{"id":66144,"date":"2026-07-04T22:35:05","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T14:35:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=66144"},"modified":"2026-07-04T22:35:05","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T14:35:05","slug":"the-devils-rain-4k-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=66144","title":{"rendered":"The Devil&#8217;s Rain 4K Review"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\"><strong>Minor spoilers for a 51-year-old film follow.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Fun story: Many years ago when I was editor of a comics and collectibles publishing company, I briefly worked with author Gabe Essoe, who wanted us to publish his Tarzan collecting guide. We ultimately passed on it, but flash forward to now, and I\u2019m reviewing a film co-written by none other than Gabe Essoe! Small world, huh? Well, <em>I <\/em>thought it was a fun story. Anyway\u2026<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">The trailer for <u>The Devil\u2019s Rain<\/u> hailed it as featuring \u201c\u2026absolutely the most incredible, unforgettable ending of any motion picture ever!\u201d Hyperbole? Sure. But will I remember that ending (a veritable celebration of practical effects) for the rest of my life? Also yes. The movie has appropriately enough built a following over the years, but it never quite joined the pantheon of truly beloved classics. That\u2019s understandable when you watch it in this impressive new 4K Severin Films release, because although it has a lot going for it \u2014 a great cast, some beautiful cinematography, and <em>that <\/em>ending \u2014 the movie falls short of greatness. There\u2019s still a <em>lot<\/em> to appreciate, though, so let\u2019s get into this wild time capsule of \u201970s paranormal kitsch from ESP to Satanism to Shatner!<\/p>\n<p><output class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401 jsx-1600542089\" data-cy=\"youtube-embed\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"SEVERIN BLACK FRIDAY 2025: THE DEVILS RAIN (1975) TRAILER\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qmfNafRfYwk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/output><\/p>\n<h2 data-cy=\"title2\" class=\"title2 jsx-1903782357 jsx-3735650234\"><strong>The Devils\u2019 Rein<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">The Preston family has been cursed by Satanist leader Corbis (Ernest Borgnine) for centuries. A family member who was once one of his disciples betrayed him way back when and stole his registry of followers, who now reside as tortured souls inside an ornate receptacle called the Devil\u2019s Rain. He can draw those souls out and implant them in host bodies or waxy facsimiles thereof (it\u2019s not exactly clear, but they seem like living Voodoo dolls), but he can\u2019t turn them over to Satan himself and fulfill his infernal pact without the book. When the Preston matriarch Emma (Ida Lupino) and son Mark (William Shatner) go missing, it\u2019s up to younger brother Dr. Tom Preston (Tom Skerritt), his ESP-sensitive wife Julie (Joan Prather), and their colleague Dr. Sam Richards (Eddie Albert) to find out what happened to the other Prestons and stop Corbis forever. But it\u2019s the \u201970s, remember, so who will <em>you <\/em>bet on winning in the end?<\/p>\n<p><output class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\"><\/p>\n<figure class=\"jsx-313219616\"><img alt=\"William Shatner as Mark Preston in The Devil\u2019s Rain\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"progressive-image article-image article-image-full-size jsx-1809694635 jsx-2338608387\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"\/><figcaption data-cy=\"caption\" class=\"caption jsx-1762799490 jsx-479945570 article-image-caption\">William Shatner as Mark Preston in The Devil\u2019s Rain, or a glimpse of his negotiations with Paramount to return for Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)? You decide.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><\/output><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Opening with discordant music, disturbing Hieronymus Bosch paintings, and an appearance by Woody Chambliss from 1972\u2019s Gargoyles, the movie loses some of this early good will by trying to convince us that then-44 Shatner could be the son of 57-year-old Lupino. It really drops you in and demands you piece things together, often without crucial information. One might call that a failing of the film, but there\u2019s a satisfying bleakness here. Despite feeling like a TV movie that only occasionally pushes the boundaries beyond what the small screen would allow, it has some absolutely beautiful dark and desolate vistas. A windswept western ghost town inhabited by eyeless <u>Omega Man<\/u>-like black-robed minions is a truly arresting image, even if one well-placed tumbleweed feels a bit too on the nose. At least they didn\u2019t name the town Purgatory, opting instead for Redstone.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Borgnine glowers through every scene with a palpable sense of menace, and his confrontations with Shatner and Albert have a satisfying Bond villain dynamic. Al De Lory\u2019s score is often reminiscent of Leonard Rosenman\u2019s for <u>Beneath the Planet of the Apes<\/u>, and there are valiant attempts to achieve some thematic resonance, including literal rain falling from the heavens as part of a <u>Raiders-esque delivery of God\u2019s judgment<\/u>. But the real star of this film is the makeup effects work by Tom Burman and brother Ellis Jr., from Borgnine\u2019s horned goat-like incarnation to the climactic melting sequence with multi-colored goop leaking from the eyes (and every other part) of the cultists. The eyeless look of Corbis\u2019 disciples does suffer in the HD era, with the black plugs covering the actors\u2019 eyes visible in this amazing-looking transfer, but it still looks pretty damn cool.<\/p>\n<p><output class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\"><\/p>\n<figure class=\"jsx-313219616\"><img alt=\"Ernest Borgnine as Corbis in a red robe in The Devil's Rain\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"progressive-image article-image article-image-full-size jsx-1809694635 jsx-2338608387\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"\/><figcaption data-cy=\"caption\" class=\"caption jsx-1762799490 jsx-479945570 article-image-caption\">Academy Award winner Ernest Borgnine understood the assignment when he agreed to chew the scenery as Corbis in The Devil\u2019s Rain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><\/output><\/p>\n<h2 data-cy=\"title2\" class=\"title2 jsx-1903782357 jsx-3735650234\"><strong>The Devils Reign<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Let\u2019s deal with the Shatner in the room; the man really curbs his excesses in what amounts to a small part that only lasts about the first third of the film and a bit of the end. He also performs a rough draft of his Star Trek II \u201cKhannnnnn\u201d with a similar scream to the sky at \u201cCorbissssss,\u201d and even replicates an uncomfortable shirtless Chuck Heston moment from the aforementioned Omega Man. Many pop culture aficionados know that a lifecast made of Shatner\u2019s face for this production was obtained by Don Post to create the 1975 Kirk mask, a copy of which was eventually bought by the Halloween crew and turned into Michael Myers\u2019 distinctive visage (Shatner disputes some of this, but he\u2019s not exactly a trustworthy source). What I\u2019ve never seen people point out, however, is that Shatner actually originates the Myers head tilt! I\u2019m not kidding; watch the scene late in the film where eyeless Shatner looks quizzically at his brother, trying to recognize him through a Satanic haze, and there\u2019s the Shape tilt three years before Nick Castle gazed at ol\u2019 pinned-up Bob!<\/p>\n<div class=\"display-title jsx-684634384 jsx-2659527929 quote-container\" data-cy=\"quoteBox\">I like The Devil\u2019s Rain for all the things it did well, and for the movie it wanted to be.<span class=\"stack jsx-2959124702 jsx-326843967\"><span>\u201c<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Ultimately, one of the movie\u2019s biggest missed opportunities is a result of some misogynistic myopia. Instead of Skerritt\u2019s rather bland and mostly clueless character, the protagonist <em>should<\/em> have been Julie, the complete outsider who would be learning it all along with the audience while facing her destiny. The sepia-toned psychic flashback to 1680 would also have set up the ending even more strongly if Corbis had actually <em>noticed her there <\/em>while she sits and watches the past taking place around her. That version of Devil\u2019s Rain might have risen from mid-level cult film to all-time horror classic, although it probably would have taken someone other than Prather in the role to make that work, and a second act that featured at least one good set piece to carry us into the truly spectacular ending that almost makes up for the rest of the movie. <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Nevertheless, genre fans coming to The Devil\u2019s Rain now might be intrigued by all the connections to movies that preceded or followed, such as The Haunted Palace, The Touch of Satan, The Beyond, and even Return of the Jedi and A Nightmare on Elm Street! I could imagine this being a regular rewatch for me today if I had seen this when I was younger; as it is, I like The Devil\u2019s Rain for all the things it did well, and for the movie it wanted to be. There\u2019s enough of that film there to enjoy, even if the rest is frustrating. <\/p>\n<p><output class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\"><\/p>\n<figure class=\"jsx-313219616\"><img alt=\"Ida Lupino and Joan Prather in The Devil's Rain\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"progressive-image article-image article-image-full-size jsx-1809694635 jsx-2338608387\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"\/><figcaption data-cy=\"caption\" class=\"caption jsx-1762799490 jsx-479945570 article-image-caption\">Ida Lupino (backseat) gets driven to The Devil\u2019s Rain set by co-star Joan Prather (at the wheel). OK, not really, but it is Lupino as Emma Preston and Prather as Julie Preston in a scene from the movie.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><\/output><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\"><strong>Bonus Features: <\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">There are a <em>lot<\/em> of bonus features included in this 4K UHD\/Blu-ray combo release, most brought over from Severin\u2019s 2017 Blu-ray release. Many of them are only a few minutes long; perhaps best of all is a chat with makeup artist Tom Burman, who confirms the film was made with Mafia money and describes Shatner as loving himself \u201cmore than you could ever love yourself.\u201d Star Tom Skerritt wishes they\u2019d made it a camp comedy, while the past and present leadership of the Church of Satan share that the film\u2019s technical advisor, Church founder Anton LaVey, struck up a very close friendship with young actor John Travolta, who makes his film debut here (it\u2019s creepier when you find out that co-star Prather introduced Travolta to Dianetics, so I guess aliens beat the Devil on that one). There are also plenty of visual galleries, radio and TV spots, the theatrical trailer, and not one but two audio commentaries \u2014 one with director Robert Fuest (which is pretty informative) and the one 2026 addition, a commentary by \u201cfilm historian\u201d Stephen R. Bissette who comes right out of the gate mispronouncing production company Bryanston as \u201cBryanstone;\u201d do with that what you will.<\/p>\n<p><span data-cy=\"poll-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<section class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\"\/><\/span><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<center><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/the-devils-rain-review\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><br \/>\n<center\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Minor spoilers for a 51-year-old film follow. Fun story: Many years ago when I was editor of a comics and collectibles publishing company, I briefly&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":66146,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[19766,12626,28],"class_list":["post-66144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech-gadgets-reviews","tag-devils","tag-rain","tag-review","wpcat-32-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=66144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/66146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=66144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=66144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=66144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}