Nachts, wenn die Leichen schreien

The plot of The Devil's Rain is very simple. It concerns the Preston family and a book their ancestors stole decades ago from a devil worshiper named Jonathan Corbis (Ernest Borgnine). Corbis has spent centuries trying to locate the book and will stop at nothing to obtain it and use its power.

What Works:

• What a Cast! The Devil's Rain is the Airport (or at least The Love Boat) of horror movies. Just take a look at the cast - Ernest Borgnine, Tom Skerritt, Eddie Albert, Ida Lupino, William Shatner, Keenan Wynn, and, although very brief, John Travolta. I'm amazed that the producers could get all of these people to appear in what is essentially a low budget horror film.

• Borgnine the Goat. This is where a lot of people seem to have problems with The Devil's Rain. They seem to find the sight of Borgnine with goat horns too funny to take seriously. I look at it just the opposite. I've always found it a disturbing, well-done visage. The whole idea that someone could literally transform into a demon is frightening to me. And the make-up is very nicely done. I've seen a lot of big budget films that didn't have special effects half as convincing as what's found here.

• Melting Bodies. Another special effects moment that is a winner as far as I'm concerned. Sure, the bodies look like they are spewing forth melted orange and lime sherbet, but I still find it effective. I've seen any number of melting body scenes over the years, but the ones in The Devil's Rain are among my favorite.

What Doesn't Work:

• Did I Miss Something? The movie gives no introduction as to what is taking place at the beginning of the movie. The viewer is literally dropped into a scene with people and actions that are a mystery. It's almost like the first half of the movie is missing.

• Silly Story. If you try to think too hard about what's going on with the plot, it can make your head hurt. My suggestion is to just enjoy the cheese and forget about trying to make sense of it all. Don't over-analyze it, just go with the flow.

In the end, I realize that The Devil's Rain really isn't that good of a movie, but it's just so much cheesy fun that I can't help but rate it as high as I do. It's a movie that could have only been made in the 70s. It seems to me that anyone with a half-baked idea and enough money could see their vision on the big screen. Many of today's horror movies are so glossy and over-produced that all the fun has been sucked out of them. And, for me, much of the appeal of horror movies is having fun.

The Devil's Rain! is a movie that could only have been made in 1975, uniting old Hollywood royalty, television stars, the visionary director of The Abominable Dr. Phibes and the Church of Satan in the Mexican desert.

It is not a perfect movie. You can't even say that it has plot holes, as that would require something of a coherent plot — a fact director Robert Fuest was all too aware of. On the sparkling commentary track which accompanies the new blu-ray release from Severin (picked up from the Dark Sky DVD release), he speaks about discussions with the writers (Gabe Essoe, James Ashton and Gerald Hopman, whose only credit is co-producing Evilspeak, so one assumes that he is Satan) where they assured him that the script made perfect sense. While Fuest claims that he did what he could to clear up his issues with the film, what emerged was a movie that effectively decimated his promising directorial career.

But you know what? I embrace plot holes the way some critics hold dearly onto their Criterion collection films and back issues of Premiere. There's no way I can be objective about The Devil's Rain! The only box it doesn't check for me is a disclaimer stating that it's based on a true story.

The film begins with close-ups of Bosch's painting The Garden of Earthly Delights, along with the wails of the damned as they gnash their teeth in Hell. Then, we're dropped into the lives of the Preston family, who have suffered under a curse for hundreds of years.

Turns out that at some point in the 18th century, the family screwed over Jonathan Corbis (Ernest Borgnine, Escape from New York), a Satanist who was eventually burned at the stake. He had a book containing the souls of all he had damned, which was stolen by Martin Fyfe (William Shatner, who I don't need to tell you anything else about). Before he dies, Corbis vows revenge on the Fyfe family, which changes its name to Preston. He's been stealing them one by one, selling their souls to Satan and trapping them in the devil's rain. They then become living wax figures with melting eyes and black robes.

That's how we meet Steve Preston, the leader of the family, who has escaped Corbis to warn his wife (Ida Lupino, an actress (and director) known for noir classics like The Bigamist and On Dangerous Ground. She often referred to herself as the poor man's Bette Davis, as she was often offered the parts that Davis had turned down. She refused those parts so many times that Warner Brothers suspended her, so she used that time to learn the craft of directing on set. As roles for her slowed, she became the second female director admitted to the Director's Guild, following Dorothy Arzner, the sole woman director of Hollywood's "Golden Age.") and son, Mark (also Shatner). As the old man tells them to give the book of souls back, he melts in the rain.

So what does Mark do? Well, he takes the book directly to Corbis, challenging him to a battle of faith in the desert. That battle quickly turns into Mark trying to escape, but Corbis' disciples are too much for him. He shows a cross to the priest, who transforms it into a snake before using a ritual to erase Mark's memory in preparation for a major ceremony.

Oh the 1970's — when your main character gets wiped out minutes into a movie because he has to leave town for a three day Star Trek convention in New York. That really happened and I have no idea if that was the reason why Shatner goes from hero to geek in such record time.

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This is a prime example of the type of film that haunted and disturbed me greatly when I saw it as a child. I had nightmares about a demonic Ernest Borgnine for months. Viewing it now I find it still holds up relatively well as a fairly well done 'satanic 70's horror' escapade. A disturbing nightmare of imagery and sound to invade your dreams...forever. And very impressive make-up Fx for the time. Who else grew up in the 70's haunted by the strange and dreamy horror films of the time? How does that "shape" childhood? I suppose one is influenced by whatever time they grew up in, but there was no other time like the 70's.

In mainstream American 1970s horror land 'The Devil's Rain' lies half way between the silly but still pretty good chills of 'The Car' or 'The Sentinel' and the so bad it's hilarious fun of 'The Eyes Of Lara Mars'. The main attraction here is the cast of familiar TV faces, which includes William Shatner and Tom Skerritt as brothers (which along with the presence of Joan Prather, makes this a 'Big Bad Mama' reunion!), Ernest Borgnine as a leering Satanic cult leader, 'Green Acres' Eddie Albert, veteran Ida Lupino, and a blink and you'll miss it cameo from a pre-superstar John Travolta. The plot concerns a much sought after book and devil worship, but really who cares? Sit back and enjoy the (unintentional) laughs, some classic emoting from Shatner, and the overly long face-melting scenes, which according to the video box is "absolutely the most incredible ending of any motion picture"! And dig that Borgnine goat face!

This has got to be one of the strangest movies ever made, yet somehow I still find myself revisiting it at least once a year despite the fact that it's seriously flawed. I will attempt to explain why that is. Let's begin with trying to decipher some sort of "plot" out of this mess: From what I can surmise here after multiple viewings, Mark Preston (William Shatner) has possession of an important book which has been hidden by the Preston family for some 300 years. It contains signatures written in blood of the scores of people who have sold their souls to the devil over the years. There is also an immortal disciple of Satan named Jonathan Corbis (Ernest Borgnine) who has spanned these centuries terrorizing the Prestons in a failed attempt to obtain the book, which is required to deliver these souls to Lucifer. In the meantime, the tortured victims wait and moan in eternal limbo trapped inside a large vessel called "The Devil's Rain" until Corbis can locate the book he seeks. Corbis has succeeded in seizing Mark and his mother (Ida Lupino) and turning them into brainwashed cult members, and it's up to Tom Preston (Tom Skerrit) and Dr. Samuel Richards (GREEN ACRES' own Eddie Albert, looking totally lost) to join forces in foiling Corbis' plan.

At least that's what I think is going on. Director Robert Fuest (1970's WUTHERING HEIGHTS, the two DR. PHIBES films) does a horrible job in trying to tell a linear story, and there are more holes in the plot here than you would find on 42nd Street back in the 1970's. Just about everything going on in this movie may be pointed out as not being adequately explained. And yet -- and yet -- the film is still not without some things to enjoy for fans of cheesy horror... It's a treat getting to watch Ernest Borgnine (Marty himself) really getting into his diabolical role, and it's an added kick seeing him in monster makeup whenever he summons up a goat-demon from the pits of hell, emerging with huge ram horns! Eddie Albert seems to be as confused as we are, and this is most obvious in an outside sequence late in the film where he and Skerrit are arguing over the meaning of The Devil's Rain; it's hilarious watching them stepping over each other's words, and you get the impression they just winged all their dialogue for that scene. William Shatner gets his moments to shine where he goes over the top as we've come to love from him ("Corbissss!!!! Goddamn you!!!"). You also gotta love seeing Ida Lupino sink further in her later years to the point of walking around as a mindless zombie with her eyeballs blackened out, which is the preferred manner of initiation for the souls of Satan. And then there is John Travolta -- this was his first movie, but it's nearly impossible to spot him as one of the black-eyed cultists in his few very brief appearances. Real-life member of the Church of Satan, Anton LaVey, was an "adviser" on the film, and appears wearing a mask as one of the devil's servants.

The climax of the movie is worth waiting for, and it was touted highly as the main selling point back in its day... we get to see the results of The Devil's Rain on the minions of cult worshipers when the skies open up and pour down upon them. There are some good effects there, even if it's obvious how the sequence was being milked for all it's worth. THE DEVIL'S RAIN is not a good movie, but all the same it's one of those weird horror pictures that may appeal to fans of "so bad they're good" flicks. **1/2 out of ****