The Serpent and the Rainbow

Rating:
Summary: Don't get involved with things you don't understand
Review: "Serpent and the Rainbow" is a classic horror voodoo flick with a good dose of intrigue and mystery to keep the viewer guessing. Perhaps the highlight is Zakes Mokae brillant performance as the evil voodoo high priest Dr. Peytraud. He steals each and every scene that he's in. Bill Pullman is passable as the naive doctor searching Haiti for a magic drug that turns humans into zombies. With any Wes Craven film, there are plenty of spooky "dream" sequences were the lines between reality and the sub-conscious become blurred. This film should not serve as an introduction to the practices of voodoo, possession or zombies but just as a fun, scary film that should remind many of the B-movies of the 50's.

Rating:
Summary: Don't get involved with things you don't understand
Review: "Serpent and the Rainbow" is a classic horror voodoo flick with a good dose of intrigue and mystery to keep the viewer guessing. Perhaps the highlight is Zakes Mokae brillant performance as the evil voodoo high priest Dr. Peytraud. He steals each and every scene that he's in. Bill Pullman is passable as the naive doctor searching Haiti for a magic drug that turns humans into zombies. With any Wes Craven film, there are plenty of spooky "dream" sequences were the lines between reality and the sub-conscious become blurred. This film should not serve as an introduction to the practices of voodoo, possession or zombies but just as a fun, scary film that should remind many of the B-movies of the 50's.

Rating:
Summary: "I Want To Hear You Scream...Not Good Enough!"
Review: "The Serpent and the Rainbow" is one of the many horror titles that Universal has re-released on DVD recently. All of these films (Demon Knight, Prince of Darkness, etc.) have a large underground following, yet none were box office successes. This unfortunately means that there are no glorious extras on any of these DVDs. I guess we're just lucky to be able to buy them at all, after the DVDs have been out of print for quite a few years.

Briefly, the story is about an anthropologist, Dennis Alan, who is sent to Haiti by a pharmaceutical company to bring back a "Zombie drug" which may have applications in the medical field. In order to get the drug, Dr. Alan has to immerse himself in the political and cultural world of Haiti and voodoo. When I was younger, "Serpent" was one of the most frightening horror movies available. This was mostly due to the feeling of reality in the film; also, being set (and I believe filmed) in Haiti added to the feelings of unrest the viewer feels throughout. The protagonist approaches the events he experiences from a mind of science, so when unbelievable things happen to him, it all seems more real.

Watching the film now, about +15 years after it's release, it's not quite as good as I remember. The editing is terrible. Every scene feels like you walked in half way through a really interesting conversation. The viewer can easily understand what is going on, but the sometimes rapid scene and plot changes are a little unstable and feel a little disjointed. Still, once the film got going, into the meat, it was as good as I remembered. The "Chair", The "Snake Bride", "I want to hear you scream", etc. *shiver* All those scenes were still making me squirm and jump.

The Transfer: Audio: It's in "dolby stereo", so make sure NOT to watch it in 5.1, because you won't hear the dialogue if you do. I use my DVD player as a CD player, so I switched over to the "Stereo/CD" selection on my receiver and the movie sounded beautifully. It wasn't filmed in 5.1, so this didn't bother me. Video: The video transfer is terrible. I got used to it after about 5 minutes, but it basically looks slightly better than watching a video tape. Even though it's a little dating feeling, for the price, I feel it is still worth buying this movie if you loved it in the past; or at least worth renting it if you've never seen it.

Rating:
Summary: "I Want To Hear You Scream...Not Good Enough!"
Review: "The Serpent and the Rainbow" is one of the many horror titles that Universal has re-released on DVD recently. All of these films (Demon Knight, Prince of Darkness, etc.) have a large underground following, yet none were box office successes. This unfortunately means that there are no glorious extras on any of these DVDs. I guess we're just lucky to be able to buy them at all, after the DVDs have been out of print for quite a few years.

Briefly, the story is about an anthropologist, Dennis Alan, who is sent to Haiti by a pharmaceutical company to bring back a "Zombie drug" which may have applications in the medical field. In order to get the drug, Dr. Alan has to immerse himself in the political and cultural world of Haiti and voodoo. When I was younger, "Serpent" was one of the most frightening horror movies available. This was mostly due to the feeling of reality in the film; also, being set (and I believe filmed) in Haiti added to the feelings of unrest the viewer feels throughout. The protagonist approaches the events he experiences from a mind of science, so when unbelievable things happen to him, it all seems more real.

Watching the film now, about +15 years after it's release, it's not quite as good as I remember. The editing is terrible. Every scene feels like you walked in half way through a really interesting conversation. The viewer can easily understand what is going on, but the sometimes rapid scene and plot changes are a little unstable and feel a little disjointed. Still, once the film got going, into the meat, it was as good as I remembered. The "Chair", The "Snake Bride", "I want to hear you scream", etc. *shiver* All those scenes were still making me squirm and jump.

The Transfer: Audio: It's in "dolby stereo", so make sure NOT to watch it in 5.1, because you won't hear the dialogue if you do. I use my DVD player as a CD player, so I switched over to the "Stereo/CD" selection on my receiver and the movie sounded beautifully. It wasn't filmed in 5.1, so this didn't bother me. Video: The video transfer is terrible. I got used to it after about 5 minutes, but it basically looks slightly better than watching a video tape. Even though it's a little dating feeling, for the price, I feel it is still worth buying this movie if you loved it in the past; or at least worth renting it if you've never seen it.

Rating:
Summary: The World of Black Magic
Review: An interesting, yet far-fetched tale of black magic and political upheaval during the final days of the regime of Haiti's dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier is entertaining fare for any horror fan. An anthropologist (Pullman) is sent to Haiti to investigate the mystery of that country's zombies. There he gets himself involved in the chaos that erupts in the world's oldest black republic in addition to discovering a world of black magic that brings him more trouble than he expects.

Directed by horror-king Wes Craven ("Scream"; "Nightmare on Elm Street"), the "Serpent and The Rainbow," is partially based on the novel by the same title by anthropologist Wade Davis. Unlike his book, the film moves away from the books central theme and into a horror movie only Hollywood could create. Although, a reviewer from the neighboring Dominican Republic says that he totally agrees with the voodoo theme of the film, he probably has read or done his research in understanding the complexity of Haitian spiritualism. Due to both countries ongoing strife with one another, I would ignore such comments if I were a newcomer to the topic, and read the book before watching this film.

Having very scary scenes, including a live burial, and a final battle with a the head voodoo master was great, but the film lacks the authencity of a true story converted into a horror film (e.g. "Amityville Horror"). Regardless, this is a good film if you want to take a glimpse of poverty-stricken Haiti and the severity of race and politics on the western end of Hispaniola.

Rating:
Summary: Very odd.. but captivating
Review: Based on a true story, Dennis Allan (Bill Pullman) is a scientist who visits Haiti because of a rumour of a drug which renders the recepient completely paralyzed but conscious. The drug's effects often fool doctors, who declare the victims dead. He believes this to be the origin of the zombie legend. Allan embarks on a surprising and often surreal investigation of the turbulent social chaos that is Haiti during the revolution which ousted hated dictator Papa Doc. Allan must decide what is science, what is superstition and what is the unknown in a anarchistic society where police corruption and witch-doctors are commonplace.

Rating:
Summary: Don't Bury It. . .It's Not Dead!
Review: Before venerable horror maven Wes Craven directed the highly acclaimed SCREAM trilogy, many serious and critical fans of horror cinema considered THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW to be his masterpiece. Not only is the direction tight and top-notch, but the acting is superb--Bill Pullman and Cathy Tyson are quite convincing as the endagered principals, with excellent character actors like Paul Winfield, Zakes Mokae, and Paul Guilfoyle fleshing out a wonderful supporting cast--and the story is sufficiently tense and creepy. It is one of the few horror films to deal with voodoo practices in a serious and non-condescending manner, often compared by film critics and historians to Jacques Tourneur's classic voodoo flick I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (1943).

Much ado has been made concerning the uneveness of this effort from Craven, particularly how the film supposedly jumps back and forth between horror and straight drama. However, these inaccurate interpretations likely stem from a misunderstanding of Craven's use of his source material, anthropologist E. wade Davis' non-fictional book THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW. It is true that Craven and his scriptwriters were INSPIRED by the book--which is a TRUE account of Davis' infiltration of Haiti's voodoo culture in search of a plant-based sedative reputedly used to create "zombies"--but the plot of the film is NOT, as many believe, a visual retelling of the book. This is clearly evidenced by the fact that the main character, ethnobotanist Dennis Alan (excellently played by Bill Pullman), is not named after the author of the aforementioned book. Add to this the film's numerous supernatural and magical plot elements and it should be easy to comprehend that this is indeed a FICTIONAL horror film.

That said, it could be cogently argued that with THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW, Craven was attempting to recreate the realistic and austere timbre of his earlier horror films like THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT and THE HILLS HAVE EYES. As Craven himself has stated in many interviews, he and his crew did indeed face many real dangers when filming THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW in Haiti and the Dominican Republic--there was political unrest in Haiti at the time, and voodoo practioners were often vehemently private or secretive--and this risky on-location shooting most certainly helped to create an eerie atomosphere and added an amazing sense of reality and credibility to the film's preternatural voodoo sequences. Of course, such realism makes it easier for the viewer to suspend disbelief, and this, combined with the non-fictional "source" material, could explain why some viewers find it hard determine if the movie is a docu-drama or a horror flick. But for the true horror aficionado, and especially for long-time fans of Wes Craven, it is this gritty slice-of-life approach that has propelled the director to the top of the genre.

THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW is a great horror film, both believable and downright scary in its semi-authentic depiction of voodoo practices and rituals in the West Indies. Though it is often wrongly neglected or disparaged by casual audiences, a viewing will earn the film a revered spot in the collection of any serious fan of cinematic horror. And it's a must-own for Wes Craven fans.

Rating:
Summary: Don't Bury It. . .It's Not Dead!
Review: Before venerable horror maven Wes Craven directed the highly acclaimed SCREAM trilogy, many serious and critical fans of horror cinema considered THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW to be his masterpiece. Not only is the direction tight and top-notch, but the acting is superb--Bill Pullman and Cathy Tyson are quite convincing as the endagered principals, with excellent character actors like Paul Winfield, Zakes Mokae, and Paul Guilfoyle fleshing out a wonderful supporting cast--and the story is sufficiently tense and creepy. It is one of the few horror films to deal with voodoo practices in a serious and non-condescending manner, often compared by film critics and historians to Jacques Tourneur's classic voodoo flick I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (1943).

Much ado has been made concerning the uneveness of this effort from Craven, particularly how the film supposedly jumps back and forth between horror and straight drama. However, these inaccurate interpretations likely stem from a misunderstanding of Craven's use of his source material, anthropologist E. wade Davis' non-fictional book THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW. It is true that Craven and his scriptwriters were INSPIRED by the book--which is a TRUE account of Davis' infiltration of Haiti's voodoo culture in search of a plant-based sedative reputedly used to create "zombies"--but the plot of the film is NOT, as many believe, a visual retelling of the book. This is clearly evidenced by the fact that the main character, ethnobotanist Dennis Alan (excellently played by Bill Pullman), is not named after the author of the aforementioned book. Add to this the film's numerous supernatural and magical plot elements and it should be easy to comprehend that this is indeed a FICTIONAL horror film.

That said, it could be cogently argued that with THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW, Craven was attempting to recreate the realistic and austere timbre of his earlier horror films like THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT and THE HILLS HAVE EYES. As Craven himself has stated in many interviews, he and his crew did indeed face many real dangers when filming THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW in Haiti and the Dominican Republic--there was political unrest in Haiti at the time, and voodoo practioners were often vehemently private or secretive--and this risky on-location shooting most certainly helped to create an eerie atomosphere and added an amazing sense of reality and credibility to the film's preternatural voodoo sequences. Of course, such realism makes it easier for the viewer to suspend disbelief, and this, combined with the non-fictional "source" material, could explain why some viewers find it hard determine if the movie is a docu-drama or a horror flick. But for the true horror aficionado, and especially for long-time fans of Wes Craven, it is this gritty slice-of-life approach that has propelled the director to the top of the genre.

THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW is a great horror film, both believable and downright scary in its semi-authentic depiction of voodoo practices and rituals in the West Indies. Though it is often wrongly neglected or disparaged by casual audiences, a viewing will earn the film a revered spot in the collection of any serious fan of cinematic horror. And it's a must-own for Wes Craven fans.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Treatment So Far
Review: I am a fan of Voodoo cults (being a denizen of New Orleans for five years) and Wes Craven in general (Though his Nightmare on Elm Street series did degenerate over the years). This film is extremely fast-paced and entertaining overall. The images come fast and furious, particularly during the ceremonial scenes. It gets a bit boggged down and confused in the latter stages, but not enough to entirely distract from the denouement. The acting is generally excellent (there were very few characters I didn't find believable) and the script is on a par with the book from which it is derived. I found myself involved with the central character (the anthropologist), which is as much as one can ask from a film of this variety. I enjoyed the local color and the feeling of location authenticity. Some of the Ken Russell derived special-effects tended to get in the way, but didn't hinder the overall treatment. At some stages I did believe I was reexperiencing "Altered States," however.

Rating:
Summary: SCARY, AND BASED ON A TRUE STORY!
Review: Like The Exorcist and The Amityville Horror, this is based on actual events and let me tell you, it is VER SCARY! Despite the hammy ending, this film is solid gold and is a REAL ZOMBIE FLICK! Wes Craven does it again! I hope his new movie They will be even better than this and his masterpiece Nightmare on Elm Street. This is a must see for horror buffs that like scares and not gore! Also check out another fact based horror movie like The Entity, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Possessed. WATCH IT ALONE IN THE DARK!