| Holocaust 2000 | |
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 Italian theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Alberto De Martino |
| Screenplay by |
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| Story by |
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| Produced by | Edmondo Amati[1] |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Erico Menczer[1] |
| Edited by | Vincenzo Tomassi[1] |
| Music by | Ennio Morricone[1] |
| Color process | Technicolor |
Production companies |
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Release date |
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Running time | 102 minutes |
| Countries |
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| Language | English |
Holocaust 2000 (also released asThe Chosen andRain of Fire) is a 1977horror film directed byAlberto De Martino, written by De Martino, Michael Robson, andSergio Donati, and starringKirk Douglas,Simon Ward,Agostina Belli,Anthony Quayle,Virginia McKenna, andAlexander Knox. The original musical score was composed byEnnio Morricone.
The British-Italian co-production was produced byEdmondo Amati forThe Rank Organisation andTitanus, and is widely-considered a cash-in on the success of the similarly-themedThe Omen, which was released a year earlier. It received mixed reviews, but has become acult classic.[2][3]
Despite doomsday warnings from throngs of locals, wealthy industrialist Robert Caine makes the controversial decision to build anuclear power plant near asacred cave in theMiddle East. However, before Caine can reap the benefits of his latest bid forglobal domination, he discovers that his son, Angel, is theAntichrist, who is planning to use his father's project to trigger theend of the world. As Caine digs deeper, a string of suspicious accidents occur that kill off prominent figures who criticized the project. He also notes similarities between the design of the plant and features of a biblically-prophesiedBeast that will herald the apocalypse. During a dream, Caine envisions the plant rising from the sea, then sees its circle of towers take on the form of amultiheaded monster.
The film was released with two endings. The European general release version of the film features an open ending, with Kirk Douglas in exile with his newborn child, and his adult son now successfully developing the plant intended to causeArmageddon.
In the shortened version released in U.S. theaters, home video, and network television, a new ending was added where Douglas returns to the company and enters a board meeting, having explosives hidden on him. In the final scene, Angel's face is overlaid with an image of an explosion, showing that Robert has successfully thwarted the apocalypse. The U.S. DVD fromLionsgate retains the original darker ending and the Blu-ray from Scream Factory contains both the European and American versions of the film.
In a contemporary review, theMonthly Film Bulletin referred toHolocaust 2000 as "the wildestfarrago yet to have come out of the demonology genre", finding that "the religious allegory adds little weight to the confusion of the plot".[1]
Donald Guarisco, writing a retrospective review forAllMovie, described the film as a rip-off ofThe Omen which nevertheless "offers some creepy fun for fans of Euro-horror." Guarisco praised some unique plot elements, such as political and corporate intrigue, as well as references to fears of nuclear energy and civil unrest in the Middle East. He also noted that De Martino "gives the film a glossy touch during the non-horror moments but brings plenty of verve to the shocks: his best moment is a nightmare sequence in which Douglas hallucinates the nuclear plant he is working on rising from the sea and transforming into a multi-headed hydra."[4]