The Devils Rain

Dark Sky Films

R1 DVD

Director: Robert Fuest

Consultant: Anton LaVey

Notable Appearances: John Travolta, William Shatner

The Devil’s Rain is a classic occult horror, it was released after the media onslaught of Rosemary’s Baby but has a stronger more independent audience in mind. It has been on the “cult” must see list for many years, partly due to its being the first screen debut of John Travolta but also due to the role of Anton LaVey from the Church of Satan in its production.

Directed by Robert Fuest it rose above the many other occult horrors of the time through the work of consultant Anton LaVey, who founded the Church of Satan. LaVey, however, was not some studious anti-cleric, he was first a foremost the product of his “carney” and circus background. Accordingly, the rites within this film and indeed such notable elements as the Satanic Church in the desert and Ernest Borgnine’s (Corbis) goat transformation all show his sense of satanic play and dark humour.

It is not always “play” and there are also some solid horror special effects, the eyeless zombies are especially effective and the music and plot certainly creates a dark and somber mood . While on one level it is a classic horror tale of good Vs evil, there are certainly more than a few shots at the narrowness of the puritans who began the battle. The ending with its “everybody” melting special effects certainly adds to the over the top nature of this film.

This is a new release on DVD of this classic, it is a quite a superb 16 x9 transfer from 35mm vault materials, so offers the best version of this film as yet released. It also has some nice extras including an audio commentary by Robert Fuest, a newsreel with Anton LaVey and the Church of Satan, trailer, radio spots etc.