I was very much in the mood for a monster movie today, so I’d picked out a 1950’s one that seemed like it would be fun.  But, before I started, I went to the Arrow Channel to see if anything leapt out at me.  And there was RAWHEAD REX.  An ancient Irish monster.  (I haven’t seen a lot of those.)  Best of all, I saw that the Screenwriter was none other than Clive Barker, who based the screenplay on his short story.  It seemed perfect.
   
I absolutely cannot believe how uninvolved I was while watching it.
   
The special effects were dismal.  There wasn’t a single character that engaged my interest … which meant that I didn’t particularly care what happened to any of them when some became victims.  The performances fluctuated between understated and plenty of emoting.  
   
And, worst of all, was the creature known as Rawhead Rex.  The costume was uninspired, looking a bit like a tall version of TROG.  The creature loped when it ran.  Finally, remember the costume for the creature in the movie IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE?  (That was a movie I actually liked as it felt like a forerunner to ALIEN.)  In that film, the creature’s head was too small for the actor’s head … so the actor’s chin stuck out of the creature’s mouth.  Well, in RAWHEAD REX, there are times that the creature opens its mouth … and the audience can clearly see the actor’s mouth back behind the jutting front piece.
   
Ah, and then there was the ending.  It was one of those moments when, as I was watching the set-up, I thought, “No, they certainly wouldn’t rehash that ‘done to death’ closing shot.”
   
They did.
   
I can’t think of one positive thing to say about RAWHEAD REX, other than it had a running time of just under 90-minutes.