Rawhead Rex (film)
Encyclopedia
Rawhead Rex is a 1986 Irish
horror film
directed by George Pavlou
and written by Clive Barker
. The film is about a monstrous pagan god's bloody rampage through the Irish countryside, and based on the short story by Clive Barker that originally appeared in vol. 3 of his Books of Blood
series. Pavlou and Barker had previously worked together on Transmutations
(also known as Underworld)'.
Howard enters the church and meets Declan O'Brien (Ronan Wilmot), who directs him to Reverend Coot. After Howard leaves, the curious O'Brien approaches the altar and places his hand on it. It burns his hand, and images of a dark forest and a mysterious campfire flash before his eyes, followed by an image of Rawhead's bloodied mouth. This experience apparently destroys O'Brien's sanity, as he begins to grin and laugh quietly. He approaches a detailed stained glass window depicting Rawhead's defeat and looks into the demon's glowing red eyes. Afterwards, Howard converses with Coot and inquires about the church's parish records. Coot says he can arrange to have Howard look at them.
Later, a man arrives at the home of locals Dennis and Jenny. He immediately sees something is amiss. Rushing in, he discovers a clearly traumatized Jenny. Police, led by Inspector Isaac Gissing (Niall O'Brien), arrive and are baffled by Dennis's disappearance. Rawhead drags Dennis's dead body through the forest and comes upon a trailer park. A teenager named Andy Johnson is trying to make out with his girlfriend, but they are interrupted by her younger brother. The two teens head into the woods, but the girl is alarmed by the distant roars of Rawhead. She suggests they go back, and Andy starts to escort her out. Soon after, Howard, alone in the woods, sees Rawhead on top of a distant hill with Andy's head in his hand. Howard tries to report his sighting to Inspector Gissing, but his claims are dismissed.
Afterwards, Howard speaks again with Coot, who tells him the church's parish records have been stolen. While Howard is photographing the stained glass window depicting Rawhead, Declan O'Brien destroys his camera. The men scuffle, and Howard storms out. He takes his family on the road again, heading apparently for Dublin. Meanwhile, Inspector Gissing examines a crude picture of Rawhead drawn by a boy who saw him in the forest. The picture makes him reconsider Howard's report.
On the road, Howard's daughter needs to go to the bathroom, so Howard pulls over and lets her go by a tree. Hearing her suddenly scream, Howard and his wife rush to her; Howard's son stays in the van, alone. The girl had found a dead rabbit, and while her parents comfort her, Rawhead kills Howard's son and takes the body into the woods. Infuriated by the police's unsuccessful efforts to track down Rawhead, Howard returns to the church. He discovers that there is a weapon shown in the stained glass window that can be used to defeat the monster. After Howard leaves, Coot curiously touches the altar but resists the temptations and images it shows him.
Rawhead arrives at the church to baptize O'Brien by urinating on him. A bewildered Coot goes outside to investigate the noise and sees Rawhead. Horrified, Coot flees inside the church and into the basement while Rawhead destroys everything inside. Coot finds the missing parish records, showing what appears to be some kind of blueprint of Rawhead himself. The insane O'Brien catches Coot and forces him upstairs to be sacrificed to Rawhead. The police arrive at the church and prepare to open fire on Rawhead, but they hesitate because he is carrying Coot. The brainwashed inspector dumps gasoline around the police cars and ignites it just as they begin to shoot at Rawhead, killing all the police, including himself.
In the end, the boy from the trailer park places flowers on Andy Johnson's grave. As he walks away, Rawhead emerges from the ground and roars. The film then cuts to the end credits.
theatrically in the United States
by Empire Pictures in 1987. It was released on VHS
by Vestron Video
the same year.
The film was released on DVD
in the United States
by Artisan Entertainment
in 1999. This version is currently out of print
. The film was released on DVD in the United Kingdom
by Prism in 2003.
Cinema of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has had a major influence on modern cinema. The first moving pictures developed on celluloid film were made in Hyde Park, London in 1889 by William Friese Greene, a British inventor, who patented the process in 1890. It is generally regarded that the British film industry...
horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
directed by George Pavlou
George Pavlou
George Pavlou is a London based British horror, science fiction and thriller film director. Pavlou directed three feature films of which two were based on material from British horror writer Clive Barker....
and written by Clive Barker
Clive Barker
Clive Barker is an English author, film director and visual artist best known for his work in both fantasy and horror fiction. Barker came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories which established him as a leading young horror writer...
. The film is about a monstrous pagan god's bloody rampage through the Irish countryside, and based on the short story by Clive Barker that originally appeared in vol. 3 of his Books of Blood
Books of Blood
Books of Blood are a series of horror fiction collections written by the British author Clive Barker.There are six books in total, each simply subtitled Volume 1 through to Volume 6, and were subsequently re-published in two omnibus editions containing three volumes each. Each volume contains four...
series. Pavlou and Barker had previously worked together on Transmutations
Underworld (1985 film)
Underworld is a 1985 British horror film, written by Clive Barker and James Caplin, and starring Denholm Elliott, Miranda Richardson, Steven Berkoff, Larry Lamb, Ingrid Pitt and Art Malik, in which a mad doctor keeps mutants underground. The film was directed by George Pavlou.-Plot:Dr...
(also known as Underworld)'.
Plot
Accompanied by his wife and two children, Howard Hallenbeck (David Dukes) travels to Ireland to research items of religious significance for a book he is writing. He leaves his family at a motel and goes to a rural church to photograph some graves. Meanwhile, three farmers are attempting to remove an ominous stone column from a field. Two of the farmers decide it can't be moved and head home. The remaining farmer prepares to leave as well. A thunderstorm appears out of nowhere, and smoke pours from the ground around the column. Lightning strikes the column, knocking it and the farmer down. The monster Rawhead Rex rises from the dirt, no longer buried by the column. When he is resurrected, a woman is suddenly burnt when she touches a vase on an altar at the church Howard is visiting.Howard enters the church and meets Declan O'Brien (Ronan Wilmot), who directs him to Reverend Coot. After Howard leaves, the curious O'Brien approaches the altar and places his hand on it. It burns his hand, and images of a dark forest and a mysterious campfire flash before his eyes, followed by an image of Rawhead's bloodied mouth. This experience apparently destroys O'Brien's sanity, as he begins to grin and laugh quietly. He approaches a detailed stained glass window depicting Rawhead's defeat and looks into the demon's glowing red eyes. Afterwards, Howard converses with Coot and inquires about the church's parish records. Coot says he can arrange to have Howard look at them.
Later, a man arrives at the home of locals Dennis and Jenny. He immediately sees something is amiss. Rushing in, he discovers a clearly traumatized Jenny. Police, led by Inspector Isaac Gissing (Niall O'Brien), arrive and are baffled by Dennis's disappearance. Rawhead drags Dennis's dead body through the forest and comes upon a trailer park. A teenager named Andy Johnson is trying to make out with his girlfriend, but they are interrupted by her younger brother. The two teens head into the woods, but the girl is alarmed by the distant roars of Rawhead. She suggests they go back, and Andy starts to escort her out. Soon after, Howard, alone in the woods, sees Rawhead on top of a distant hill with Andy's head in his hand. Howard tries to report his sighting to Inspector Gissing, but his claims are dismissed.
Afterwards, Howard speaks again with Coot, who tells him the church's parish records have been stolen. While Howard is photographing the stained glass window depicting Rawhead, Declan O'Brien destroys his camera. The men scuffle, and Howard storms out. He takes his family on the road again, heading apparently for Dublin. Meanwhile, Inspector Gissing examines a crude picture of Rawhead drawn by a boy who saw him in the forest. The picture makes him reconsider Howard's report.
On the road, Howard's daughter needs to go to the bathroom, so Howard pulls over and lets her go by a tree. Hearing her suddenly scream, Howard and his wife rush to her; Howard's son stays in the van, alone. The girl had found a dead rabbit, and while her parents comfort her, Rawhead kills Howard's son and takes the body into the woods. Infuriated by the police's unsuccessful efforts to track down Rawhead, Howard returns to the church. He discovers that there is a weapon shown in the stained glass window that can be used to defeat the monster. After Howard leaves, Coot curiously touches the altar but resists the temptations and images it shows him.
Rawhead arrives at the church to baptize O'Brien by urinating on him. A bewildered Coot goes outside to investigate the noise and sees Rawhead. Horrified, Coot flees inside the church and into the basement while Rawhead destroys everything inside. Coot finds the missing parish records, showing what appears to be some kind of blueprint of Rawhead himself. The insane O'Brien catches Coot and forces him upstairs to be sacrificed to Rawhead. The police arrive at the church and prepare to open fire on Rawhead, but they hesitate because he is carrying Coot. The brainwashed inspector dumps gasoline around the police cars and ignites it just as they begin to shoot at Rawhead, killing all the police, including himself.
In the end, the boy from the trailer park places flowers on Andy Johnson's grave. As he walks away, Rawhead emerges from the ground and roars. The film then cuts to the end credits.
Cast
- Niall TóibínNiall ToibinNiall Tóibín is an Irish comedian and actor. Born in Cork into an Irish speaking family, Tóibín grew up on the north-side of the city in Bishop's Field. He has appeared in Ryan's Daughter, Bracken, The Irish R.M., Caught in a Free State, Ballykissangel, Far and Away, and Veronica Guerin, and has...
as Reverent Coot - David DukesDavid DukesDavid Coleman Dukes was an American character actor.-Life:Dukes was born in San Francisco, California, the son of a highway patrolman...
as Howard Hallenbeck - Cora Venus LunnyCora Venus LunnyCora Venus Lunny is an Irish violinist. Her father is the musician Dónal Lunny and she is the niece of Manus Lunny.Established as one of Ireland's leading classical musicians since her teens, Cora Venus Lunny is active as a soloist, chamber musician, interpreter of contemporary classical ...
(as Cora Lunny) as Minty Hallenbeck - Ronan Wilmot as Declan O'Brien
- Niall O'BrienNiall O'Brien (actor)Niall O'Brien was an Irish-born actor and member of the Abbey Theatre company. He was born in Dalkey village, Co. Dublin, and grew up in nearby Glasthule. He was educated at Presentation College at Westland Row, Dublin, before going on to join the Abbey School of acting.-Personal life:O'Brien...
as Detective Inspector Isaac Gissing - Heinrich von Schellendorf as Rawhead Rex
- Robert Byrne as a photographer
- Donal McCannDonal McCannDonal McCann was an Irish stage, film, and television actor best known for his roles in the works of Brian Friel and for his lead role in John Huston's last film, The Dead.-Early life:...
as Tom Garron
Release
The film was given a limited releaseLimited release
Limited release is a term in the American motion picture industry for a motion picture that is playing in a select few theaters across the country ....
theatrically in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by Empire Pictures in 1987. It was released on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
by Vestron Video
Vestron Video
Vestron Video was the main subsidiary of Vestron, Inc., a home video company based in Stamford, Connecticut that was active from 1982 to 1992. It is considered to have been a pioneer in the home video market....
the same year.
The film was released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by Artisan Entertainment
Artisan Entertainment
Artisan Entertainment Inc. was a privately held independent American movie studio until it was purchased by a Canadian studio, Lionsgate, in 2003. At the time of its acquisition, Artisan had a library of thousands of films developed through acquisition, original production, and production and...
in 1999. This version is currently out of print
Out of print
Out of print refers to an item, typically a book , but can include any print or visual media or sound recording, that is in the state of no longer being published....
. The film was released on DVD in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
by Prism in 2003.