The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)

This is Craven's finest piece of work, explores the voodoo, black magic almost like a religion, set pieces are great and the music score is haunting! Craven takes a mature step into the world of magic/spirits, with its narrative story telling approach it grips the audience.The biggest star of the film is Haiti itself, with the action taking place in several beautiful and exotic locales. This gives it a real sense of authenticity, as many of the actors and extras are actual Haitian natives. I also very much enjoyed Dr. Alan's dreams and hallucinations, which were disturbing and led the film to an even more sinister edge. The story is not far-fetched and when the word "Zombie" is mentioned you can understand the meaning of the word. Not, like our wonderful George A. Romero of the walking dead back to life, but an interesting in-sight into Zombiefication and how it occurs and the onset of long term mental health issues. The powder that is mentioned, and seen, in S&T.Rb is today still secretly under wraps and even to this day medical professionals are still trying to work out the affects and how it is made.Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

For starts, one thing that Wes Craven's Serpent and The Rainbow doesn't lack is originality. Everything is just a little different about Serpent and the Rainbow, the main character narrating at different points in between scenes to fill up loose ends. Also, it's different to see filming in poverty stricken Haiti, as a setting for a horror film. Craven definitely made this interesting and it the story itself is written in a way, to leave the viewer guessing on what's reality or dark voodoo magic. Normally, Bill Pullman as a lead in a movie ends up being a stinker, but he didn't overact his role and seemed to be in the moment. The film should actually be watched with an open mind, so leaving out plot details will lead to a better view. Believe this, it's hard not to spoil the movie right now since the main climax is so chilling and leaves you in awe. Serpent and the Rainbow is dull at parts and not something with a lot of re-watch-ability, but it's definitely one of a kind, that's for sure.

"Dennis Alan" (Bill Pullman) is an anthropologist who is sent to Haiti to acquire a mysterious drug rumored to cause people to enter into an unconscious state similar to death. However, given the turbulent state of affairs within Haiti it is no easy task for Dennis to get his hands on this drug as violence and corruption are extremely problematic. Another difficulty lies in the fact that he also has to delve deep into the dangerous realm of voodoo in the process. Assisting him in his search for this drug is a pretty Haitian doctor named "Marielle Duchamp" (Cathy Tyson) and a couple of voodoo practitioners by the names of "Lucien Celine" (Paul Winfield) and "Louis Mozart" (Brent Jennings). Unfortunately, another devotee of the black arts, who also happens to be a high-ranking member of the secret police, named "Dargent Peytraud" (Zakes Mokae) jealously guards any and all voodoo secrets with a violent passion. And he doesn't want Dennis poking around. Now, rather than reveal any more of the story and risk spoiling the film for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this turned out to be a rather creepy horror movie which kept my attention from start to finish. I especially liked the way it captured the Haitian people and culture. In any case, I think that those who enjoy movies relating to voodoo and zombies will certainly appreciate this particular film. Above average.

Years ago I heard a brief plot summary of this film and thought it sounded a little boring. However, when I finally came to see it earlier this year - I was very surprised. I've not actually read the book, so I won't go into that - although it is on my 'to-read' list.What I liked most about this is the way it plays out as a supernatural adventure, a lot of horror films nowadays are more worried about creatively killing off characters and using snapcuts. But this film builds up a dream-like feeling of dread and sustains it the whole way through, with some truly memorable and disturbing scenes. Although I must say that the battle at the end is a tad over the top, but I'm not cynical enough to let that change my positive review too much.Bill Pullman's lead character is a kind of geekier Indiana Jones, and as much as I say 'geekier' he is still able to scrap with the best of them - he has no hesitation when it comes to smashing someone over the head with a bottle certainly.In short this is a well-worked adventure story with subtle, creeping horror themes running throughout it - put down that slasher film and watch this.