Set in 1985, Anthropologist Dr. Dennis Alan (Bill Pullman) is hired by American pharmaceutical company Biocorp to research voodoo "Zombification" in Haiti following reports of a man, Christophe Durand (Conrad Roberts) who'd been previously declared dead in 1978 having been confirmed to be alive. Upon arrival in Haiti he comes into contact with colleague Dr. Marielle Duchamp who helps him vavigate the Haitian voodoo underworld and the political strife afflicted the country with Captain Dargent Peytraud (Zakes Mokae) of the paramilitary Tonton Macoute who controls the revolutionary elements with fear. As Dennis traverse the voodoo underworld in search of the zombie powder, he finds himself tormented by terrifying visions and Peytraud's merciless tactics.
The Serpent and the Rainbow is a loose adaptation of the 1985 allegedly non-fiction book by Wade Davis of the same name that detailed the author's experiences with Zombification tracing te story of Clairvius Nacisse who was allegedly poisoned, buried alive, and revived with an herbal brew that resulted in what was called a Zombie. The book has been criticized by many in the scientific community for scientific inaccuracy and some scientists have found little to no tetrodotoxin in the samples provided by Davis' research. The book being what it is, the movie goes (even more) fictionalized with elements such as Christophe Durand standing in for Clairvius Narcisse, but the movie goes more for a mixture of horror and weird detective as director Wes Craven and writer Richard Maxwell dive into the more exploitative elements of the culture but with some genuine interest in the culture that sidesteps the exotic and forbidding nature usually present in such takes. Despite the film's troubled production an only modest performance upon initial release, The Serpent and the Rainbow does have enough to draw you in even if it does get sillier the longer it goes on.
What makes the movie work as well as it does is Bill Pullman as Dr. Dennis Alan. Giving both a solid performance as well as narration delivered with conviction, Pullman does a solid job of pulling us into this world of Voodoo and political strife as the movie functions as something of a detective story with Pullman using analysis, cunning, and even guile to get the answers he searches for. Wes Craven does a solid job of making Haiti a character in itself with us getting to see the bustling culture as well as the mixture of Catholicism and Voodoo that is adopted by the Haitian citizens, and while I can't vouch for the accuracy of its portrayal it's still a very fascinating look at this culture and society. Where people will probably split on the movie is in the later half where the movie does pretty definitively state whether or not voodoo is real and this is where we get the reliance of special effects that does make it hard to ignore connections to previous Craven projects down to the fact who becomes our primary antagonist reaches into peoples' dreams. This is where the split with this movie will occur as those who were engaged by the surprisingly analytical nature of the first half may feel short shifted by the effects heavy second half, while horror fans may find themselves slightly restless during the opening stretch before the movie is really allowed to cut loose. The movie was supposedly massively recut following a less than successful test screening with Universal fronting an additional $5 million for re-editing and a new ending and you can see this in certain respects down to the fact Peytraud feels pretty forced as an antagonist despite the movie's attempts to justify his presence here.
The Serpent and the Rainbow isn't fully successful as a horror film as it never really reconciles the analytical first half and special effects heavy second half as smoothly as it wants, but Bill Pullman's lead performance and solid direction by Craven utilizing the atmosphere of Haiti to good effect does lead to some engaging parts of the film both in terms of themes and identity. The movie does ask a lot of its audience in terms of buying the directions it takes and audiences will be pretty split on its decision to go further and further over the top, but there is just enough here to warrant a viewing from genre enthusiasts.
The Serpent and the Rainbow is a loose adaptation of the 1985 allegedly non-fiction book by Wade Davis of the same name that detailed the author's experiences with Zombification tracing te story of Clairvius Nacisse who was allegedly poisoned, buried alive, and revived with an herbal brew that resulted in what was called a Zombie. The book has been criticized by many in the scientific community for scientific inaccuracy and some scientists have found little to no tetrodotoxin in the samples provided by Davis' research. The book being what it is, the movie goes (even more) fictionalized with elements such as Christophe Durand standing in for Clairvius Narcisse, but the movie goes more for a mixture of horror and weird detective as director Wes Craven and writer Richard Maxwell dive into the more exploitative elements of the culture but with some genuine interest in the culture that sidesteps the exotic and forbidding nature usually present in such takes. Despite the film's troubled production an only modest performance upon initial release, The Serpent and the Rainbow does have enough to draw you in even if it does get sillier the longer it goes on.
What makes the movie work as well as it does is Bill Pullman as Dr. Dennis Alan. Giving both a solid performance as well as narration delivered with conviction, Pullman does a solid job of pulling us into this world of Voodoo and political strife as the movie functions as something of a detective story with Pullman using analysis, cunning, and even guile to get the answers he searches for. Wes Craven does a solid job of making Haiti a character in itself with us getting to see the bustling culture as well as the mixture of Catholicism and Voodoo that is adopted by the Haitian citizens, and while I can't vouch for the accuracy of its portrayal it's still a very fascinating look at this culture and society. Where people will probably split on the movie is in the later half where the movie does pretty definitively state whether or not voodoo is real and this is where we get the reliance of special effects that does make it hard to ignore connections to previous Craven projects down to the fact who becomes our primary antagonist reaches into peoples' dreams. This is where the split with this movie will occur as those who were engaged by the surprisingly analytical nature of the first half may feel short shifted by the effects heavy second half, while horror fans may find themselves slightly restless during the opening stretch before the movie is really allowed to cut loose. The movie was supposedly massively recut following a less than successful test screening with Universal fronting an additional $5 million for re-editing and a new ending and you can see this in certain respects down to the fact Peytraud feels pretty forced as an antagonist despite the movie's attempts to justify his presence here.
The Serpent and the Rainbow isn't fully successful as a horror film as it never really reconciles the analytical first half and special effects heavy second half as smoothly as it wants, but Bill Pullman's lead performance and solid direction by Craven utilizing the atmosphere of Haiti to good effect does lead to some engaging parts of the film both in terms of themes and identity. The movie does ask a lot of its audience in terms of buying the directions it takes and audiences will be pretty split on its decision to go further and further over the top, but there is just enough here to warrant a viewing from genre enthusiasts.