We all know that Clive Barker’s anthology series, which launched his career as a successful novelist, helped him gain notoriety, reach a large audience, and build a large fanbase. We’re talking about his Books of Blood series, which began in the mid-80s, and it’d be a crime if we didn’t mention Barker’s Rawhead Rex.
If Clive Barker is recognized as the maestro of dark psychological suspense and dread, then this vicious and feral creature created by the horror legend is without a doubt one of his classics.
Rawhead Rex is the ultimate symbol of primitive, primordial, and virulent force. He’s described as a nine-foot-tall walking phallus with a massive head that resembles raw meat and a gigantic mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth.
This ancient, savage, flesh-eating monster, who lives in the picturesque English village of Zeal, is known for consuming children and molesting women, even impregnating them. No one doubts that this beast is ruthless; nevertheless, like any other monster, there are some things that even he is afraid of.
Rawhead Rex despises pregnant women, and he is also terrified of women who are on their periods. Aside from that, there’s nothing that can be done to stop this living embodiment of male sex desire, who has tormented the entire community. As a result, it should come as no surprise that his antics resulted in him being buried alive by the villagers, where he stayed for generations.
But, as fate would have it, this monster eventually broke away from his captivity, and we can thank Thomas Garrow, an inexperienced and unlucky farmer, for that. Garrow, who had been given a three-acre field as an inheritance, was initially perplexed to see the property lying fallow.
As a result, he resolved to plough the field in preparation for the new crop, and while doing so, he discovered a big stone block hidden deep below the soil. Garrow realised he needed to dig out the slab so that he could plough without being hampered, and he set to work only to realise what a terrible mistake he had done.
The beast was reawakened, and within seconds, the monster’s ravenous fangs ripped through the farmer, obliterating him in a single bite.
In today’s video, we’ll take a closer look at Rawhead Rex, Clive Barker’s spiteful, wild, and cruelly savage monster.
The Story Of The Ancient Beast – Rawhead Rex Begins!
The story of Rawhead Rex begins with Thomas Garrow unwittingly unleashing the ancient beast in the third volume of Barker’s Books of Blood trilogy, illustrated by the highly skilled British illustrator Les Edwards.
Rex could finally smell the taste of human terror once the stone that had bound him for so long was finally loosened. He was able to scrape the earth from his blue body, the worms from his hair, and the red spiders from his scalp with ease.
His face was gigantic, like a harvest moon — huge and yellowish-brown. And that gigantic, cavernous mouth seemed to split the head in two halves every time it opened. Garrow witnessed it all; barely minutes before the pitiless monster drove him head-first into the very same hole he had just exited, which became Garrow’s grave.
It goes without saying that the beast went on an immediate killing spree to not only regain his power but also reap his vengeance on mankind. He made his way to the nearby Nicholson barn to take shelter and although he did encounter Gwen Nicholson in the barn and wanted to kill her quite badly, he just couldn’t. Wondering why?
It was that time of the month for Gwen, who was going through her menstrual cycle. Rex acted as if blood was a taboo for him, and Gwen was fortunate enough to be spared, if only for a brief while.
The Nicholson family of three was targeted; the father was literally lifted up into the air like a sack of feathers before being hurled back down; and the girl, Amelia, was eaten directly in front of her mother.
Gwen died a horrible death as well, losing her balance at the top of the stairwell and banging her head on the handrail, breaking her neck – all while witnessing the unimaginable image of her daughter being fed to the monstrance.
Rex’s next target was police officer, Sergeant Gissing, whom he not only castrated but, upon discovering petrol and learning of its ability to burn, Rawheadset on fire. The fact that the beast actually adapts to change or in this case, the new world, makes him all the more threatening and dangerous.
Arriving at the local church of Saint Peters, Rawhead wastes no time in corrupting the local verger Declan Ewan. He ‘baptizes’ Declan by bathing him in his urine, much to Reverend Coot’s horror, and the insane Declan even went to the extent of drinking the urine before aiding the monster in sacrificing Coot.
As police arrive at the church, Rawhead displaysthe dismantled body of Coot as proof of power. And, if you think that’s where he stopped, well, we would urge you to think again! Rawhead even throws whatever is left of Coot’s body right at the police.
This includes Coot’s organs, which are falling out of his body – it is a disgusting, gory sight. As the police start shooting at Rawhead, he eludes them straightaway and heads for his hiding spot.
Despite the fact that the chase is over for the night, Rawhead continues his assassination spree. Rawhead kills Ron Milton’s little son in front of his father, biting off his head and carrying his body into the woods to enjoy his meal at leisure later.
Exasperated by the police’s failure to find the beast, Milton decides to pay a visit to the still living but gravely critical Reverend Coot. Despite the fact that eighty percent of his bones were shattered or broken, and one of his hands was crushed beyond recognition, the reverend still had some life left in him.
Ron makes it to the church and although he is initially overpowered by the deranged and completely unclothed Declan, it was in the altar that he discovered the weapon that would prove to be the monster’s weaknes: a female symbol of a pregnant woman.
Ron takes the stone idol and approaches the monster right outside the church. Rawhead, who had set the whole village on fire by then, tears apart the Verger, killing him. This is when Ron realizes how careless the creature has been while revellinghis destruction -the ensuing fire had wounded the monster; the powerful flames roasting his eyeballs, affecting his face and upper torso too. In short, his body is burnt.
Despite that, Rawhead’s dimmedeyes can still figure out the stone in Ron’s hands and to him, it is the thing that he fears the most in the world. ‘The bleeding woman, her gaping hole, eating seed and spitting children. It was life, that hole, that woman. It was a never-ending fecundity that worried him. ’
Rawhead takes a step back for the first time in his life, dread gripping the beast as he realises his demise is approaching. By then, the Zealots had summoned the bravery to close up on the monster and started thrashing him. There would be no resurrection this time since Rawhead knew he was doomed.
He gives one last look up at Ron as the latter slams the idol into his face. As a result, the monster’s bladder empties, and a stream of his piddle runs down the road for a few feet before draining into the embracing ground. And such was the end of the King’s reign.
There Was A Movie Based On Rawhead Rex
Howard Hallenbeck travels to Ireland with his family to conduct research for a novel he is writing, according to George Pavlou’s 1986 Irish fantasy horror film. A farmer unintentionally removes a minatory stone column from a ploughing field, releasing the terrifying pagan god Rawhead Rex, while Howard is busy investigating rural churches and photographing graves.
After coming up from his hibernation and captivity, the ancient, vicious, flesh-eating demon goes on a killing spree, destroying anybody who crosses his path.
The creature’s superhuman strength and durability just cannot be taken lightly; let’s not forget that this demon is easily capable of tearing through flesh – he even goes to the extent of effortlessly tearing apart his chosen ones.
Remember the scene with the severed hand, or the one where Howard’s character sees Rawhead on top of a hill with a decapitated head in his hand? You cannot deny that these were nice additions to the movie, which augmented the whole eerie feel.
Pavloulets Rawhead Rex turn vans topsy-turvy, take bullets like they are no big deal, and also survive through an immense gas tank explosion. Played by Heinrich von Schellendorf, who was only 19 years old and a height of 6 feet 11 inches at the time, the monster was designed and created by the special effects team in less than a month.
Also, you might be astonished to learn that the Rawhead Rex costume was constructed entirely of rubber skin. In terms of the monster’s look, it differed significantly from the source material.
Rex is seen in the film as a tall, humanoid entity who resembles an ogre covered in armour. His skin is a dark brown colour, and he keeps most of his head and chest exposed all the way down to his abs. His red flashing eyes, shaggy mohawk haircut, and wild lion-like teeth, which are always coated in blood, are impossible to overlook.
Ireland as the prime location of the movie also deserves aspecial mention; the beautiful countryside scenery combined with the dense forest and the spectacular hill tops givesRawhead many hiding spotsfrom which to show up unexpectedly, and mark our words, he will give you some pretty good scares.
Let’s not forget his roar; it is deep, it is loud and it is creepy. You are bound to get the chills right after you hear it. Rawhead Rex is just like the movie tagline – “He is pure evil. Pure power. Pure terror.”
Rex is shown breaking out of the ground and howling, revealing that he is very much alive towards the end of the film, in contrast to the ending of Clive Barker’s short story and its graphical novel version. The special effects from the 1980s add to the film’s appeal, and as long as you don’t expect it to be a big-budget blockbuster with CGI, you should have a wonderful time.
Clive Barker Hated The Movie Like Anything!
While it comes as no surprise that Clive Barker despised the film, he had his reasons. For begin, we’re all familiar with Barker’s mental processes. Barker’s splatterpunk greatest was Rawhead Rex, and given that he is well known for his abilities to create some of the most unnerving and strangely unique creations, he was not pleased with George Pavlou’s portrayal of the monster.
Despite the fact that Barker wrote the screenplay for the film, the final product was significantly different from his usual manner. His brief narrative had a satirical tone to it, with a much darker and more depressing tone. Taking a dig at religion, examining sexual issues and the loathing of women, and even displaying barbarous child killings, blasphemous acts and explicitly gory images, Barker’s short story was terrifyingly powerful.
In fact, all the unpleasant things mentioned are precisely what made his story such a page turner, adding much more intensity to what could otherwise just have been a mindless monster story!
Coming back to the movie, Barker was extremely dissatisfied with the costume for Rex. In his view, the monster needed to be designed better:it was important that Rawhead look imposing, not just in one scene but throughout the movie’s entire run time. The movie’s main character was a gigantic guy with a ridiculous rubber mask, rubber teeth, and rubber claws.
The monster’s unkempt appearance and bright crimson eyes made it appear to be an unrefined misreading of Barker’s intended impact. The fact that Barker wanted Rawhead Rex to look like a big phallus rather than some cheap, rubbery creature demonstrates how badly his version of Rawhead Rex was pulled apart.
Except for a particularly famous scene where the monster is shown peeing on a priest, many significant, visceral elements of the source material seemed to be missing. The movie never really shows how Rex actually kills his victims.
Of course, there’s blood squirting out, huge gashes and a hell lot of screaming but how he kills his preys is left to one’s imagination at the end of the day. Remember the scene where Rawhead kills Howard’s son?
To those of you who have read Barker’s graphical novel, you are bound to be disappointed by the end result of that scene as depicted in the movie. With the screams of Howard and his son drowned out by Rawhead’s roaring in the background, we only actually get to see a blood-soaked magazine and a bloody shoe lying on top of it – that is it, there is nothing more to it. Barker even claimed that he was hardly ever approached on a creative level after the script’s draft; in fact, he did not even once visit the set.
Is There A Rawhead Rex Reboot In Works?
“We might redo Rawhead Rex,” George Pavlou said in a recent issue of the UK magazine The Dark Side, which featured a comprehensive interview with the London-based British director about his monster on the loose film.
After all, he did mention how fans of the film were ecstatic when the picture was released on Blu-ray for the first time in 2017. Years after the film’s release, only a low-resolution version – an entirely degraded awful version in 4×3 format on YouTube – was available.
Although there have been no additional reports on a Rawhead Rex revival since then, fans of the film and the genre can only hope for a work in progress, keep an eye on Pavlou’s Wikipedia page for updates on the project, cross their fingers, and keep their excitement in check.