Rawhead Rex: Why Clive Barker Disliked The Movie So Much – Screen Rant

Rawhead Rex isn't the most well-known Clive Barker adaptation, which is likely for the best given its reception and how Barker notoriously hated it.

The ill-remembered and oft-forgotten Rawhead Rexis acinematic disaster, a laughably schlocky monster moviethat is perhaps most notable for butchering its screenwriter's original ideas and intentions. It's no wonder that Clive Barker disowned thefinal product considering itscheapness and especially goofy creature costume, as the horror writer, who is something of a legend in the community, felt the film ruined his more satirical and unsettling vision.

TheRawhead Rex movieis, in fact, based on a short story written by Clive Barker that was included in the third volume of hisBooks of Bloodcollection. The plot and setting of both versions share similarities, taking place ina bucolic countryside and centering on a demonic, pagan creature that escapes from its magical imprisonment. The short story, however, is abrutal but strangely satirical piece thatis partly told from the perspective of the monster, involving lots of child killings and not-so-subtleimagery poking fun at religion, urban-rural tensions, and masculinity run amok.

Related:Why Rawhead Rex Would Have Made A Perfect '80s Horror Movie Franchise

After all, Rawhead himself was supposed to resemble a giant phallus, and is eventually thwarted by a talisman depicting his only weakness: a pregnant woman. The description is not too dissimilar fromthe violent rampage and thesexual imagery ofAlienand that film's terrifyingly pervertedXenomorph.Rawhead Rexas a film, in contrast, is anything but terrifying, cursed by the sort of generic "monster on the loose" storyline that Barker was trying to parody as well as an ugly, unimaginative monster design complete with a cheap, thrown-together suit. While it's no surprise that Barker hated the final version ofRawhead Rex, there are very specific reasons for his distaste.

The mind of Clive Barkeris known for conjuring some of horror's mostdisturbing and bizarre creations, so the sort of B-movie schlock inRawhead Rexis arguably the antithesis to his signature style. This is largely due to directionthat made no attempt to even try to hide the plastic seams and rubbery textures of the Rawhead Rex costume. It wasn't just the absolute shabbiness of the star monster, though, that rousedthe ire of Barker. It was the way the film was a gross misinterpretation of his intended effect.

The movie was released at the height ofBritain's "video nasties" scare, meaning that those involved with making final creative decisions on the project werefrightened of potential censorship. As a result,the more visceral elements of the original story were not included, although there is one notorious scene of Rawhead Rex urinating on a priest that did make the final cut. Barker claims that he was barely consulted on a creative level beyond the script's draft, and never even visited the set. He seemed particularly upset about the loss of the satirical element, stating in the November - December 1987 ofNexusmagazine:

"Monster on the rampage stories are about the phallic principle. Large males run around terrorizing women... Now, the gag only works if you understand the subtext. Otherwise, it's about this dumb monster running around. I couldn't get them to understand that the whole movie had to smell of sex.When this thing appeared you had to think it was a d**k, but they didn't get the joke. And it was a joke, that was the point..."

All this criticism makes one wonder if Barker is trying to take the blame off himself. After all, he did write the screenplay, even if his vision for Rawhead Rexwas torn to shreds.To Barker, though, it's a clear-as-day example of filmmaking execution that's at odds with what was written on the page. Perhaps the project was doomed from the start with a team of producers who couldn't grasp his concept. Steve Niles (of30 Days of Nightfame) adapted the story in comic form in 1993,giving viewers a glimpseat what could have been, while Barker himself vowed tograb onto the creative reigns on his next project. This turned out to be the legendarily disturbingHellraiser, which proved that there is, in fact, a way to bringthe horror maestro's dark psychology to screen in a successful way that honors his source material.

Next:Clive Barker Regains Hellraiser Rights: What It Means For The Franchise Now

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Andrew is a contributing features writer for Screen Rant Horror, as well as for Comic Book Resources. He enjoys trying to see what social commentary he can mine out of the latest horror films, as well as checking up on what's going on in the life of Spider-Man. He also plays bass guitar to exorcise his negative emotions, like the good Mr. Rodgers says you should.

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Rawhead Rex: Why Clive Barker Disliked The Movie So Much - Screen Rant

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