Customer Reviews

Rawhead Rex [VHS]

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

I don't fancy there are too many Irish horror films out there so I'm going to go out on a limb and say this is the best one ever made. Although the monster walks around in army boots and has little glowing Christmas lights for eyeballs I think he looks great! And he tears people's heads off like nobody's business. When I was ten I accidentally stumbled upon this film at a friend's house as we sat down to watch the Ewok Adventure and instead got Rawhead jumping out of a barn and peeling some Irish bloke's face off. I've loved it ever since. Subsequent viewings have lessened the film's appeal for me, but I still think that if you're lucky enough to find Rawhead Rex (the film, not the monster) in a video store don't leave witout it!

Better than Ghoulies 2!

I don't think there's ever been a better movie than Raw Head Rex. A Beautiful Mind? Please! I don't think we'll ever see a character as well developed as Declan O'Brien ever again. And David Dukes? I think those snobs at the Oscar committee overlooked a great talent once again. (Take note, Russell Crowe - THIS is acting!) And I can't say enough about the disturbing trailer-park massacre, or the "surprise" shocker scenes such as Raw Head jumping out from behind some bushes (off-cue) to gnaw off some poor sod's hand. Voila! And those beady, laser-pointer eyes! How did they do that?!! Well, I guess sometimes a film comes along , and everyone else in Hollywood knows that they've got some catching up to do...

It was a good movie, but the make-up was not the best for a horror film. There are some great shots in the film. It looks very creepy and horrifying. The best part of the film takes place in a trailer park. That is where the horror is at its peak. This is one of the best horror films in the last twenty years. Don't watch it alone, you will not be able to sleep.

Ah, a monster movie with cheek! I find so much to admire here. How can you not enjoy it? An American movie team with pretensions of making a classy monster movie would have waited until three-quarters of the way through to show us the monster. Here, Rex pops up in the first minute and starts his carnage. Yeah! Only the British could have made this movie. I was astounded when I found out it was made in 1986. It's got the feel of the Hammer films of the 1970's. Stylish, yet aggressive. The claustrophobic atmosphere of a small, isolated Irish village is captured well. Rex may appear to be on a random killing spree, but slowly his motivations and the overall supernatural situation are revealed to us, like a puzzle coming together. Primal forces of nature and supernature are involved here. The latecomer Christianity is powerless to oppose them. I think those of us who haven't read the original story are better off. From the complaints of those who have read the story, it seems they refer to narrative subtleties that just can't be captured on film. Better to acknowledge the limitations of the medium and proceed accordingly. Many complain about the monster suit. But if you can't appreciate a good cheezy monster suit, then why even watch in the first place? Personally, I thought it was an excellent suit. Very menacing. If you don't come to this loaded down with the baggage of preconceptions and expectations from the short story, then you're in for a grand time. This is a rip-snorting good monster movie, backed up with an intriguing plot. Enjoy!

I think, as movie fans, we often forget that the main objective of a movie is to entertain. Even if you're laughing at how bad it is, you are still entertained. Taking that into account, I found Rex to be thoroughly entertaining. The filming was well done and the plot line was solid. There were truly gorey scences (the spray of blood when he bites the priest was very well done), and many scenes of 'implied horror'. The character development was adequate. I think that the creature was great. I appreciated what they did with limited resources, and found him satifactorily disgusting, if not terrifiying. As a connisseur of American cheese (aka 'B' movies), I found this to be grade A product. I was spooked once, grossed out plenty, and laughed a lot. If you're looking for a horrifying, grab your seat, hide your eyes 'cuz something bad is about to happen kind of movie, this isn't it. If you're looking for an entertaining horror film with decent gross out factor, an interesting plot and subtle humor this is your ticket.

If you haven't seen this movie at least three times, then you just haven't seen it at all. There is a dark undercurrent that runs freely throughout "Rawhead",slowly but surely bubbling up to the soul of the viewer, exposing his deepest, most primal fear to the person least able to deal with it--the viewer himself. If you are only able to see with your eyes, "Rawhead" will be a disappointment. If you have the ability to see through the windows to the soul, you will find something of value. This is a five-star movie with special-effects that cost it one star.

I'm sure in the bottomless realm of B-movies that barely hit production -- much less find their way to DVD -- there are plenty of monster flicks. Yet few truly great (and actually original) monster films seem to be easy to find. Well, congratulations! You've found one! Two years before the amazing film "Pumpkinhead" (also available on Amazon), there was another ancient killing machine of a demon-legend, known as "Rawhead Rex"...

(First of all, just to get it out of the way, there are absolutely no special features on this DVD. And as a matter of fact, the menu itself is the scene access page -- nothing more. Basically, this is a VHS that you don't have to rewind after viewing it.)

The story is a bit predictable: An ancient demon-creature is set loose upon the earth (in a small, country setting) and seeks to slaughter a bunch of locals. One man's son becomes one of the victims, so he takes on the duty of man-to-monster heroism. Throw in some backing story about what exactly the creature is and why it's here and you've got this baby in a nutshell. Rawhead Rex is one of those simple movies where there's not too much to find as far as plot-based details go, so I'll leave any of the big info on the creature for your own discovery. Regardless of the lack of cleverness, you can be assured there is plenty of the creature and it's slaughtering to keep you entertained! Of course, by the end of the film, it's becomes a show-down between the father and the demon. The father has finally discovered what the demon is afraid of, but can he destroy it in time before more humans, including himself, are ripped apart by Rawhead?

The costume of Rawhead Rex is definitely not something to brag about. It looks like a large, ragged barbarian/road warrior with a creature's head. Not to mention, it's mullet-style hair. Take away some of the scarier features from it's face and it could've been in Michael Jackson's Thriller music video. Still, the concept of the creature and it's savagery is what must be focused on, not the cheap rubber suit. This is an Irish film from 1986, so don't be surprised if there is more cheesiness than true horror.

Which brings me to my conclusion of why you should at least rent Rawhead Rex: it's a classic monster flick that is more fun than it is scary. I think if you're the type that enjoys the cornier side of horror movies, then this is perfect for you. So don't waste any time -- witness another tasty, twisted, and fairly original monster flick with Rawhead Rex!

Sure the title of the movie sounds like a guy that has spanked the monkey once too often, sure Rawhead looks like Nintendo's Bowser and Barney The Purple Dinosaur had a love child, and yes better special effects can be done on a child's toy computer than are in this movie but that's not the point! The point is entertainment and this movie delivers! So bad that it's good! I would recommend this to anyone who has a flair for cheese. If you liked crappy movies like the Toxic Avenger you will LOVE Rawhead Rex!!! Sit back, relax without any expectations and be prepared for a good time!

Clive Barker's script to "Rawhead Rex" elevates an otherwise pedestrian horror-thriller. Why? Because of Barker's instinctive understanding was what's REALLY scary: not the Rawhead (in his ridiculous costume), but the underlying pagan and pre-Christian imagery. Notice that this is a "Green Man" production -- the most potent, the most potentially pervasive of all pre-Christian images. I also liked the close-ups of the tombstones in the Irish church yard ... again, reflecting that uneasy alliance between Celtic (or even pre-Celtic) gods and Catholicism. It's a theme that Barker should return to some day ... but with a bigger budget (and better actors!)

In life there are 2 types of good horror film. There's the deliberately creepy that has you wondering what'll scare you next and there're the films that are so spectacularly cheesy that you find yourself wondering 'Did they actually pay people to make this film or were they just on day release from some programme?'.

I want to say that this film was creepy, scary and intimidating, but I can't. It is truely dire. I'll ignore the special effects (if you've seen the film and don't remember them, there were some, honest, at a stretch) and just mention on of my favorite scenes. In it, the monster, who looks like something that the production department at a really dire school play would reject as too cheep and tacky, manages to pull a woman through a car window and whip her blouse off at the same time. Maybe I'm easily pleased but way to go monster!

If you're a horror film buff, trust me, you'll never see anything quite like this film ever again.