FEAR OF RAIN is a new thriller with a strong psychological drive and many moments of pure horror. For me, what worked really well was the focus on mental illness and what it feels like to struggle with an invisible illness. I certainly learned a few things.

All without ever feeling like the movie was used as a “teaching device” in any way, so don’t worry about that. In fact, the horror elements worked really well for me.

A very literal psychological horror

The fact that this is a psychological thriller about a girl, Rain (Madison Iseman), who struggles with schizophrenia was a very interesting angle for me. Rain knows that she can’t trust her own eyes, because her mind comes up with things that simply are not there.

In other words, she can never be quite sure whether the dangers she sees are real or “just” in her own head. That is extremely scary to me. In fact, it feels so obvious that this is probably what most of the “true” exorcism and demonic possession stories are based on.

Actually, that’s what the brilliant movie The Exorcism of Emily Rose is all about; How a very real illness might be mistaken for possession. Or was it? The question remains unanswered depending on your personal beliefs. That particular movie was also based on the true story of Anneliese Michel – read more about her on Wikipedia here.

In any case, I loved that Fear of Rain combined this very real (and all too common) struggle with mental illness with a very tangible kind of horror. Especially in terms of representation of those struggling with an “invisible” illness. Unfortunately, we caught onto the plot twists early on, which meant we watched it from that perspective rather than with a completely open mind.

Madison Iseman is a new final girl

While Fear of Rain isn’t a horror movie in the classic franchise way that features the iconic “Final Girl”, Madison Iseman is quickly becoming a horror icon in her own right. She plays the title role of Rain in this movie – and does an excellent job. You should definitely have seen her face before and it’s high time to remember her name. She’s only just getting started!

She starred in Annabelle Comes Home in 2019 and co-starred in Amazon’s Nocturne in 2020. It was actually really good – even if The Perfection from Netflix, which came out first, was a lot sharper! Other genre productions include Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween, a segment of Tales of Halloween. Also, she’ll be in the I Know What You Did Last Summer series.

Also, her friend (and love interest, though this isn’t a focus) in Fear of Rain is portrayed by Israel Broussard. He also co-starred in the Happy Death Day franchise, so he’s used to standing next to the girl taking charge in a genre story. He’s also been in Fear the Walking Dead, Into the Dark: All That We Destroy, and Extinction. In other words, lots of genre productions.

As the parents of Rain, we see Katherine Heigl and Harry Connick Jr. who both do really good jobs. This is not their movie though, so both are mainly there to facilitate the story of Rain (Madison Iseman). For the record though, never forget that Harry Connick Jr. was all kinds of super creepy in the 1995 movie Copycat. I certainly know I’ve never forgotten!

The main supporting character of neighbor Dani (who is also Rain’s high school teacher) is played by the androgynous Eugenie Bondurant. She’s brilliant and both full of heart and pure terror. Fortunately, we’ll get to see Eugenie Bondurant again soon. She’ll be in the highly anticipated The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It.

Watch Fear of Rain On-Demand now!

Fear of Rain was written and directed by Castille Landon, who does an excellent job of utilizing the mental illness aspect. Not as a silly ploy, but in a way that we can relate to; The fear and anger, it must cause in the person struggling with the disease. As well as the feeling of helplessness for those who care for her.

Also, it never became too heavy-handed despite managing to teach me quite a bit. Even simple issues such as dietary restrictions since medication won’t work if combined with caffeine or too much sugar. I never considered this, but now I feel like it’s obvious and something we all should know.

Anyway, the point of Fear of Rain for most viewers will be to feel scared and try to solve the mystery. And you should get to experience moments of horror and possibly even solve a few mysteries since they’re not that well kept (in fact, I’d say there’s even a factual goof along the way).

Overall, I felt very entertained and recognized the feeling of terror which is always a huge plus. So, even if it didn’t quite hit all the marks, it’s a recommendation from us here at Heaven of Horror.

FEAR OF RAIN was released on February 12, 2021, in select theaters and on Digital. A DVD version is scheduled to release on February 16, 2021.