FREAK FILMS: THE DEVIL'S RAIN

I think the caption on the DVD says it all: "Heaven help us all when the Devil's Rain!" Someone knew that only a nonsensical, grammatically incorrect sentence could capture the brilliance of this film. The cast alone makes this film worth watching: Ernest Borgnine, Keenan Wynn, Ida Lupino, Tom Skerritt, William Shatner, Anton LaVey and John Travolta (in his very first film). Even Woody Chambliss is in this masterpiece of celluloid (you might remember Chambliss as Old Sergeant Pepper in the Beatles-inspired disco romp Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band [known in Mexico as Banda de los Corazones], wheeeeee!). When Warlock Jonathan Corbis (Borgnine) makes another attempt to steal a guest book of Satan from Swiss Family Preston, Mark Preston (Shatner) tries to save his mom (Lupino) and some blathering old bastard, only to be served up on an upside-down cross for Devil lunch! See the Shat scream like a girl! So who do you call when the Shat can't come through? Why, Tom Skerritt, of course! As brother Tom, he whisks into town with his flaky psychic wife (Joan Prather) to save the day and the family station wagon with the big "P" on the side. There are so many reasons to watch this movie, cast and plot not withstanding. John Travolta has no eyeballs and one line in this film, and that one line gets overdubbed. Silly Sweathog! Ernest Borgnine turns into the fluffiest, most adorable Satan. No shit! And William Shatner really does scream like a girl! No, really! And to top all this off, it is now available on DVD in widescreen so you can view it in all of its elongated glory. Mighty fine!