Emma Preston (Ida Lupino) has premonitions. In her dreams there is a storm raging and her husband falls victim to a centuries old curse on the Preston family. Emma’s dreams have now become a reality. Jonathan Corbis (Ernest Borgnine) is the leader of a satanic cult. The members sign their names in blood in a book. Centuries ago, in Puritan New England, the book was stolen, and the cult was exposed to the local Preacher (Claudio Brook). The cult members were burned at the stake. The person who turned the cult members in and stole the book was Aaronessa Fyffe (Erika Carlsson), an ancestor of the Preston family.
Now Steve Preston (George Sawaya) is the latest to fall into Corbis’ grasp. Steve returns to the family with a message from Corbis to return the book. Steve then begins to melt. Emma, her youngest son, Mark (William Shatner) and family friend John (Woodrow Chambliss) watch in horror. Emma is then taken and turned into an eyeless cult member. Martin goes searching for Corbis and challenges him. Martin loses and is captured by Corbis.
Tom Preston (Tom Skerritt) and his wife Julie (Joan Prather), who happens to be a psychic, return to the family home in the desert. Tom calls on friend and psychic researcher, Dr. Sam Richards (Eddie Albert) to help him. Tom is too late to help his mother or his brother. Then Julie is kidnapped by Corbis and his followers. John gives Tom and Dr. Richards the book. In it they learn that the souls of those that Corbis converted are kept in a large jar called The Devil’s Rain. As long as the jar is intact, the souls of the damned are still prisoners.
“The Devil’s Rain” was released in 1975 and was directed by Robert Fuest. It is an American supernatural horror movie.
There is quite the menagerie of stars in this film. The main actors are Ernest Borgnine, Eddie Albert, William Shatner, Keenan Wynn, Tom Skerritt, and Ida Lupino. Anton LaVey has a small part as a High Priest. LaVey, the founder of the Church of Satan and author of the Satanic Bible, was a technical advisor for the film. His wife, Diane, has a small part as a cult member.
If you’re looking for John Travolta, his part is really small, and he is wearing one of the sightless masks, so he is easy to miss. He’s the guy who finds the book and returns it to Corbis.
The movie starts out a little confusing. You don’t learn about the beginnings of the curse until halfway through the film. The editing seems off a little bit in some places. Almost as if the cameras started rolling after the scene started. It results in a little difficulty following some of the plot points.
The best parts of the film are whenever a cult member melts. The ending of the movie has quite a few of them melting. The melting make-up was done by Tom Burman. Tubing, that had been flat ironed, was placed underneath the actor’s prosthetics. Pumped through the tubing were smoke, air and/or mehylcellulose dyed various colors. Some of the cult members were actually dummies acquired from a sex shop. The result is some really cool melting sequences. It may not be a great movie, but the ending is worth checking out.