AC/AL/V 1975 86m English CAST: Ernest Borgnine, Eddie Albert, Tom Skerritt, William Shatner, Joan Prather, Ida Lupino, Keenan Wynn & John Travolta CREDITS: Director: Robert Fuest; Screenwriters: James Ashton/Gabe Essoe/Gerald Hopman; Producers: James V. Cullen/Michael S. Glick; Director Of Photography: Alex Phillips, Jr.; Production Designer: Nikita Knatz; Editor: Michael Khan; Music: Al De Lory THE SYNOPSIS For 300 years, since the New England of 1680, Satanic priest Jonathan Corbis (Borgnine) searches for The Book, which was originally in his possession—but lost when he and his followers were burned at the stake. This dark bible contains the names of those who sold their souls to the Devil. Yet, Evil never dies and Corbis returns in the 1970’s to track down the book, now in possession of the Preston Family, located out in Arizona. Turns out the Prestons are descended from some of Corbis’s fallen disciples. Killing Mr. Preston & inducting Mrs. Preston (Lupino) into his Satanic fold, it’s up to oldest son Mark (Shatner) to go confront the sinister Corbis and his flock miles into the desert, where a fallen church stands in the middle of a ghost town. Corbis tricks Mark and converts him into an eyeless, soulless disciple. Elsewhere, his younger brother, Dr. Tom Preston (Skerritt) is informed of his family’s disappearance and goes to Corbis’s town with his wife, Julie (Prather) and mentor/occult expert Dr. Richards (Albert) in tow. Turns out that they must destroy The Devil’s Rain—a large bottle that contains the damned souls under Corbis’s control. The rain does come and all of the damned melt away—but is Evil and Corbis truly dead? THE CRITIQUE THE DEVIL’S RAIN is a classic cult movie that has exactly stood the test of Time. Yes, the premise is silly; yes, the acting is (at best) a study of over-emoting; and yes, the dialogue is truly a howler...as is the Velveeta-drenched ending. Yet…it’s fun to watch. A bad B-movie with a recognizable cast, decent direction, sumptuous cinematography and palatable SFX—so who’s complaining? Ernest Borgnine and William Shatner chew up their scenes with aplomb; remember, this was shot in the mid-1970’s, when Shatner was between Star Trek gigs and Oscar©-winner Ernest Borgnine was not exactly a big-name draw on the marquee anymore. Then again, how could you not enjoy watching Borgnine’s swarthy facial expressions--laced with twinkling eyes and heavy dark eyebrows? Classic stuff, man. Throw in some class acts like Eddie Albert, Ida Lupino and Keenan Wynn (as the doomed Sheriff) and up-and-comers like Tom Skerritt, John Travolta (yes, the once-and-future Sweathog has a small role in the movie as one of the disciples) and a cameo by the Church of Satan’s Anton LaVey (who plays the “high priest” here and also acts as the technical advisor of the movie…I kid you not) and you have a better cast that elevates the crappy material (written by 2 first-timers and a TV writer). Come to think of it, no wonder the script feels like a dated MFTV movie! British director Robert Fuest (The Abominable Dr. Phibes/Dr. Phibes Rises Again) handles his duties with some style and infuses the proceedings with elegant compositions and some quick pacing. And speaking of compositions, also credit Fuest’s cinematographer Alex Phillips, Jr. (Romancing The Stone/1985’s King Solomon’s Mines/Born In East L.A.) whose textured, atmospheric and Sergio Leonesque widescreen-lensing—using the now-defunct Todd-AO 35 process—elevates this B-movie to a slightly better standing. I should also point out that the editing was performed by future Steven Spielberg-cutter Michael Kahn—who won 3 Oscars© for editing the maestro’s pictures Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981), Schindler’s List (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998)—Kahn would begin to cut Spielberg’s movies after 1978’s Close Encounters Of The Third Kind. Other tech credits (stagy production design, creepy score, etc.) are ‘70s kitsch—but retro-cool. And one last tidbit: the movie was shot on location in Mexico. THE BOTTOM LINE O.K. I admit it: THE DEVIL’S RAIN is a guilty pleasure. Definitely a midnight movie for the masses if there ever was one. The good cast elevates the material—but still can’t shake off the veil of silliness. But hey: have fun with this flick though...I sure did! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_filmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B_moviehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_directorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinematographyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_effecthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Awardshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screenplayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_moviehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_directorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composition_%28visual_arts%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinematographerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergio_Leonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widescreenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinematographyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todd_AOhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_editinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_editor#Film_Editorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Production_designhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_scorehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filming_locationshapeimage_2_link_0shapeimage_2_link_1shapeimage_2_link_2shapeimage_2_link_3shapeimage_2_link_4shapeimage_2_link_5shapeimage_2_link_6shapeimage_2_link_7shapeimage_2_link_8shapeimage_2_link_9shapeimage_2_link_10shapeimage_2_link_11shapeimage_2_link_12shapeimage_2_link_13shapeimage_2_link_14shapeimage_2_link_15shapeimage_2_link_16shapeimage_2_link_17shapeimage_2_link_18shapeimage_2_link_19