Review – Rawhead Rex

Rare indeed is the movie that is this completely defeated by its own technical defects. The script is vintage Clive Barker from back in the days before he started to suck. The concept – an ancient monster released when an artifact is moved – is trite but reliable. Barker stirs in some male versus female sexuality that adds a little flavor to the mix. But then they turned the cameras on, and the whole thing went downhill from there. To begin with, any film that’s going to rely this heavily on daylight scenes of a monster must be very careful not to employ a special effect that would barely pass muster for brief, dimly-lit shots. The acting’s not the end of the world, but stronger casting might have helped. The directing is inept at best, and frequently what little suspense the flick manages to muster is swiftly undone by the inappropriately cheerful soundtrack music. I doubt that this will ever be remade, but if it was the second time around would be hard pressed to be worse than the first. See if desperate