Il maligno

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).

This is what I call a fun film. It's so bad, its good.

It's not supposed to be funny, but you cannot help but laugh. William Shatner kicks royal butt in this for his performance is the funniest...well, I'll be honest, he's running neck and neck with Ernest Borgnine. Early, early performance of John Travolta is to die for. This is a film that you rent, get a big bowl of buttered popcorn with lots of water/soda and just enjoy it for schlock's sake. You know this film was about nothing but a paycheck for everyone in it.

But I must give credit where credit is due. I love watching the 'melting' scene. Loads of fun. This is good entertainment from the "who green lighted this mess?" area of your brain. This was no "The Exorcist" but remember around this time, everyone wanted to do a "devil" film. This one is just funny and in a not supposed to be funny way!

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 ****

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.

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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