Last Friday, The Hexploitation Film Festival (previously Fright Night Theatre) held its first event under
its new banner, a screening of Kino Lorber's restoration of Clive
Barker's Rawhead Rex.
This was a movie I hadn't seen in
upwards of twenty-five years (I honestly couldn't remember a single
thing about it past the image of the coverbox) so I was interested to
revisit it. After seeing it though, I realized I wasn't able to
remember it because it's not particularly memorable. Time has not
been kind to this movie.
The creature design of Rawhead Rex
looks good in photographs, but onscreen he's not quite as magical. There's not a
lot of articulation in the face, so the roaring seems almost
disembodied at points. Presumably the actor
Heinrich von Schellendorf was looking through the neck (if he could
see at all) so when he rushed forward the head would ride up. It would be endearing if it wasn't so comical, but the issue is that under the close scrutiny of 4K I can really see how much more personality the designs of Rex's
contemporaries, namely The Predator and Pumpkinhead, had. Though in
Rex's defense, those other creatures had way better films built
around them.
Rawhead Rex is certainly not the worst
Barker adaptation out there – we can give that distinction to
director George Pavlou's other Barker adaptation Transmutations –
but it is certainly rife with miscues. I can see why Barker made sure
he got behind the camera for subsequent adaptations of his more
signature properties like Hellraiser and Nightbreed. I mean, the movie
did have its moments. The rural Irish location set the mood and that
stained glass window with the red eyes was pretty bad-ass. Though it
seems odd that no one in the parish ever inquired about it. Oh, and
Rex pees on a priest.
In addition to the movie, the event had
some awesome pre-show vids, including trailers and vintage video from
Barker's appearance on the UK talk show Open To Question.
Barker was a boss in this. He spent
thirty minutes being grilled by people who just didn't get it, yet
remained composed and offered up intelligent and well-thought out
responses for every grenade lobbed his way. This was during a pretty
volatile time in the UK and he unapologetically stands up for his
brand of fiction.
Director Greg Lamberson was also in attendance to
give us some insights about independent filmmaking during the
eighties. It was a fun night and many more will
follow in the Hammer and the HXFF. Stay tuned for more updates as the
festival nears.