Deep in the middle of nowhere, Mark Preston and his household fret anxiously over the disappearance of Mark’s father. Suddenly Dad shows up, mentions a sinister figure named Corbis, and promptly dissolves into goo. But that’s not all. Within the first several minutes after the credits (shown over Bosch’s “Garden of Earthly Delights”), we’re also treated to empty eye sockets, portentous shadows and thunderstorms, an upside-down hanging, and William Shatner in a wicker cowboy hat.

The Devil’s Rain presents the culmination of a centuries-long battle for souls, with the Preston family and a Van Helsing-like pseudoscientist on one side, and a spooky Satanic cult on the other, led by the diabolical Jonathan Corbis (Ernest Borgnine, having a ball). Hinging on Corbis’s attempts to reacquire a mysterious book that the Prestons are guarding, the movie touches on questions of faith, free will, and why the Devil’s barber must’ve given up and gone home (prob’ly cuzza the horns).

Set primarily in a tiny ghost town in the desert, the first third of the movie feels like a Western of sorts, but with a subtly mythic quality to it. Some great scenery, a crusty Devil, the world’s largest and evilest snowglobe, and loads of melting flesh round out this merry romp through devil worship and soul-snatching.

William Shatner, as Mark Preston, really takes a lot of abuse in this one. I think Shatner rocks, but whether you love him or hate him, this is your chance to have your fill of watching him scream in fear and pain at various torments. The cast of The Devil’s Rain is like a who’s-who of ... well, something; besides Shatner and Borgnine, it boasts the seasoned (if sometimes sluggish) talents of Ida Lupino, Tom Skerritt, Eddie Albert, and Keenan Wynn. John Travolta makes his feature-film debut as a blind Satanic cowboy who falls down a flight of stairs. Perhaps the coolest thing about this flick (besides Shatner’s wicker hat) is that Anton Szandor LaVey -- that’s right, the late founder and High Priest of the Church of Satan -- was the film’s technical advisor; his work on the ritual sequences included set design, text writing, and arrangement of the chants. Dr. LaVey also has a brief role as the masked high priest of Corbis’s cult, and Diane LaVey (co-founder of the CoS and Anton’s then wife) plays a small part as well.

I definitely enjoyed The Devil’s Rain. Despite the familiar plot points, it was a nice blend of low-key camp and some real eeriness -- not truly terrifying, but the remote setting helped. I felt that it had a strong Euro-horror sensibility; I guess it’s what you get when a British director films an American devil-worship movie in Mexico in the ‘70s.

Other Thoughts
Consider the Jewish William Shatner uttering a Christian prayer during a Black Mass designed by Anton LaVey ... and John Travolta converting to Scientology in the same year as the film’s release. I miss that ‘70s interfaith harmony.

Side Note
The new DVD release by Dark Sky Films includes, among other extras, a short newsreel from 1967 about the first public Satanic wedding (officiated by Anton LaVey), and a series of stills that makes me suspect a higher-than-PG-rated cut of the movie must have existed.

Review Rating
6 out of 10 de-orbings