In this episode, Mr Jim Moon has a viewing of the not so classic 1975 flick The Devil's Rain, and does not so much provide a commentary but more chats about and around this very odd movie. On paper it looked good - Ernest Borgnine, William Shatner, Ida Lupino and John Travolta in a '70s Satanic flick directed by cult favourite Robert Fuest. The reality was very different...
DIRECT DOWNLOAD - MICROGORIA 36 - The Devils Rain
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10 comments:
Excellent stuff. Good insight into the reasons the film is so poor. I often wondered if Fuest did indeed have a breakdown or if he just disappeared for a while during the production. He had already proven he was capable of better. The film doesn't really look like one of his and I wondered if the tea boy had taken over after a week or so.
Thank you! It was a fun commentary to do, and I too do rather suspect large sections were helmed in haste by some assistant!
Quite strange how Shatners career hit the skids for a long period after the original Star Trek finished. You would have thought it would have set him up for a good career in big pictures, but no: it's was a near decade of pretty low budget stuff like such as this. Kind of felt sorry for him despite his reputation as an egotist/ big heid. I'm quite partial to Kingdom of the Spiders (1977).
The award for best performance by an ex- Star Trek actor in a 70's Sci-Fi / Horror film undoubtably goes to Leonard Nimoy in Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978). Excellent. He also presented an Arthur C Clarkes Mysterious World type series during the same period. The name of which escapes me, unfortunately.
In Search of... (1977-82). Sorry, I had to look that up. Pre-dates the excellent Clarke series!
If I recall my Trek history rightly, the show didn't really become hugely popular until after it finished its original run - it was repeats in syndication and exports to the international market that really made it the legend that it was today. Hence Shatner and co. weren't hugely bankable immediately after the original series was cancelled... But throughout the 70s, their popularity would rise again!
I can vouch for the quality of "In Search Of." series. The companion series of books is pretty good too and can be bought for a few quid on ebay.
I haven't seen "The Devil's Rain" and will take Jim at his word when he recommends that no-one should.
I do have a similar film which I cant remember the name of - its set in a cursed town with a Blood Moon or something and there's an albino negro gas attendant (I'm not making this up). Really low budget badly shot stuff, but effective at the same time.
Anyway, are we getting more commentaries on cult movies soon?
I would like to see some others under the harsh glare of the Moon..
ST.CLAIRE
The film you are describing is Messiah of Evil (1973). Although there is a gas station attendant and a person with albinism in it they are two different people.
It's several cuts above The Devils Rain, friend. You may want to watch TDR, sometime, if only to enjoy Jim's commentary.
The film you are describing is Messiah of Evil (1973). Although there is a gas station attendant and a person with albinism in it they are two different people.
It's several cuts above The Devils Rain, friend. You may want to watch TDR, sometime, if only to enjoy Jim's commentary.
Im feeling a bit guilty about slating hhis film and for ghe double post. I'd like to point out that And Soon the Darkness (1970) is a very good film and worth searching out. It appears on The Horror Channel in the UK fairly regularly.
Funnily enough I only just recently caught up with Messiah of Evil after hearing about it for years. As I've been revisiting a few other flicks on similar themes from the same era, I think there may well be a Satan in the 70s round-up coming featuring Messiah of Evil, The Mephisto Waltz and Brotherhood of Evil
And there will be further cult film commentaries coming soon too...
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