The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)

Director:

Wes Craven

Writers:

Wade Davis (book)
Richard Maxwell (writer)

Release Date:

5 February 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Don't bury me...I'm not dead!

Plot:

An anthropologist goes to Haiti after hearing rumors about a drug used by black magic practitioners to turn people in zombies.

Plot Keywords:

Haiti | Zombie | Magic | Anthropologist | Woman On Top

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Bill Pullman	...	Dennis Alan
Cathy Tyson	...	Marielle Duchamp
Zakes Mokae	...	Dargent Peytraud
Paul Winfield	...	Lucien Celine
Brent Jennings	...	Louis Mozart
Conrad Roberts	...	Christophe
Badja Djola	...	Gaston
Theresa Merritt	...	Simone
Michael Gough	...	Schoonbacher
Paul Guilfoyle	...	Andrew Cassedy
Dey Young	...	Mrs. Cassedy
Aleta Mitchell	...	Celestine
William Newman	...	French Missionary Doctor
Jaime Pina Gautier	...	Julio
Evencio Mosquera Slaco	...	Old Shaman

Also Known As:

The Wes Craven's Serpent and the Rainbow (Australia)

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Singapore:M18 | Argentina:18 | Australia:M | France:-12 | Norway:18 | UK:18 (cut) | USA:R | West Germany:18 | Finland:K-18 | Finland:K-16 (cut)

Filming Locations:

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

Serpent and the Rainbow

Trivia:

Newly-wed, Bill Pullman's wife was invited to be an extra and appears on screen as the blonde who pushes a long needle through a willing man's cheek.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: At Captain Peytraud's first meeting with Dr. Alan, Peytraud wears his full Haitan Tonton Macoute uniform including a row of several award ribbons. All of these ribbons are in fact United States armed forces decorations - clearly visible are the Vietnam Service Medal, Korean Service Medal, Air Force Overseas Ribbon, and the Army Good Conduct Medal.

Quotes:

Dargent Peytraud: No, no, noooo! No rest! You'll see it all! You'll feel it! The cold... in the coffin. It is worse. Much, much worse!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Navy NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service: Head Case (#3.15)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Madame Marcell

For horror fans

Wes Craven's "The Serpent and the Rainbow" is one of the more original and ambitious horror movies to come out of the '80s. Not only does it seek to reconnect cinematic zombies with their voodoo roots, ala classics like "White Zombie", but it also uses the creation of zombies as a political allegory. The film is set in Haiti during the last days of the dictatorship of "Baby Doc" Duvalier.

Based - very loosely one surmises - on a true story, the plot follows Dr. Dennis Alan (Bill Pullman) as he investigates a powder that is said to turn people into zombies. He is aided in his quest by Dr. Marielle Duchamp (Cathy Tyson), who he quickly falls for, and Louie Mozart (Brent Jennings) an expert in voodoo. Dargent Peytraud (the chilling Zakes Mokae) is the snarling villain of the piece, a man with sinister powers both government-sanctioned and supernatural.

The film abounds with creatively gruesome imagery - a man is buried alive, screaming, in a coffin as it fills with blood, a fiendish hand reaches out from a bowl of soup - this is one of those rare films that genuinely makes your skin crawl. Horror fans should not miss it. It's a shame that the film runs just a little longer than it should and becomes disappointingly routine in its final moments.

There is a sense that this movie was aiming a bit higher than it ending up reaching. I can't quite hold that against it.