Voxitype
Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.
Brendon Jones
It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.
Murphy Howard
I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.
Leofwine_draca
THE DEVIL'S RAIN is a fine little devil worship horror yarn from '70s America which would go nicely in a double bill with the equally good RACE WITH THE DEVIL, which came out in the same year. There's plenty of similarities between the two movies, but while the other has the slight edge this is still a very good movie. What I liked most about this one is that it's completely unconventional: most movies of this era take a gradual build-up approach, like that seen in ROSEMARY'S BABY, where the movie begins with a depiction of normal, everyday life before gradually stripping away the layers and descending into hell. Not so here: from the start we're in the thick of black magic chaos, as an innocent man turns into a rumpy, rain-sodden mess for no apparent reason and a house is trashed by evil forces.There's little story to this, other than that seen in a flashback, and the film doesn't need it, either. It's set out in the middle of a bleak desert wasteland, brought to life with excellent landscape photography. A dwindling number of 'good guys' are set against an endless number of evil cult members who have extremely creepy, no-eye makeup. The battle for power ebbs and flows between the two factions until a twist ending which is well remembered as the film's highlight.Another great asset is the cast of B-movie notables. William Shatner's here, doing some of his finest emoting, and he shares heroic duties with Tom Skerritt, who's as well used here as he was in ALIEN. You have Ernest Borgnine overacting as the leader of the devil cult, sometimes turning into a goatish devil incarnate although sadly the cheesy goat makeup isn't up to the job and this is the one failing of the movie. There are lots of old-timers, too: Keenan Wynn in a cameo as the Sheriff; Woodrow Chambliss as the loyal retainer; Ida Lupino; good old Eddie Albert is a good guy as well. An unrecognisable John Travolta appears in his first movie role, a year before CARRIE, and even real-life Satanist Anton Lavey and his missus pop up for cameos. Claudio Brook, who was a staple of Mexican horror cinema, turns up as a preacher.The film has plenty of action and moves at an astounding pace, but there's no lack of atmosphere, either. British director Robert Fuest had a good eye for the bizarre (he did the two DR PHIBES flicks) and he uses it to an advantage here. The film is chiefly remembered for its grisly climax, in which all of the bad guys are subjected to the titular phenomenon and end up melting thanks to some thoroughly effective special effects. No doubt the people who made THE INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN were inspired to do so after watching this flick, and good on them, I say.
poe426
The "dated" fx in THE DEVIL'S RAIN weren't "dated" when it hit drive-in screens back in the day: the melting man who appears early on in the movie was- and still IS, in my opinion- pretty gruesome. And anybody who doesn't think that Ernest Borgnine's makeup is outstanding doesn't know from makeup Good or Bad. William Shatner does a good job as the first of two brothers to confront the horde of devil-worshippers haunting the old ghost town in the middle of the desert (and how's THAT for a scenario? Ah, the 70s were The Sh-t...). Ida Lupino plays his mother, Tom Skerritt his brother, and Keenan Wynn one other. The only real weakness is in some of the writing (Borgnine's speeches, in particular, sound more than a little comic-bookish), but Robert Fuest's sure-handed direction more than compensates for any other shortcomings. Worth a look.
Roman James Hoffman
The cinema and Satan have always been good bedfellows: ever since cinematic pioneer Georges Melies made Satan's head detach itself and float around in 'The Laboratory of Mephistopheles' (1897), the century or so of cinema's evolution has produced scores of depictions of Satanism of varying quality littered around such classics like 'The Black Cat' (1934), 'The Devil Rides Out' (1968), 'Rosemary's Baby' (1968), and 'The Omen' (1976). Indeed, both occult film-maker Kenneth Anger and noted occultist Nikolas Schreck even go so far as to say that in his guise as Lucifer ('The Light Bringer') there is something inherently diabolical about movies in essentially being light projected through photographic film. So, roping in the assistance of Anton LaVey, the founder of the Church of Satan, was sure to raise the chill factor of this movie no end and hurtle it into the esteemed company of the above listed films. Problem: the film, aside from a couple of creepy moments at the start, is at its most dynamic little more than bland and in several instances inadvertently funny. Amusing if stoned: maybe…a classic, or even a film worthy of sobriety, it most certainly is not.Right, let's start with the positives: the film starts of promising with a haunting title sequence sound-tracked by tormented screams. Following this we are thrown into a disorienting opening sequence on a stormy night with Mark Preston (William Shatner) and his mother defending themselves from creepy ghouls with no eyes as they do the bidding of arch-satanist Corbis (Ernest Borgnine) who wants to get his hands on a book they are guarding. In addition, the first satanic ritual scene, set in a weird church in a ghost-town, has a genuine creepiness to it and it seems that the input of Anton LaVey is bearing some fruit. And…that's about it. The film then treads water in a shallow plot for another hour, firstly filling us in on the whole deal with the book thanks to a woman with ESP (after which her ESP serves absolutely no function) who is involved with Tom Skerritt (whose name you may not know but who is one of those "ahhh, him!" faces) who is William Shater's brother. He then battles the Satanists to save his family…a dramatic climax is attempted but the total absence of suspense from poor characterization and a poorer script (not to mention the derisive snort-inducing "transformation" Borgnine undergoes) renders this impossible. The film then reveals the meaning of the "Devil's Rain" (yawn) and then ends with a predictable twist. All in all, a total let-down.Ironically, 'Rosemary's Baby' is one of my favourite films and Anton LaVey is said to have cut his teeth in the Hollywood as an adviser on it as well as playing Satan himself in the dream scene; however, according to former high-ranking Church of Satan Member Michael Aquino in his book 'The Church of Satan', this is not true and merely a (characteristic) self-serving piece of mis-information on LaVey's part. Now, I'm not saying I sat down expecting another 'Rosemary's Baby' quality film, but I was intrigued by LaVey's indisputable role as a technical adviser in this movie (the film proudly boasts his help in the title sequence and he has a cameo in the ritual sequences) but I was also not expecting this totally forgettable waste of film.So, it would seem that while the Devil may have all the best tunes, he has a thing or two to learn about films.
BA_Harrison
Two of the most acclaimed occult horror films of the 1970s—William Friedkin's notorious shocker The Exorcist and Richard Donner's biblical prophecy classic The Omen—succeeded in terrifying audiences by treating their supernatural subject matter with absolute realism. For his 1975 Satanic horror The Devil's Rain, Robert Fuest (director of the absurdly enjoyable Dr. Phibes movies) employed Anton LaVey, founder of the Church of Satan, as technical adviser, presumably to lend his film a similar sense of credibility and level of authenticity.Despite this, however, Fuest still managed to turn out one hell of a cheesy film, one rife with trite occult stereotypes and embarrassingly creaky old-school horror trappings. Hooded eyeless acolytes, a raging thunder storm, an ancient tome written in blood, a centuries old curse, a deserted church in a ghost town decorated with Satanic symbology: it's all there, along with tinted flashbacks to 'ye olde days' and a demon with curly horns and a goat-like face.For audiences still reeling from Linda Blair's rotating head, this approach proved less than thrilling, but for today's cult movie fans, for whom a high level of kitsch can only be considered a bonus, Fuest's seriously daft slice of diabolical horror should still prove a reasonably entertaining oddity. The Devil's Rain is by no means a good film, but it conjures up a strange hallucinatory atmosphere (largely due to the sheer incoherence of the script), offers some impressively gloopy special effects during the film's melt-tastic finalé, and delivers plenty of unintentional hilarity at the expense of its usually reliable cast (any film that features John Travolta in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it role as a blind devil worshipper, sees Ernest Borgnine sporting hilarious demonic makeup, and has William Shatner reciting the Lord's prayer in his trademark staccato style has surely got to be worth a look for curiosity's sake).
