I recently featured a series of paintings by master horror artist Les Edwards. I wanted to follow up with another showcase of his work featuring a particular project, his adaptation of “Rawhead Rex,” from Clive Barker’s “Books of Blood.” When bringing something to life that exists only in words and mental images, I feel the best adaptations bring the artist’s imagination to bear on the project in a fundamental way. Think of the iconic hockey mask for Jason Voorhees. Many people forget that the mask doesn’t make an appearance until 2/3 through “Friday the 13th Part III.” It was director Steve Miner who saw that the hockey mask originally had potential and asked his team to bring it to life on Jason himself. It would be impossible to now think of the character any other way, the mask choice so defined the image of Voorhees in our collective consciousness. Edwards has brought his vision to bear on the Rawhead Rex character in the same way in this graphic novel.
I LOVE the look of this adaptation. It was not influenced by the look of the 1986 film and the new ground it breaks is just perfect. Apart from the apparent masterful artistry of the illustrations themselves, there is a ghoulish delight in the approach here. I have always thought the concepts in the original story were very strong, and felt that the film was a very halting realization at best. This version really brings the story to life. I would absolutely love to see a new film based on this vision for the story. If the great film gods are listening, you would make one little horror blogger a very happy man, if you would oblige.
The Art ::
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THE STRANGE, FAR PLACES 