You know, for a very brief period (approximately 10-12 minutes) I honestly believed that I stumbled upon a genuine hidden gem of horror/thriller cinema. Even more so, it even looked as if I found an authentic late giallo; which is my all-time cult cinema sub genre! Within the first fifteen minutes of the film, no less than three women are stalked and subsequently killed by someone wearing a hat, a long black overcoat and a big shiny knife. It doesn't get much more "giallo" than that. Since all victims – three on screen and allegedly four previously already – were killed during heavy rain showers, the media and the investigating police officers quickly nickname him the rain killer. Very promising, indeed, but what starts as an intriguing throwback to the Italian gialli of the seventies sadly turns quite rapidly into a dull, predictable and typically American serial- killer thriller with film-noir echoes (similar to, for example, "Sea of Love", "Black Widow" or "The January Man"). After the initial killings, the movie becomes incredibly dull and almost solely revolves on the triangular relationship between the tough local detective (Ray Sharkey), the cocky FBI-agent and the woman they're both in love with (although she often looks more like a man…). Further in the film, a couple more promiscuous women are stabbed to death in the rain (including stripper Maria Ford) but there isn't any suspense and the killer's identity isn't much of a mystery. Like the other reviewers also pointed out already, the cinematography is very decent, especially during the raw & gritty exterior murder sequences. I wished it was different, but in the end "The Rain Killer" is a righteously obscure and forgotten early-90s thriller.

This crude exhibition of zero talent is far worse than most actual porno films. Such films usually are at least somewhat funny. I watched it only because the usually excellent Ray Sharkey was the star. He is the only person in the cast you'll probably recognize. The film is degraded. It is filled with sex shots and sex plot line that don't make sense. It jumps from scene to scene very awkwardly. Sharkey himself shows little of his acting ability. The rest of the cast shows virtually no talent. A horrible movie. A true disappointment for Sharkey fans like me. I don't understand why he made it. Perhaps to give homosexuals some screen time.

I have recently discovered, to my great surprise, that "The Rain Killer" has achieved a kind of cult status in Europe, especially Italy. An Italian journalist contacted me a few months ago looking for background on the film to be included in a forthcoming book about the genre.I would not presume to review the film, in fact I have not seen it in many years. I have only a VHS copy that I recorded off cable, but the new interest in the film might finally generate a DVD release, perhaps as part of a Roger Corman retrospective. (Califilm was one of his subsidiary companies.) Anyway, the book should be released in Europe in 2014.Ray Cunneff

The Rain Killer is a mystery movie, the story revolving around a serial killer who seems to attack well-to-do women at night, that too only when it rains. When the police department fails to catch the killer after three murders, the FBI is roped in. The cop Capra( Ray Sharkey in a well acted role) and FBI agent Dalton( David Beecroft) are assigned to solve the case together. Both are hostile to each other, professionally trying to outdo the other, and personally as well, since Capra starts sleeping with the ex-wife of Dalton. Along the way, they get their prime suspect,a man named John Rosewell. Rosewell has spent the night with a stripper whose dead body is discovered the next day, and he is found to carry knives in his suitcase. The movie starts off promisingly, with tight suspense sequences and has an interesting premise. Unfortunately,it has not been developed well, the dialogues are corny and the ending plain ridiculous. It could have executed much better, but its still worth a watch. 5/10