it wasn't. I also double checked if Clive Barker really is responsible for the... ugh... I'll go out on a limb and call it a story. Amazingly he was.

Awful, awful, awful. I am so disappointed I wasted 89 minutes of my life watching this dross. I'm thinking of turning to mighty god and asking for those valuable minutes back. I remember wondering into the video shop with a mate asking for a video to 'scare us out of our wits'. He told us about Rawhead Rex, and the box read just what we were looking for. How could we not be scared by something described as Pure evil, pure terror and so on. We had hardly got comfy when the film had started and you saw the 'purely evil' Rawhead Rex in the first nano second of the film. So the suspense vanished in a nano second too. So from there the film, leaps from awful to disgraceful. I never thought that the most 'evil thing in history's' idea of being evil would be to trash a caravan by spilling sugar, smashing trinkets and generally making a bit of a teenage mess. If you do see this video nestling in some box at Oxfam, pay no more than 20p (give a £1 to charity) and are curious about it, I suggest you do watch it, just to see how bad it really is. Then dispose of the video promptly to stop anyone else being exposed to it. I wish I had protested at the time, to the maker and protested in the most serious terms about him taking up another career, and also asking for my £1.00 back. I did ask for that back from the video shop arguing that the goods were not sold as described. I suggest that you just watch the hell raiser films over again and again... and again.