Rawhead Rex (1986)

Reporter: "Is there any connections between the murders?"
Det. Gissing: "Yes, they're all dead."

A demon awakens in a small Irish town and goes on a killing spree.
Starring: David Dukes, Kelly Piper, Niall Tobin

Link to IMDB

Scary monster

Howard Hallenbeck is a professor of anthropology, vacationing across Ireland with his wife and kids to study local ruins and churches. While he visits one small village, a nearby farmer is trying to dig a big obelisk out of the ground. The stone begins farting all over the farmer and it falls over when it gets struck by lightning, releasing a demon from the ground underneath! Seven minutes in, and we've already seen the monster!
Meanwhile, Howard meets an odd priest, O'Brien, who seems to have some dark secrets connected to the demon which is named Rawhead Rex. It seems Rex is here to kill people, and he starts leaving a trail of carnage across the countryside near the town. Instead of hiding the monster in the shadows or off camera, the movie shows us all the action and it's pretty awesome, although there's very little gore which is a bit disappointing.


More people keep getting killed, but the police don't believe the rumours about a monster on the loose. The creepiness and tension of a village under attack is well done, and it's more of a thriller than just a monster-movie. Halfway through, tragedy strikes Howard's family, and this compels him to personally figure out what is happening in this cursed town. David Dukes' acting is spot on here, making Howard likable and believable, even when things get insane.

The Hallenbecks

Super creep, O'Brien

Back at the church with the odd priest, Howard learns the origins of Rex and finds clues on how to stop him, and it's becoming clear that O'Brien fanatically worships the legendary Rex as his god.

"Get upstairs, fuckface! I can't keep God waiting!" - O'Brien

With everyone else terrified (or dead,) Howard is on his own as he tries to stop Rawhead Rex with all the pagan knowledge he has gathered from books.
Despite being a bit slower and tamer than I expected, the movie still has some very crazy moments and a cool monster that gets lots of screen time. It ends up being a bit more interesting than the typical monster-movie.

Be sure not to miss:
- Rex taking a piss on the priest! What the hell?! He totally just urinated all over the priest! I guess it was some sort of baptism.
- Rex never kills females, which is only half explained.
- Clive Barker wrote the screenplay, but he hated the movie.

Internet review:
"not enough chasing of females in woods"  - p-stepien

Should I watch it?
It has enough highlights to make it worthwhile.

Where can I find it?
Here on YouTube

Rawhead Rex gets...