Absolutely the most incredible ending of any motion picture

Heaven help us all when The Devils Rain!

This horror oddity tells the story of a well-networked throng of devil-worshipers populating a small Arizona town who possess a strange crystal icon which houses the captive souls of their sacrificial victims. The coven, led by the thick-browed Jonathan Corbis (Ernest Borgnine), are also determined to get their hands on a diabolical "Book of Names" which contains the identities of those victims. After the family of Tom Preston (Tom Skeritt) are murdered by the coven for concealing the book, Tom sets out to avenge them. During an outrageous climax -- in which none other than William Shatner is offered up in sacrifice and Borgnine is transformed by a lightning bolt into a chunky horned demon -- the receptacle of souls is shattered, releasing the title storm and causing the congregation to melt into puddles of multicolored goo (a scene which seems to last forever). Produced in 1975 but released two years later, this film touted John Travolta's name at the height of his popularity, though his role is remarkably small (he does melt nicely at the end, however).


The Devil's Rain received a uniformly negative critical response, with the chief complaint being the incoherent storyline. The film's refusal to provide adequate scares was also widely criticized. Vincent Canby in the New York Times noted that "The Devil's Rain is ostensibly a horror film, but it barely manages to be a horror...It is as horrible as watching an egg fry."[1] Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times said "All of this would be good silly fun if the movie weren't so painfully dull. The problem is that the material's stretched too thin. There's not enough here to fill a feature-length film." He gave the film 1½ stars out of four.[2]
The movie's disastrous reception arguably killed off director Fuest's career. Fuest had previously directed The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971), Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972), and The Final Programme (1973). The Devil's Rain suffered such a critical drubbing that Fuest immediately was forced to retreat to television, directing several nondescript TV-movies and series episodes over the years. He has made only one additional theatrical feature, Aphrodite (1982), a softcore sex romp shot in Greece.
In his 2010 book Showgirls, Teen Wolves, and Astro Zombies, Australian film reviewer Michael Adams called The Devil's Rain "the ultimate cult movie": "It's about a cult, has a cult following, was devised with input from a cult leader, and saw a future superstar indoctrinated into a cult he'd help popularize."


Release Date: May 25, 1975

Distrib: Bryanston