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Film reviews
The Lost Boys (1) | The Lost Boys (2) | Nosferatu | Angel Heart | Sin City | The Skeleton Key | Van Helsing | Van Helsing (2) | Wild Flowers | Cube | The Serpent and the Rainbow | Vidocq | The Raven | Night Watch | Interview with the Vampire | Dog Soldiers | Constantine | Underworld | Murder On The Orient Express | Batman Begins | Romasanta | Blowup | The Da Vinci Code | Citizen X | Dark City | The Howling | Pan's Labyrinth | The Illusionist |
The Serpent and the Rainbow
Released: 1988
Director: Wes Craven
Cast: Bill Pullman, Cathy Tyson, Zakes Mokae, Paul Winfield,
Brent Jennings, Conrad Roberts
Rating: ♦♦♦◊◊
“Don't bury me! I'm not dead!”
The film The Serpent and the Rainbow is based on real events. It
was inspired by the non-fictional, scientific book written by Wade Davis,
who studied the phenomenon of zombification.
Rumours reached Harvard that a man in Haiti, who was known to be dead for some period of time, suddenly appeared in the streets of Port-au-Prince. That happened presumably due to some magic “powder”, the secret of which is known to the voodoo bokors (shamans). This substance allows people not to feel anything, not to breathe, but still move and even perform certain actions. They are not dead, but not alive either. University professors are sure that this mysterious powder will become a revolution in medical science.
A Harvard anthropologist Dennis Alan (Bill Pullman) goes to Haiti to obtain this powder and to reveal its secrets. There he has to distinguish between religion and superstition, between logic and the supernatural, between life and death. He will undergo torture by the Haitian dictator and step beyond the edge of his terrestrial existence.
The Serpent and the Rainbow is one of Wes Craven's strongest and most under-rated films. It was under-rated by everyone who expects crowds of staggering living corpses to flood the streets. Yes, those who expect that will be disappointed. The film was indeed made by the king of the horror genre, and it's definitely a horror movie, but its main quality is authenticity. It explores voodoo, the religion and lifestyle of Haitian people.
In voodoo, the serpent is a symbol of Earth and the rainbow is a symbol of Heaven. Earth and Heaven. Reality and fiction. Where does reality end and magic begin?
The Serpent and the Rainbow theme has much in common with theGabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers atmosphere. It's very close to Jane Jensen's style in that it's difficult to distinguish between what is real and what is supernatural. This film would be enjoyed by all Gabriel Knight fans, not to mention that Bill Pullman looks absolutely “GK-ish” in it.
