The Rain Killer (1990) User Reviews

A disappointing rain, but tolerable

[PeterMitchell-506-564364 · 5/10 · 2 December 2012]

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.

Good story with some undelivered potential

[xaphania-maitreyee · 5/10 · 18 July 2012]

The Rain Killer is a mystery movie, the story revolving around a serial killer who seems to attack well-to-do women at night, that too only when it rains. When the police department fails to catch the killer after three murders, the FBI is roped in. The cop Capra( Ray Sharkey in a well acted role) and FBI agent Dalton( David Beecroft) are assigned to solve the case together. Both are hostile to each other, professionally trying to outdo the other, and personally as well, since Capra starts sleeping with the ex-wife of Dalton. Along the way, they get their prime suspect,a man named John Rosewell. Rosewell has spent the night with a stripper whose dead body is discovered the next day, and he is found to carry knives in his suitcase. The movie starts off promisingly, with tight suspense sequences and has an interesting premise. Unfortunately,it has not been developed well, the dialogues are corny and the ending plain ridiculous. It could have executed much better, but its still worth a watch. 5/10

There's something in this

[BandSAboutMovies · 4/10 · 16 January 2021]

American giallo? Why, it seems like a few years ago, we did an entire week of those movies. Well, we missed this one, directed by Ken Stein (who only directed one other movie, Mad Dog Coll) and written by Ray Cunneff (who wrote a movie called A State of Emergency about nuclear testing and visions of the Blessed Mother, so looks like I'll be tracking that one down).

Welcome to a Los Angeles where it's always raining, neon is everywhere, all you can hear and sax solos and Michael Chiklis wears a different baseball hat in every scene. Ray Sharkey (Du-beat-e-o in Du-beat-e-o and, of course, Wiseguy) is the burned out cop, David Beecroft (Creepshow 2) is the FBI agent and a scene where Sharkey and his police chief share a bottle of Wild Turkey in a bathroom stall.

In the midst of all this darkness and swearing and rampant sex - my favorite IMDB review of this basically takes a puritanical take on all this filth, which made me want to watch it over again - is a great looking film thanks to cinematographer Janusz Kaminski. What did the man who shot Schindler's List have to do with this grubby movie? Well, he got his start shooting stuff like The Terror Within II, Grim Prarie Tales and even Cool As Ice - let that set in, two years before he won an Oscar, Kaminski was filming Vanilla Ice - before Steven Spielberg started using him.

Maria Ford plays an exotic dancer who gets killed. You'll recognize her as she's been in a ton of things - everything from Slumber Party Massacre III and Deathstalker IV: Match of Titans to the remake of The Wasp Woman, Night Calls: The Movie, Part 2 and kid movies like Beethoven's Big Break and Casper Meets Wendy.

This really starts like a giallo, as The Rain Killer - named for his m.o. of killing women in the pouring rain - knifes three women in under five minutes while wearing a black overcoat, leather gloves and a hat. Sadly, this is an American film, so there are times where it decides to tell a story that somewhat makes sense. It turns out that all of the victims are members of a support group called The Sewing Circle and the FBI agent just so happens to be divorcing one of its members, his wife Adele (Tania Coleridge, who was in George Michael's "Father Figure" video and played the drill model in Van Halen's video for "Poundcake"). So you know - Sharkey hooks up with her because, well, that's how movies work.

For a movie that is so influenced by giallo, isn't it odd that Argento's Trauma uses the same m.o.* - killer who murders in the rain - three years later?

*Shout out to Mondo Digital for pointing this out.

I got my pride and I know where to hide I'll do my killing in the rain!

[Coventry · 3/10 · 5 November 2016]

You know, for a very brief period (approximately 10-12 minutes) I honestly believed that I stumbled upon a genuine hidden gem of horror/thriller cinema. Even more so, it even looked as if I found an authentic late giallo; which is my all-time cult cinema sub genre! Within the first fifteen minutes of the film, no less than three women are stalked and subsequently killed by someone wearing a hat, a long black overcoat and a big shiny knife. It doesn't get much more "giallo" than that. Since all victims – three on screen and allegedly four previously already – were killed during heavy rain showers, the media and the investigating police officers quickly nickname him the rain killer. Very promising, indeed, but what starts as an intriguing throwback to the Italian gialli of the seventies sadly turns quite rapidly into a dull, predictable and typically American serial- killer thriller with film-noir echoes (similar to, for example, "Sea of Love", "Black Widow" or "The January Man"). After the initial killings, the movie becomes incredibly dull and almost solely revolves on the triangular relationship between the tough local detective (Ray Sharkey), the cocky FBI-agent and the woman they're both in love with (although she often looks more like a man…). Further in the film, a couple more promiscuous women are stabbed to death in the rain (including stripper Maria Ford) but there isn't any suspense and the killer's identity isn't much of a mystery. Like the other reviewers also pointed out already, the cinematography is very decent, especially during the raw & gritty exterior murder sequences. I wished it was different, but in the end "The Rain Killer" is a righteously obscure and forgotten early-90s thriller.

Degraded trash posing as a movie

[chuckju · 1/10 · 19 June 2015]

This crude exhibition of zero talent is far worse than most actual porno films. Such films usually are at least somewhat funny. I watched it only because the usually excellent Ray Sharkey was the star. He is the only person in the cast you'll probably recognize. The film is degraded. It is filled with sex shots and sex plot line that don't make sense. It jumps from scene to scene very awkwardly. Sharkey himself shows little of his acting ability. The rest of the cast shows virtually no talent. A horrible movie. A true disappointment for Sharkey fans like me. I don't understand why he made it. Perhaps to give homosexuals some screen time.

Unbearable to watch till end 1/10

[vmy2009 · 1/10 · 11 September 2020]

One of the worst films I have seen in recent times. It's so boring that right after 10 minutes you feel like you don't watch the film. The production value is not at it's best this where I felt like I'm not watching a film but some c grade tv drama. Acting , direction, dialogues, editing everything in the film is annoying and unbearable. I would recommend Lucio Fulci's 1982 Giallo "The New York Ripper" rather than this crap. 1/10

A Cult Classic?

[RayC · 7/10 · 30 December 2013]

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

GREAT SEX SCENES. GOOD MOVIE.

[Bronco22 · 6/10 · 16 November 1998]

This fluffy sugar-coated bunny hop was sure fun. It was an effective mystery that delivered. This sweet pickle got a little side-tracked and got involved with the stripper character, but never mind that, because she supplied some juicy eye candy if you know what I mean. -**1/2 stars