The Devil's Rain (1975)
It's hard to know were to start with The Devil's Rain. You might come for the goofy Satanists. Maybe the face melting is what really grabs you. Or it could be the combined gesticulating fury of Ernest Borgnine, and William Shatner hamming it the fuck up. Either way, you'll find much to enjoy in this mid seventies fright fest.
The movie begins with a showdown between Shatner, and Borgnine who is the High Priest of a group of Satanists. Shatner has a magic book that Borgnine wants. And what Borgnine wants, Borgnine gets, with the help of his Satanic minions.
Then Shatners brother Tom Skerritt (The guy from Picket Fences) shows up, and wants to fight Borgnine, who gets so mad that he turns into a Goat Man. Later during the climax, there is a lot of bad guy melting that happens, in what was undoubtedly the best bad guy melting scene ever in a movie till it was of course surpassed 6 years later by Raiders of the Lost Ark.
The whole thing is a silly as an episode of Scooby Doo, but a lot more fun. The director Robert Fuest, was no stranger to horror cinema, having directed the scary paranoid thriller And Soon the Darkness, as well as the two Dr. Phibes films. He brings a good mix of spookiness and glee to the film. It doesn't hurt that real life Satanic high priest Anton LaVey is on board as an adviser, revealing the Scooby Doo nature of his own little group.
The movie begins with a showdown between Shatner, and Borgnine who is the High Priest of a group of Satanists. Shatner has a magic book that Borgnine wants. And what Borgnine wants, Borgnine gets, with the help of his Satanic minions.
Then Shatners brother Tom Skerritt (The guy from Picket Fences) shows up, and wants to fight Borgnine, who gets so mad that he turns into a Goat Man. Later during the climax, there is a lot of bad guy melting that happens, in what was undoubtedly the best bad guy melting scene ever in a movie till it was of course surpassed 6 years later by Raiders of the Lost Ark.
The whole thing is a silly as an episode of Scooby Doo, but a lot more fun. The director Robert Fuest, was no stranger to horror cinema, having directed the scary paranoid thriller And Soon the Darkness, as well as the two Dr. Phibes films. He brings a good mix of spookiness and glee to the film. It doesn't hurt that real life Satanic high priest Anton LaVey is on board as an adviser, revealing the Scooby Doo nature of his own little group.
The final reason to care about The Devil's Rain is because of it's connection to another movie: John Carpenter's 1978 Masterpiece Halloween. Carpenter's killer, Michael Myers mask was a slightly modified William Shatner Halloween mask based on The Devil's Rain. It all adds up to a kooky, spooky, and historically significant good time.
Roger Ebert hated this movie. What a dick smack!
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