The Rain Killer (1990) – Ken Stein.

Tough, Boozy cop (Ray Starkey),and dapper dan FBI investigator (David Beecroft) seek the brutal, frustratingly elusive 'Rain Killer' in moody, sax-drenched L.A. Noir The Rain Killer. I have the distinct impression that if you threw a rock in 90s Hollyweird it would have hit someone working on a erotically hard-bodied, pseudo De Palma thriller. The cast is universally solid, featuring an early casting call for gruff, perma-cop Chiklis, and the flinty Tango & Cash shtick works well, especially as the text, and engaging performances prove lively enough to perk up the plot's lack of sophistication. For the first time in a wee while, I found the dialogue to be intentionally funny, bringing welcome verisimilitude to what may have been an altogether more disposable yarn.

The Rain Killer remains a credible, well-acted, if largely routine serial killer potboiler, and it is pretty slick-looking, but that may have more to do with the persistently inclement weather! Some of the sultrier sequences are so prodigiously diffused by smoke, it strongly suggested that the D.P. was prepping for Backdraft! If I may briefly, and somewhat indulgently return to the estimable Michael Chiklis, a charismatic actor I greatly admire, I have frequently thought that even at his birth, one of the attending physicians might have glibly remarked upon the fact that the newly minted infant looked just like a cop! Upon later reflection, I felt that Ken Stein's fine film enjoyed some appealingly Giallic tendencies, while the kills aren't overtly stylised, they remain effective.