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The Serpent and the Rainbow

  • 19881988
  • RR
  • 1h 38m
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
25K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Bill Pullman in The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)
Trailer for this thriller directed by Wes Craven
Play trailer1:22
2 Videos
41 Photos
  • Fantasy
  • Horror
An anthropologist goes to Haiti after hearing rumors about a drug used by black magic practitioners to turn people into zombies.An anthropologist goes to Haiti after hearing rumors about a drug used by black magic practitioners to turn people into zombies.An anthropologist goes to Haiti after hearing rumors about a drug used by black magic practitioners to turn people into zombies.
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
25K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Wes Craven
  • Writers
    • Wade Davis(inspired by the book)
    • Richard Maxwell(screenplay)
    • Adam Rodman(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Bill Pullman
    • Cathy Tyson
    • Zakes Mokae
Top credits
  • Director
    • Wes Craven
  • Writers
    • Wade Davis(inspired by the book)
    • Richard Maxwell(screenplay)
    • Adam Rodman(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Bill Pullman
    • Cathy Tyson
    • Zakes Mokae
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 117User reviews
    • 114Critic reviews
    • 64Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 nomination

    Videos2

    The Serpent and the Rainbow
    Trailer 1:22
    The Serpent and the Rainbow
    Bill Pullman Tells Us the Scariest Co-Star He's Ever Worked With
    Video 2:26
    Bill Pullman Tells Us the Scariest Co-Star He's Ever Worked With

    Photos41

    The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)
    The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)
    The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)
    The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)
    The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)
    The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)
    The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)
    The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)
    The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)
    Bill Pullman in The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)
    The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)
    Bill Pullman and Cathy Tyson in The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Bill Pullman
    Bill Pullman
    • Dennis Alanas Dennis Alan
    Cathy Tyson
    Cathy Tyson
    • Marielle Duchampas Marielle Duchamp
    Zakes Mokae
    Zakes Mokae
    • Dargent Peytraudas Dargent Peytraud
    Paul Winfield
    Paul Winfield
    • Lucien Celineas Lucien Celine
    Brent Jennings
    Brent Jennings
    • Louis Mozartas Louis Mozart
    Conrad Roberts
    Conrad Roberts
    • Christopheas Christophe
    Badja Djola
    Badja Djola
    • Gastonas Gaston
    Theresa Merritt
    Theresa Merritt
    • Simoneas Simone
    Michael Gough
    Michael Gough
    • Schoonbacheras Schoonbacher
    Paul Guilfoyle
    Paul Guilfoyle
    • Andrew Cassedyas Andrew Cassedy
    Dey Young
    Dey Young
    • Mrs. Cassedyas Mrs. Cassedy
    Aleta Mitchell
    • Celestineas Celestine
    William Newman
    William Newman
    • French Missionary Doctoras French Missionary Doctor
    Jaime Pina Gautier
    • Julioas Julio
    • (as Jaime Piña Gautier)
    Evencio Mosquera Slaco
    • Old Shamanas Old Shaman
    Kimberleigh Aarn
    • Margriteas Margrite
    • (as Kimberleigh Burroughs)
    Philogen Thomas
    • Priestas Priest
    Ana Rosa Smith Avila
    • Mulatto Nurseas Mulatto Nurse
    • Director
      • Wes Craven
    • Writers
      • Wade Davis(inspired by the book)
      • Richard Maxwell(screenplay)
      • Adam Rodman(screenplay)
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Due to political strife and civil turmoil in Haiti during the production, the local government informed the film crew that they could not guarantee their safety for the remainder of the shoot. The crew subsequently relocated to nearby Dominican Republic to complete filming.
    • Goofs
      The necklace Lucien puts on Dennis' neck before he got poisoned changes the positions between shots. However, in a lower position from back view, higher position from front view.
    • Quotes

      Dennis Alan: Don't let them bury me! I'm not dead!

    • Crazy credits
      [Opening card] In the legends of voodoo the Serpent is a symbol of Earth. The Rainbow is a symbol of Heaven. Between the two, all creatures must live and die. But because he has a soul Man can be trapped in a terrible place Where death is only the beginning. The following is inspired by a true story.
    • Alternate versions
      UK video and DVD versions are cut by 5 seconds by the BBFC to remove shots of cock-fighting (illegal animal cruelty).
    • Connections
      Featured in At the Movies: Shoot to Kill/The Serpent and the Rainbow/She's Having a Baby/The Unbearable Lightness of Being/School Daze (1988)
    • Soundtracks
      Madame Marcel
      Performed by Le Roi Coupe Cloue

      Courtesy of Chancy Records

    User reviews117

    Review
    Top review
    Burials of promise
    It is interesting to think what could have been of this movie. What we get is almost worthless but with enough to actually imagine it in better hands.

    The original story, reportedly based on facts, about a white man's encounter with a strange, exotic culture and how small and ill-prepared he discovers himself to be in the density of that jungle calls for a mystical gaze, an earnest way of accepting worlds beyond. The author of that story wanted Peter Weir for the project, for good reason. Instead he got Wes Craven, who probably qualified based on the nightmares he concocted for the Elms Street movie but who is completely out of his depth here.

    The result is an overkill of garish voodoo ceremony and hysteric hallucinations inside coffins. Craven piles so much frenzy upon it that whatever serious intentions existed behind the material are completely lost in it.

    There's a political commentary with some bite to it; about the chief of secret police who is also a voodoo priest, making sure that people remain prisoners of their bodies inside their own minds, frightened, subservient drones. Like the military regime he serves.

    The rest? The rest is impossible to take serious. The finale is particularly stupid, with people flying out of walls and a fistfight.

    The situation has promise. A way of shutting people off inside their own minds, removing them from reality so that they see without seeing. Which may be conditioned superstition or more, about communion with something beyond. And about the American disbeliever eventually succumbing to this. Interesting things to play around with.

    Peter Weir could have made something great with this, the movie seems tailored to his world. Perhaps he did already with The Last Wave, about white man's encounter with a mystical Aboriginal culture which, shuttering his safe notions about reality, brings him to the yawning brink of apocalypse.

    I love Weir but he has his limitations. Sometimes his visions of that otherness are too tawdry, or wistfully naive. Noble savages and magical gnomes abound. The other filmmaker I would love to see make this movie is Werner Herzog with his Wagnerian romance about tragic monomaniacs battling vast, inscrutable natures. A brief glimpse of the cosmic as a revelation of individual madness and folly.

    Skip this and go straight for The Year of Living Dangerously or Cobra Verde, where the encounters with the other reveal things. Or if you're specifically interested in the voodoo zombie, go further back for I Walked with a Zombie.
    helpful•9
    6
    • chaos-rampant
    • Jun 29, 2011

    FAQ1

    • What are the differences between the old British BBFC 18 Version and the Uncensored Version?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 5, 1988 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • French
      • Spanish
    • Also known as
      • Zmija i duga
    • Filming locations
      • Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
    • Production company
      • Universal Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $7,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $19,595,031
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $5,848,700
      • Feb 7, 1988
    • Gross worldwide
      • $19,595,031
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 38 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Stereo
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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