GL84 Sent to a Haitian village, a botanist for a US pharmaceutical company is asked to explore the uses of a psychotic drug used there and as he continues looking into the stories is soon immersed into the world of voodoo and ancient spells that goes way over his head and has to fight for his very soul.This is quite the chilling and enjoyable effort. Among the films' positives is that this is one of the very few horror films ever made that treats its subject matter as accurately as possible. It's true that all the depictions and discussions about voodoo and its power are real. Those are real practitioners of voodoo performing on film, and how it happens in the film are real representations of how voodoo works. That adds to the realism to the film, because real-life horror is far scarier than anything else a human mind can come up with. Whatever the people in the film are doing to the characters to turn them into zombies are very powerful and the spells and potions used to control and create them are just as powerful. This includes the practice of making a zombie which is fully explored, and the process is an incredibly creepy one. We get to know it in intricate detail as the realness of it makes it that much more compelling. That means this gets so much better when he has been overwhelmed with the voodoo world and everything comes crashing down, as once he knows the process of creating the drug the movie kicks into hyper-drive as he is just relentlessly tortured by what he knows. That it happens in a quick manner of time is staggering, which is mainly based around the continuous dream sequences he keeps having while being tortured that are truly trippy and delirious. The first one, where he's inside this candlelit room and witnesses a wedding being performed where the bride wanders over to him with the veil down is one of the biggest scares, while another big one is where he's dissolved into a wall of blood among the other numerous quick shots of charred hands or vicious being charging at him. It was also nice since the torture inflicted on him was more mental than physical which also manages to include the heart-stopping climax which is justifiably famous. Alongside the wild real-life tendencies that add a further touch of realism here, this one generates a lot to like and barely any real flaws. The biggest flaw to be found is the fact that it's so long before anything really happens here that it can feel somewhat challenging in terms of pacing. The film is basically more of an adventure film for the first half as he's immersed into the world and around the mystery in the village which isn't all that horrific beyond the nature of the events happening which isn't all that exciting to see play out. This one still manages to maintain a solid pace, but it remains all the more removed from the genre for a large stretch of time. Likewise, some might also be put off because of the supernatural and religious themes portrayed in the film. Since they are very accurate, it may upset the very religious persons out there where this is something that some may be put off against because it may clash with their faith. Witnessing some of the blasphemous actions throughout here could be upsetting, but overall it's not all that bad here.Rated R: Intricate details and discussions about occult themes, Violence, Language, Nudity and a mild sex scene.

Wuchak In 1988's "The Serpent and the Rainbow" Bill Pullman plays an anthropologist who goes to Haiti to investigate a rumored drug that can make people seem dead, but they're really not. In other words, the plot addresses the reality behind the zombie myth. The story's supposedly based (loosely) on factual material contained in Wade Davis' book. Davis reportedly wanted noted director Peter Weir to direct the film, but he got stuck with horror maestro Wes Craven. Wes is great for cartoony horror flicks, like "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and the "Scream" series, but he was apparently out of his league here. I hate giving bad reviews to movies because I realize no one intends to make a bad film. Making decent movies is expensive and takes a lot of work by scores of talented people. "The Serpent and the Rainbow" had the funds, talent, locations and music to make a quality film, but it horribly fails.Over the years it's taken me four attempts just to get past the 20-40 minute mark. I finally forced myself to watch the entire film last night and it was a chore. It starts out intriguing, but immediately fails to engross. The story's fine, but the way it's told is bad, which includes the puzzling editing. It's incoherent and you soon find yourself bored watching interesting images and cool percussion-oriented music, but characters and a tale you don't care about, mainly because you were never allowed to comprehend it.There's a shallow love story with the requisite beautiful native (Cathy Tyson) and the second act gets a little better with Brent Jennings as Mozart, but the third act spirals into to ultra-horror cheese. Some scenes are so ridiculously bad they're laugh-out-loud funny. For instance, a classy white woman suddenly jumps on the dinner table radically attacking the anthropologist; a torture-chair moves across the room by itself on a couple occasions; someone's head falls off; a scorpion walks out of someone's mouth; something alien and diabolic comes out of someone else's mouth (or head); etc. On top of this, there are so many dream/hallucination sequences that they become tedious. These scenes were obviously included to up the ante with horror props and – hopefully – jolt the audience, but they utterly fail because, after a while, you suspect that what's going on isn't really happening and it's hard to be scared by illusions. Most of the time, they just make you laugh, like the (supposedly) creepy hand coming out of the soup (rolling my eyes). Don't get me wrong, scenes like these CAN work in horror films, but they have to be done right and in the right context, which isn't the case here, unfortunately.The only reason I'm not giving it an "F" is because of the positives noted above.The film runs 98 minutes and was shot in Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Boston.GRADE: D

sunznc The Serpent and the Rainbow has some great scenes of what is supposed to be Haiti, and I suppose some of it is, and there are some great sets as expected and some great scenery. The story itself is actually interesting however, the film is marred by poor dialog and a rushed feel. Also, the ending is flawed by Hollywood special effects that seem out of place in the otherwise gritty and rustic feel of the prior scenes.Bill Pullman's acting lacks conviction and he never really seems to get into his character too deeply. His characterization seems to have a loose, slightly comic feel to it.I would have much rather have seen something less slick and perhaps more low key or mysterious with some of the situations. Even Angel Heart, which is also about Voodoo, is able to convey mystery and death without splashy animated special effects. This is not a bad film and it does contain some very interesting scenes. Some of the dialog and acting seem a bit thin and weak at times which is too bad. It's strengths are the sets, the lighting and the atmoshpere.

preppy-3 Anthropologist Dennis Alan (Bill Pullman) goes to Haiti to find how supposedly dead people are coming back to life as zombies. A doctor (Cicely Tyson) there tries to help him. He soon finds out he's in over his head and his life is in danger.VERY confusing and unsatisfying horror movie from Wes Craven. For starters it goes all over the place. The movie does not move smoothly--it leaps around. Half the time I didn't have a clue about what was going on--or why! Pullman's character is also extremely dumb. It's made VERY clear that his life is in danger early on and he never does the reasonable thing (i.e. leave) but stays on. Also his character goes through utter hell in this movie. SPOILERS! He's beaten up, tortured, buried alive and (in a truly unnecessary moment) has a spike driven through his scrotum! END SPOILERS! It's not dramatic or scary just sick. There's also far too many dream sequences or hallucinations that lead to nothing but are added just to give the audience a sudden jolt. The only bright spots in this mess were good performances by Pullman and Tyson--but they're great actors who deserve better. I guess Craven was trying something different with this movie (it was "inspired" by a true story and book) but he doesn't pull it off. A 3 all the way.