THE DEVIL'S RAIN

US, 1975, 86 minutes, Colour.
Ernest Borgnine, Eddie Albert, Ida Lupino, William Shatner, John Travolta.
Directed by Robert Fuest.

The Devil's Rain: from hellish groanings and Hieronymus Bosch's credits paintings to the modern American west and Satanists from the 17th century, the legacy of puritanical witch-hunting and burning, seeking to possess souls and trap them in rain controlled by the Devil. Ernest Borgnine is transformed from ranch hand style to goatish Devil in this interesting, though sometimes flat, occult thriller. Style is important (and especially the special effects whereby possessed eyeless bodies bereft of souls dissolve in rain), content veering too often toward pulp fiction climaxes. The film is probably at its best when suggesting how damnation might look and feel. Written and directed by Robert Fuest (of 'Doctor Phibes' films) .

1. The interest of this thriller, the appeal of horror, the occult? The thriller styles, horror styles, the occult genre of the 70s? The particular emphasis on Satanism?

2. The quality of the film, its styles? The importance of the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch? The hellish cries and moans? The artistic tradition of Hell and the grotesque and the bizarre visualizing of this? Did the film live up to the premises? Colour, wide screen, American locations, the paraphernalia of Satanism?

3. Much attention was given to the special effects and especially to the make-up. How skilful, atmospheric, contrived? Did it contribute to the overall impact - especially in the ending with the Devil's Rain melting the bodies?

4. Audience expectations of a horror film and an occult-Satanist film in an American setting? In a western setting? In the present? The comments on the American heritage of Satanism and witchcraft? The atmosphere of the past, the past influencing the present? How plausible were the events and the characters, how credible? The ancestry of the Preston family, of Corbis? The devil incarnate, evil incarnate, his hold and control over people?

5. The introduction to the storm and the rain? The melting of Mr Preston? The introduction to the Preston family? The puzzle about the book and Corbis' wanting it? Mrs Preston and her anxiety - and her later being taken over by Corbis? John - the old man with the knowledge and his not being overtaken? Mark as a possible hero, his mother's warning, the amulet, his decisions and yet his also being taken over by Corbis? Indication of the powerful hold of evil?

6. The contrast of the world of science and the scientific examination of E.S.P. and the occult? The presentation of Dr Richards, his lectures, Tom and Julie and their co-operation? Modern speculation about the occult in terms of the psychological? Preparation for the confrontation between the psychological and Satan?

7. Ernest Borgnine as an incarnation of the devil? The initial introduction to Corbis after the talk about him, his presence in Redstone, his ordinariness, the confrontation with Mark, his wanting the book? His initial evil experience - changing the amulet into the snake? His devilish laugh? The gradual transformation into a devil-figure? His dressing in red, his participation in the ceremonies, his hold over his followers? His turning into a ram - (the impact of the special effects and the symbolic overtones of this incarnation of the Devil?) His character in the past, in the present? His hold, his being foiled, his destruction and the irony of the ending? (The importance of the flashbacks to the earlier centuries - the colour effects and the monochrome, the Puritan atmosphere, Corbis and his witchcraft in the 17th century, the Preston family? The wife and the executions?)

8. The film's presentation of the Devil? Belief in a Devil,. his hold and possession of people? The theory of the separation of souls and bodies? The eyeless bodies in the town and the soul kept in the Devil's Rain? The possibility of destroying the bodies because they were shells and the souls within the rain? The deaths? The visualizing of the Devil's Rain - a miniature TV style? The build-up to the smashing of the rain by Mark and the effect of this?

9. The attention to detail of the husks of the characters, eg. Mrs. Preston, the Devil's minions and their stalking of Tom and Julie? The horror of the initiation of Mark and the equivalent of a 16th-17th century execution?

10. Tom as hero and his trying to understand, being menaced, his escape after such pursuit? The contrast with Julie and her capture, being dressed for sacrifice?

11. Dr Richards and his presence, the irony of the sheriff being possessed by Corbis?

12. The build-up to the smashing of the rain and the dissolving of the people? A hellish experience?

13. The relief of the ending and its irony with Corbis inhabiting Julie and her being imprisoned in the Devil's Rain?

14. How much credibility do contemporary audiences give to such stories? How would it be appreciated if people believed in this? How appreciated as if it were a fantasy, a nightmare? An imaginative confrontation of symbols of evil from the past and in our present world? The need to be exorcised? The infiltration and perpetual hold that evil has over human beings?