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Here’s the reincarnation of a movie we watches a long time ago. He reviewed it back when the site was in its infancy (wealth and good fortune to anyone who saw it) but never got the proper facelift. Straight from the annals, here’s The Devil’s Rain. It’s storming something fierce outside when we are introduced to Mrs. Preston and her servant. The door opens and…could it be? Yes, it’s William Shatner! Seriously. He’s been out in the storm looking for his father. Speak of the Devil (in a remarkable coincidence, that’s what I’m listening to right now. Yes, the funny old guy on MTV used to be a musician, you know), in walks Dad, but something’s wrong with his face. It seems to have melted and he looks like Cher in a heat wave. Near death, he says that Corbus wants the book and closes his eyes forever (another Ozzy reference, though admittedly the low point of his career). Shatner takes off for a spell, but upon returning home he finds the place ransacked. Must…remove... clutter…from floor. The old man has been slashed up and Mrs. Preston has been abducted. Armed with the book and an amulet Shatner takes off to a mining town to finish some family business. He arrives in the old west and soon confronts his nemesis Corbus. Do my eyes deceive me? It’s Ernest Borgnine. McHale! Borgnine is the head of the local Satan church and he wants the book. Shatner wants his family back, so he accepts Borgnine’s challenge to enter the Satan church in a battle of faiths. The atmosphere inside the church is the strongest point of the movie. Anton Szandor Lavey, founder of the Church of Satan and the author of the Satanic Bible, was the film’s technical advisor and it really shows. Shatner sits in a pew and tries not to lose his religion as Borgnine informs the masses that if they haven’t given their money they haven’t truly give their hearts to Satan. Borgnine speaks of a man named Martin Fife. The black-eyed cultists, including Mrs. Preston, are taken with the unholy spirit and pursue an armed Shatner. After having his amulet turned into a snake, the cultists take him down. Meanwhile, at a hospital, Shatner’s brother, Tom Skerrit (awesome) watches his wife showing off her ESP visions of a church and feels as though she’s being drawn there. Skerrit learns of what’s become of his family. As he makes his way out to the desert town Shatner is being sacrificed and tortured. Skerrit and his wife arrive too late, as the church has been vacated and there are no more brownies and punch in Hell’s fellowship hall. Outside, they here an explosion and they spring from the church to see what’s wrong. It seems their car has been blown up. You may think to yourself, “this all seems pretty cool but just what the hell is going on?” Seems like a good time for a flashback: All the people in the movie were Satan worshippers in colonial times. Julie (Skerrit’s wife) was Shatner’s wife then, and she seriously betrayed the cult and stole their book. You may want to check it out; it makes the movie a lot clearer. The rest of the movie is sort of a blur of Satan church scenes. Borgnine turns into a goat monster and he has a crystal ball filled with the souls of those he’s shown the dark light (pretty cool, huh? Maybe I should write the pamphlet for the Satan Churches’ booth at career day). In, or rather towards the end, the ball is tipped over and broken, which sets off a reaction and brings the Devil’s Rain. This causes everybody to melt into a creamy substance that I’d imagine being what you’d puke up if you ate an extreme amount of ice cream, cream of celery soup, and green food coloring. Yeah, it sounds cool and it is for a few minutes, but the melting scene goes on for a lot longer than it ought to. All in all, it’s hard to call The Devil’s Rain good or bad, it’s pretty much both. The atmosphere is superb and how can you go wrong with such a sparkling cast of stars-to-be (other notables include Keenan Wynn of The Glove and Parts: The Clonus Horror and a priceless cameo from a pre-Kotter John Travolta ). On the other hoof, it’s extremely boring from time to time. It’s worth seeing, I think, because on Cliff’s Notes (an atypically cheeseless performance by Shatner, the church set, and the cast) it’s something special. For maximum enjoyment, rent it and watch it by yourself. Better yet, TNT plays it at 4:00 frequently, save yourself $2.00. Just keep a magazine or a loved one nearby for the boring parts.
What's a BrainWave?
Fistula
Ferox NOOOOO!!!!
Ragnarok ![]()
Brother Fistula: This guy said something we think. It'll be here, we think. Damn. We think? Oh yeah. xxx Brother Ferox: It's been too long since we watched this for me to say much about it, except that I definitely remember liking it even though the other two weren't such big fans. I'll get back to it [simply because I want to watch it again anyway] and then update. But, just from what I remember, I'll give it a 3.5 for now. Pornographer Ragnarok: This movie has Night of the Demon syndrome. I feel badly about comparing a movie with Shatner and Borgnine in it to that pile of putrid dung, but it's true. It sounds cool in concept, and when you think about it you think, "Yeah, it should have been pretty cool. Maybe it was cool." Then you see it again and realize that it wasn't cool, it was boring and poorly executed. Devil's Rain is better kept in the dark bowers of the mind as a groovy memory than as an actual movie. Oh, and will someone please kill John Travolta? If you don't, I'm going to. 2.
Average: 2.33
Recommended by: Brother Ferox. McHAAAAALE!!