Rawhead Rex

I thought it was a pretty good flick, though its budget was obviously smaller than the script demanded. And I also thought the ending could've used some work. The short story was a lot better, so keep you expectations in check.

I haven't heard anything about a remake. Frankly, I'd rather see a good adaptation of The Damnation Game, which may or may not happen.

dmeister

Avoid the film, get the graphic novel...(OK, that could be pushing it...COMIC!!)

What happened to Moriarty's script for Dread?

The Rawhead Rex movie is insanely cheesy - not helped by the rather hilarious monster as seen above. It's commendably faithful to Barker's story - it doesn't flinch from killing the kid or pissing on the priest - but the cheapness of it renders it all a bit too silly. Great fun though.

I'm surprised you're not finding much of value in Books of Blood though. I still think some of Barker's best work is in those pages.

In The Hills, The Cities
The Yattering and Jack
Pig Blood Blues

Awesome stuff.

The Monster's red googley eyes really make the movie!

I do love this movie.

On the advice of Wetbones, I believe I will buy the Uncut DVD from Xploited Cinema.

Barker once said he'd love to remake RAWHEAD himself but that the company that made the original owns the rights for all eternity and he certainly will never, ever deal with them again. Sounded like he was still mighty pissed at them.

The DAMNATION GAME movie is still in the scripting stages over at Warners. There've been a number of drafts turned in over the last year or so and from what I've heard the film will bear little to no resemblance to the novel.

Bear in mind there are SIX books of blood.

The final three have just been retitled in the US as The Inhuman Condition, In The Flesh, and Cabal. Some of the best stuff is in the later volumes.

I agree. The Books of Blood stories got more imaginative as they went along. 'The Last Illusion', 'The Madonna' and 'The Inhuman Condition' are some of my favorites from the last three volumes. Actually, it's hard for me to pick a favorite because I love them all.

I think they changed the names of volumes four, five and six in the U.S. because they switched publishers. The U.S. version of volume six dropped the wrap around story 'The Book of Blood (a Postscript): On Jerusalem Street' for some reason. I got to read that a couple of years ago in the Stealth Press publication. I'm still searching on E-Bay for the U.K. paperbacks of all six BoB volumes with the cover art by Clive Barker. The art work is very cool on those editions.

This post has reminded me of a little (true) story I like to tell people just to illustrate what a jackass I am.

I once went to a Barker signing in Cincinnati when he was promoting "Gallilee" (great book). As he was signing this new hardcover along with a few other items I had brought along, I decided to make some sort of quick conversation. As I'm a huge fan of the short story (and completely loathe the film), I brought up Rawhead Rex.

"So, hey, do you think there will ever be another film adaptation of Rawhead Rex," I ask.

"Lord, wouldn't that be nice," Barker replied. "Did you see the 80s film?"

I nodded.

"Terrible, wasn't it?"

"Oh, absolutely," I agreed. "The monster looked nothing like I imagined he should from the story."

"Well, he looked okay when we first see him, but once the mud gets washed away..."

"The acting wasn't that great..." I continued.

"Well, not all of the choices were ideal."

"The direction was wooden..."

Clive continues to nod in agreement.

"And the script! The script was awful! It stuck to the story, sure, but it lacked any of the short story's magic. The dialogue was weak, the once quickly-paced plot merely plodded along..."

Clive is neither nodding nor agreeing at this point, yet I continue...

"It seemed as though the writer simply followed the main points of action from the story without infusing it with the terror or sense of wonder the short had. Geez, who wrote the script again? Was it the director?"

Clive - "Um, no. I wrote the script."

Dead silence for what seemed like forever. Then -

"Uhhhh....well....thank you so much for the autographs, can't wait to read your new novel, goodbye!"

I scurried out of the bookstore as quickly as I could, books clutched tightly, head held low. Ugh...I hate my life at times.

Here is a list of the stories in the Books of Blood volumes 4-6.

BoB Volume 4. The US title is, 'The Inhuman Condition'.
The Body Politic; The Inhuman Condition; Revelations; Down Satan!; The Age of Desire

BoB Volume 5. Titled 'In the Flesh' in the US.
The Forbidden; The Madonna; Babel's Children; In the Flesh

BoB Volume 6. Titled 'Cabal' in the US.
The Life of Death; How Spoilers Bleed; Twilight at the Towers; The Last Illusion; The Book of Blood (a Postscript): On Jerusalem Street

In the US, the sixth volume was just called Cabal. It added the novella Cabal and dropped the story ‘The Book of Blood (a Postscript): On Jerusalem Street’. I believe that story is only available in the Books of Blood Omnibus collection from Stealth Press in the US editions.