This has got to be one of the strangest movies ever made, yet somehow I still find myself revisiting it at least once a year despite the fact that it's seriously flawed. I will attempt to explain why that is. Let's begin with trying to decipher some sort of "plot" out of this mess: From what I can surmise here after multiple viewings, Mark Preston (William Shatner) has possession of an important book which has been hidden by the Preston family for some 300 years. It contains signatures written in blood of the scores of people who have sold their souls to the devil over the years. There is also an immortal disciple of Satan named Jonathan Corbis (Ernest Borgnine) who has spanned these centuries terrorizing the Prestons in a failed attempt to obtain the book, which is required to deliver these souls to Lucifer. In the meantime, the tortured victims wait and moan in eternal limbo trapped inside a large vessel called "The Devil's Rain" until Corbis can locate the book he seeks. Corbis has succeeded in seizing Mark and his mother (Ida Lupino) and turning them into brainwashed cult members, and it's up to Tom Preston (Tom Skerrit) and Dr. Samuel Richards (GREEN ACRES' own Eddie Albert, looking totally lost) to join forces in foiling Corbis' plan.

At least that's what I think is going on. Director Robert Fuest (1970's WUTHERING HEIGHTS, the two DR. PHIBES films) does a horrible job in trying to tell a linear story, and there are more holes in the plot here than you would find on 42nd Street back in the 1970's. Just about everything going on in this movie may be pointed out as not being adequately explained. And yet -- and yet -- the film is still not without some things to enjoy for fans of cheesy horror... It's a treat getting to watch Ernest Borgnine (Marty himself) really getting into his diabolical role, and it's an added kick seeing him in monster makeup whenever he summons up a goat-demon from the pits of hell, emerging with huge ram horns! Eddie Albert seems to be as confused as we are, and this is most obvious in an outside sequence late in the film where he and Skerrit are arguing over the meaning of The Devil's Rain; it's hilarious watching them stepping over each other's words, and you get the impression they just winged all their dialogue for that scene. William Shatner gets his moments to shine where he goes over the top as we've come to love from him ("Corbissss!!!! Goddamn you!!!"). You also gotta love seeing Ida Lupino sink further in her later years to the point of walking around as a mindless zombie with her eyeballs blackened out, which is the preferred manner of initiation for the souls of Satan. And then there is John Travolta -- this was his first movie, but it's nearly impossible to spot him as one of the black-eyed cultists in his few very brief appearances. Real-life member of the Church of Satan, Anton LaVey, was an "adviser" on the film, and appears wearing a mask as one of the devil's servants.

The climax of the movie is worth waiting for, and it was touted highly as the main selling point back in its day... we get to see the results of The Devil's Rain on the minions of cult worshipers when the skies open up and pour down upon them. There are some good effects there, even if it's obvious how the sequence was being milked for all it's worth. THE DEVIL'S RAIN is not a good movie, but all the same it's one of those weird horror pictures that may appeal to fans of "so bad they're good" flicks. **1/2 out of ****

After the success of Rosemary's Baby and The Exorcist Hollywood put out a whole slew of films dealing with the black arts and Satan worship. This one even had a consultant from the Church of Satan. Several players who ought to know better did this one for a paycheck.

Ernest Borgnine hams it up big and broad as the leader of Satan church, a church that he converted from a Congregationalist puritan church to one swearing allegiance to old Scratch. Somebody in the congregation stole the book with the members sworn in blood to the devil and that's held things up with Satan claims in limbo. Been that way for 300 years or so and the church is now out in Kanasas somewhere

William Shatner, Ida Lupino, Keenan Wynn and Eddie Albert are all in this together and it's a camp hoot. That last and very soggy climax is one for the books.

Are there folks out there besides Satanists who like these films?

This is a terrible film and it's amazing that the film producers were able to get many respectable actors to appear in it. Now the fact that William Shatner appears in DEVIL'S RAIN isn't much of a surprise, but it is surprising that his performance is rather restrained. He does what he can with the silly material. But, for people like Ida Lupino, Keenan Wynn, Tom Skerritt, Eddie Albert and Oscar-winner Ernest Borgnine, it's amazing that they act in a film as dopey as this one. Of all the actors, the one who deserves the biggest round of Bronx cheers is Borgnine, whose performance is utterly awful--particularly when he, believe it or not, transforms into a ram-man late in the film. No, I am not talking about the football team, but Borgnine undergoes a weird transformation where he dons horns and an entire male sheep's head! You've gotta see it to believe just how far Borgnine fell since his Oscar-winning performance starring in MARTY!

The film begins in the middle of the desert in the Western United States. A lone house occupied by Lupino, Shatner and some old guy (whose role is never defined in any way) is suddenly attacked by supernatural forces during a freak rain storm. Apparently, some Satan worshipers are making this happen until they get some sacred book that Shatner's mother (Lupino) is hiding. When they won't give it up, Lupino is kidnapped and Shatner goes to an abandoned Old West town to get her back from these evil scumbags. However, in a silly contest of wills, Shatner not only loses but is forced to join the group of eye-less zombies in this coven.

Later, Shatner's brother (Tom Skerritt) shows up at the house and is told by the old dude that Shatner has gone to the ghost town. Now it's obvious that the house was ransacked but the sheriff said he and his men were too busy to look for Shatner and Lupino! Shouldn't this have been a warning sign?! Despite this, Skerritt and his lady friend go to the abandoned town for a showdown.

Once there, they see evidence of the coven and Skerritt actually sees Shatner forced by some mumbo-jumbo to become an eye-less zombie. He sends the lady for help and just manages to escape on his own. Unfortunately, she is captured and Skerritt and Eddie Albert (who's an old man) on their own return to the city to face a huge coven of evil demonic Lucifer lovers! Wow, talk about great planning! Once there, there is a dumb showdown where again and again, Albert and Skerritt show they have the combined IQ of a muskrat. Skerritt has a rifle, yet jumps from the balcony to fight the hoard with his bare hands. Albert grabs some cool TV set-like device that the coven needs and threatens to break it--but instead of just doing it, he gives everyone ample opportunity to kill him or take back the cosmic TV.

Despite him being about 70 and giving them every chance to get it back, he still manages to smash the TV thingy and then all the evil folks start to melt like they are made of gallons of colored latex. It's all rather gross but funny at the same time. Now normally, seeing these people melt would have taken up about a minute of screen time. However, the special effects gurus must have been relatives of the director and this melting sequence takes about ten minutes (I am not exaggerating). Most of the ten minutes consists of "actors" writhing about as green pudding shoots out their eyes and gallons of Creepy Crawler goop comes dripping out of their skin. Then, out of the blue, there is an ending that is cool to watch but doesn't make much sense, but considering the film so far, who's to quibble about the ending?! As you read this, you are no doubt shocked at how silly the whole thing sounds. Well, it surely was but in some odd way it was also watchable because it had a certain stupid charm. Plus, seeing respected actors (I am not including Shatner in this statement) making fools of themselves is a lot of fun. Additionally, if you look carefully, you can see a very young John Travolta making an idiot of himself in his first film. Look for the cleft chin and nose--you can't miss it.

Anton LaVey appears in a small role as a Satanic priest and organist as well as a script consultant for the film. Being the leader of the Church of Satan in California and author of "The Satanic Bible" somehow gave him some great insights into how to improve the script and make it more realistic. Yeah, right.

Finally, I really liked the opening credits. Having the camera slowly pan across paintings of Hell by Hieronymous Bosch while eerie music played was very effective and spooky. If you have a chance, try picking up a book or do a web search of Bosch's works--they are amazingly bizarre and unusual when seen today. Believe it or not, when he was painting in the 15th and 16th centuries, he was very popular and others often copied his odd symbolism. Today, Goths and all-around weird people (like myself) enjoy his work, though I will admit it's an acquired taste!