After the success of Rosemary's Baby and The Exorcist Hollywood put out a whole slew of films dealing with the black arts and Satan worship. This one even had a consultant from the Church of Satan. Several players who ought to know better did this one for a paycheck.Ernest Borgnine hams it up big and broad as the leader of Satan church, a church that he converted from a Congregationalist puritan church to one swearing allegiance to old Scratch. Somebody in the congregation stole the book with the members sworn in blood to the devil and that's held things up with Satan claims in limbo. Been that way for 300 years or so and the church is now out in Kanasas somewhereWilliam Shatner, Ida Lupino, Keenan Wynn and Eddie Albert are all in this together and it's a camp hoot. That last and very soggy climax is one for the books. Are there folks out there besides Satanists who like these films?

The Devil's Rain is a totally baffling film, somehow both more and less than the sum of its parts. Borgnine, Shatner, Satanism - sounds like a giggle, right? And yet somehow the fact that it's so silly, and clearly so reticent to take itself seriously for most of its running time, means that it doesn't really fall into the so-bad- it's-good category, yet it's so far short of actually being good at the same time as not really being all that bad. Confused? You will be. Leaving aesthetic appreciation aside, the plot of The Devil's Rain is a total muddle. There are huge plot gaps, in which the audience is presumably expected to make leaps to connect one scene to the next, or to try and establish context which is missing more often than not. I genuinely wonder if there isn't a stash of deleted scenes out there which, if cut back in, would actually help the continuity of the film. Instead, what we're left with is a series of moments - some fun, some dumb, some hilariously badly executed - which only really add up to a coherent movie experience if you're really, really paying attention. The likelihood is that you won't be, given the overall sub-par writing, hammy acting (notable Shatnerisms abound) and direction which clearly has no idea of the tone it's going for.Approach this film with curiosity and you'll have some harmless fun. You'll chuckle at the sight of Ernie Borgnine dressed and made up like a goat. You'll cringe at Shatner's pseudo-pensive-horizon- staring delivery of the ludicrous dialogue. And you'll love the pre Incredible Melting Man melting men. But I'm pretty sure you won't know - or care - what the hell (pun intended) is going on.

In this memorably silly and incredibly entertaining rural horror flick, a family named the Prestons must do battle with a Satan-worshipping villain, Jonathan Corbis (Ernest Borgnine). Mark Preston (William Shatner) and his brother Tom (Tom Skerritt) are among those with the balls to face this minion of the Devil. What Corbis really wants is to lay his infernal hands on a very important book.Robert Fuest ("The Abominable Dr. Phibes", "The Final Programme") directs this insane, sometimes uproarious feature. The script, credited to Gabe Essoe, James Ashton, and Gerald Hopman, is pure nonsense. One truly must approach this after checking their brain at the door. The film has a very effective pace, as it hits the ground running and starts unleashing its horrors within the first few minutes.There is some excellent atmosphere to enjoy, and much striking desert imagery photographed in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The overcast skies in early scenes merely add to the mood. Al De Lory composed the suitable music score; Alex Phillips Jr. did the lighting. The action takes place in some very desolate environments.The acting is deliciously hammy from Borgnine and Shatner. Borgnine in particular has rarely been as much fun as he is here...especially when he's covered in goat's head makeup for much of the last half hour. The slumming big name cast also includes a typically amusing Keenan Wynn as a sheriff, Ida Lupino as the Preston matriarch, and Eddie Albert as Dr. Samuel Richards. Joan Prather plays Skerritts' wife, Claudio Brook appears in the stylish flashback sequence as a crusading priest, Lisa Todd is cast as a temptress, and that's none other than John Travolta making his film debut as one of Corbis's many disciples. (His dialogue basically consists of "Blasphemer!").The extremely protracted ending is the unqualified highlight. Most of the cast melts when the title element is unleashed. Apparently in this story selling your soul to the Devil turns your body into wax. Who knew?"The Devil's Rain" is trashy, and stupid, but for certain tastes, a Hell of a lot of fun.Eight out of 10.

Hollywood had a fascination with devil worship in the mid seventies which produced such films as 'The Devil's Rain' and 'Race With the Devil'. 'The Devil's Rain' stars Ernest Borgnine, Eddie Albert, Ida Lupino, William Shatner, Keenan Wynn, and Tom Skerritt. The film revolves around a book containing all the names of people who have sold their souls to Satan. Martin Fyffe (William Shatner) steals the book and hides it in order to save the souls of the people listed within. In doing so, he invokes the wrath of Jonathan Corbis (Ernest Borgnine), who vows to recover the book at any cost. Determined to retrieve the book, Corbis curses Fyffe and all his future generations.The film opens in a very ominous way, with images from the art of Hieronymus Bosch accompanied by the cries and wails of the damned. Then the action commences amidst a raging storm. Mark Preston's (William Shatner) - whose ancestor was Martin Fyffe - family is attacked, and Mark must take the book his family protects to Jonathan in the desert. When Preston confronts Corbis in the middle of nowhere, he finds a Satanic church where he pits his faith in God against Jonathan who is, it turns out, the Devil himself.'The Devil's Rain' marks the film debut of John Travolta, who plays Danny and who is barely recognisable beneath a big black hood. At the film's climax, Tom Preston (Tom Skerritt) smashes a vessel containing countless damned souls suffering beneath the unending 'Devil's rain' of the title. This frees the souls and causes a deadly rain to pour from the sky which melts Corbis and his army of Satanists. This protracted melting sequence is pretty memorable and features some very good Tom Burman makeups.The movie offers a very clever twist ending. Interesting that Satan is personified by Jonathan Corbis, whose initials are J.C; perhaps that was deliberate. 'The Devil's Rain' had as its technical consultant Anton LaVey, who was at that time High Priest of the Church of Satan. His input lends the film a verisimilitude it otherwise may not have had. 'The Devil's Rain' is quite a curiosity for William Shatner enthusiasts and a must see for John Travolta completists, even though he does not have any dialogue. Other viewers may well find themselves rather nonplussed by this unusual film.