After Star Trek, William Shatner Starred In A Sci-Fi Horror Movie With A Terrifying Premise

William Shatner starred in a great "Twilight Zone" episode before he played Captain Kirk on "Star Trek." As such, he was no stranger to horror and spooky sci-fi — and he continued working in those genres after the series ended. "The Devil's Rain" isn't the most acclaimed project in Shatner's oeuvre, mind you, but everyone owes it to themselves to check out this bizarre gem at least once.

"The Devil's Rain" follows the Preston family as they take on a group of Satanic cultists. The devil-worshippers are led by Jonathan Corbis (Ernest Borgnine), who's held a grudge against the family for hundreds of years. Shatner plays Mark, a member of the Preston clan who gets into a dust-up with the baddies.

Despite its terrifying premise, there's no point trying to explain the plot of "The Devil's Rain." The film doesn't make a lick of sense, but it's very entertaining and boasts an unsettling, spooky atmosphere. If you like schlock horror where people melt, this is the movie for you. Shatner seems reluctant to speak about the film these days, but "The Devil's Rain" was released during the post-"Star Trek" blues era of his career.

"Star Trek" ultimately helped William Shatner become a force in pop culture — he's still regarded as the best actor to ever play Captain Kirk. However, he didn't find success overnight, even when "Star Trek" was on the air. Throughout the '70s, Shatner accepted gigs in low-budget horror flicks like "The Devil's Rain" to make ends meet — but just how bad did it get for him?

"I'm broke, living in a truck, sleeping in the back and trying to save that money so I could support my three kids and my [ex-]wife, who were living in Beverly Hills," Shatner recalled in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "The only thing that ever occurred to me was, 'I can always go back to Toronto and make something of a living as an actor there.' I never thought, 'Oh, I've got to become a salesman.' It never occurred to me from the age of six to do anything else."

Fortunately, he stuck with acting, and his career now boasts plenty of successful mainstream projects and cult oddities like "The Devil's Rain." By no means is "The Devil's Rain" one of the best horror movies of all time, but it's a midnight classic that ranks among Shatner's many gems.