Rain of fire (Holocaust 2000)
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Strangely i bought 'The Antichrist' a couple of weeks ago on a whim then picked this one up when i suddenly remembered watching it on T.V as a kid.
Both are directed by Alberto De Martino but i was not aware of this at the time, both are scored by the great Ennio Morricone and both are Euro Horror rip offs of classic 70's Horror films. 'The Antichrist' copies 'The Exorcist' whereas this one takes 'The Omen' for inspiration.
Kirk Douglas is an industrialist working on a nuclear power plant that will be constructed in the holy land to attempt to bring an end to famine and energy problems.
He is told of a prophecy that foretells the apocalypse and that his project will bring about the end of the world, sceptical at first he is eventually convinced by the way everyone who tries to stop his work dies in strange circumstances, and realises his son (Simon Ward) is the antichrist.
I thought this film was ok, quite interesting but a little dull, the deaths are not very spectacular and the film needed more tension, this was a shame because with a little more effort it could have been really good.
Some of the ideas and scenes are similar to 'Damien, Omen II' but that is a much better film, one of the deaths is very similar too and i was surprised to learn 'Damien' came out the following year, maybe the makers saw this film and realised what not to do, while still sneakily nicking a few ideas.
On the plus side Kirk Douglas's girlfriend in this is quite cute and has a topless scene.
On the downside Kirk gets to run about in the nude in a dream sequence.
The end is quite understated as well and kind of needed a better pay-off.
'The Antichrist' is the more entertaining film of the two, i quite enjoyed that one.
Glad i watched this again after all this time, interesting as a comparison to the 'Omen' films but don't expect too much. 5/10