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The Worst Film Ever

As Good As It Gets

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

THE DEVIL'S RAIN is a fine little devil worship horror yarn from '70s America which would go nicely in a double bill with the equally good RACE WITH THE DEVIL, which came out in the same year. There's plenty of similarities between the two movies, but while the other has the slight edge this is still a very good movie. What I liked most about this one is that it's completely unconventional: most movies of this era take a gradual build-up approach, like that seen in ROSEMARY'S BABY, where the movie begins with a depiction of normal, everyday life before gradually stripping away the layers and descending into hell. Not so here: from the start we're in the thick of black magic chaos, as an innocent man turns into a rumpy, rain-sodden mess for no apparent reason and a house is trashed by evil forces.There's little story to this, other than that seen in a flashback, and the film doesn't need it, either. It's set out in the middle of a bleak desert wasteland, brought to life with excellent landscape photography. A dwindling number of 'good guys' are set against an endless number of evil cult members who have extremely creepy, no-eye makeup. The battle for power ebbs and flows between the two factions until a twist ending which is well remembered as the film's highlight.Another great asset is the cast of B-movie notables. William Shatner's here, doing some of his finest emoting, and he shares heroic duties with Tom Skerritt, who's as well used here as he was in ALIEN. You have Ernest Borgnine overacting as the leader of the devil cult, sometimes turning into a goatish devil incarnate although sadly the cheesy goat makeup isn't up to the job and this is the one failing of the movie. There are lots of old-timers, too: Keenan Wynn in a cameo as the Sheriff; Woodrow Chambliss as the loyal retainer; Ida Lupino; good old Eddie Albert is a good guy as well. An unrecognisable John Travolta appears in his first movie role, a year before CARRIE, and even real-life Satanist Anton Lavey and his missus pop up for cameos. Claudio Brook, who was a staple of Mexican horror cinema, turns up as a preacher.The film has plenty of action and moves at an astounding pace, but there's no lack of atmosphere, either. British director Robert Fuest had a good eye for the bizarre (he did the two DR PHIBES flicks) and he uses it to an advantage here. The film is chiefly remembered for its grisly climax, in which all of the bad guys are subjected to the titular phenomenon and end up melting thanks to some thoroughly effective special effects. No doubt the people who made THE INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN were inspired to do so after watching this flick, and good on them, I say.

(43%) A pretty bad, yet not without its charm cult based horror staring William Shatner at at time in his life when he'd appear in anything as long as his cheque didn't bounce. Ernest Borgnine plays the lead bad guy which works as well as it sounds as the guy just isn't very intimidating; although it's great to see underrated cinema legend Ida Lupino in anything. John Travolta fans need not track this down because I honestly struggled to spot him, though the fact that I was more than a little sleepy may not have helped. This has brushes of good quality, the opening credit sequence is creepy, and there's tons of scenes (maybe too much) of people melting like a fizzing sherbet dip dab in the rain, but this is too sluggish and forgettable to hit all the right buttons.

I'm somewhat surprised by the relatively low average score for THE DEVIL'S RAIN . It's one of those films that was broadcast late one night on ITV in the early 1980s and would sometimes be referred to months afterwards as a scary movie . I suppose for its full benefits to be appreciated you'd have to be a teenager in the early 1980s when we only had three network TV stations ? From a storytelling point of view it's a confused film . A mother and son discuss a sacred book during a thunderstorm only for what they think is the patriarch to appear before them but he's not then the son travelling to a remote ghost town in search of a man called Corbus . Any reference to the son's father is quickly forgotten about you'll soon be left confused as to what's going or indeed why What stops this from totally destroying the film is that director Robert Fuest manages to carve out a grotesque imagery to a number of scenes . They don't always work and the ones that don't let the film down but at least the director shows some imagination and it's this that stops the film being a total debacle

Anton LaVey knows how to bring the horror to the religious. If anyone knows anything about satanism it is LaVey and he portrayed what he would call the false view of satanism in order to bring about thinking.This is worth a watch not because of the story, or the truth behind myths. It exists as a horror movie, and to scare people. Do not NOT watch this because of its darkness, that is why you SHOULD watch it.Real satanism is not about anything portrayed in this movie, and LaVey aided to make it seem real. He did a great job.If you are interested in the occult, and Satanism, read the Satanic bible, and take what is shown here as comedy for the satanist.It is a great movie, with renowned actors, and if it is so psychologically hurtful, as another reviewer states, then why did nearly every actor go on to have an extensive career?Stars: John Travolta, William Shatner, and the feel was caused by LaVey. What more could someone ask for in a movie?