I have recently discovered, to my great surprise, that "The Rain Killer" has achieved a kind of cult status in Europe, especially Italy. An Italian journalist contacted me a few months ago looking for background on the film to be included in a forthcoming book about the genre.

I would not presume to review the film, in fact I have not seen it in many years. I have only a VHS copy that I recorded off cable, but the new interest in the film might finally generate a DVD release, perhaps as part of a Roger Corman retrospective. (Califilm was one of his subsidiary companies.) Anyway, the book should be released in Europe in 2014.

Ray Cunneff

Someone is brutally murdering a score of women, while in the rain. There is a connection. They're all part of a sewing circle. A tired looking cop, Sharkey, a cool vehicle role for him, is teamed up with new overriding DEA agent, Hot shot, Dalton (David Beecroft-Who the hell is he?) and it isn't very long before things get very personal as Sharkey gets personally involved with Beecroft's woman (Tania Coolidge-Who the hell is she) A stripper becomes tied in with the other victims. At first we question why this strip scene exists. Not that there's anything wrong with watching little hottie, Maria Ford, doing a little nude dance. And that's followed by a sex scene in a motel room, the young wealthy client, carrying a hefty suitcase containing some pretty kinky gadgets, amongst some pretty scary knifeware. This guy can handle himself too, as the two are intercepted outside, by Ford's black pimp, but he's soon taken care of. It soon makes sense why these scenes exist as Ford is killed, and this guy that Beecroft actually knows is being framed. See this macho's guys wife belongs to the same sewing circle. I knew who the killer was all the way through this, and someone who didn't, would have to have an IQ less than seven. I don't know how some of these movie writers think they can fool us. It was so patently obvious, by the figure's build and walk, the identity was staring me in the face. Are you f*****g kidding me? As a thriller The Rain Killer disappoints, but it's still quite engrossing, nonetheless, I guess partly due to it's idea. It's got a little nudity from hottie Maria Ford, some very occasional violence, and Ray Sharkey. It also stars Michael Chilkis in a much earlier acting role, before he became one of the fantastic four.

Well, it's cheaper than cheap so they weren't working with much more than a shoe string... and the script needed polishing... and some of the acting was bad.

But, it was a B-Movie, and one that actually tried to make something of itself within the constraints of those limitations.

It still manages to be suspensful, erotic (the only way to really sell it),and still comes away with a decent enough plot and a few shining moments of actual acting ability to be watchable... especially since they were able to make it moody.

You just have to realize that you're watching a cheap movie when you sit down, but cheap doesn't always mean void of entertainment, and this one actually manages to be entertaining as it brings it's A game to the B genre.