The Rain Killer is a mystery movie, the story revolving around a serial killer who seems to attack well-to-do women at night, that too only when it rains. When the police department fails to catch the killer after three murders, the FBI is roped in. The cop Capra( Ray Sharkey in a well acted role) and FBI agent Dalton( David Beecroft) are assigned to solve the case together. Both are hostile to each other, professionally trying to outdo the other, and personally as well, since Capra starts sleeping with the ex-wife of Dalton. Along the way, they get their prime suspect,a man named John Rosewell. Rosewell has spent the night with a stripper whose dead body is discovered the next day, and he is found to carry knives in his suitcase. The movie starts off promisingly, with tight suspense sequences and has an interesting premise. Unfortunately,it has not been developed well, the dialogues are corny and the ending plain ridiculous. It could have executed much better, but its still worth a watch. 5/10

I have recently discovered, to my great surprise, that "The Rain Killer" has achieved a kind of cult status in Europe, especially Italy. An Italian journalist contacted me a few months ago looking for background on the film to be included in a forthcoming book about the genre.

I would not presume to review the film, in fact I have not seen it in many years. I have only a VHS copy that I recorded off cable, but the new interest in the film might finally generate a DVD release, perhaps as part of a Roger Corman retrospective. (Califilm was one of his subsidiary companies.) Anyway, the book should be released in Europe in 2014.

Ray Cunneff