Arriving in Boston, anthropologist Dennis Alan receives word from a pharmaceutical company of a new, mysterious powder in Haiti being used in Voodoo rituals, one that can supposedly reanimate the dead. The company hopes that perhaps this can be used to create potential anesthetics for the future, and send Dennis to Haiti in order to retrieve it. Upon arriving in the country, it doesn't take long before he finds himself drawn into the strange and horrifying world of black magic.
So, this is "inspired by true events" you say? I sincerely doubt that there's some validity to your disclaimer shown before the title sequence Wes Craven.
Oh wait, this was actually based off of a book written by a Harvard scientist? Well, now I'm the one who looks like an idiot. Crap.............anyway, The Serpent and the Rainbow is loosely based on said book of the same name, wherein said scientist investigated a Haitian man who was poisoned, buried alive, and revived with an herbal drink, which resulted in him naturally being called a "zombie" by the natives. If White Zombie didn't teach you to stay out of Haiti already, this drives home that warning with an exclamation point or ten. It also may teach you to never, ever dabble in the practice of voodoo, which is far stranger and more bloodthirsty than a person like I could ever have imagined it could be.
During the time of shooting, there was much political turmoil in Haiti, which is incorporated into the film's script and felt tremendously throughout its running time. Everything feels ominous from the moment Dennis lands in Haiti, and it never really leaves the movie. Multiple local government officials couldn't guarantee the safety of the cast and crew during the shoot, essentially forcing Craven and crew to relocate to the Dominican Republic for the remainder of the film's completion. Nerve-racking to the say the least. But who can blame them? As much as I hate to say it, you really do get a feel for how exotic and fascinating, yet so corrupted and spooky Haiti and its obsession with black magic could truly be, especially during the creation of the powder itself.
Haitian Voodoo isn't the only thing director Wes Craven and crew have conjured up here to try and frighten you. There is a fairly unnerving torture sequence at the fifty-three minute mark of the movie, and the film isn't exactly nice to the claustrophobic crowd either with Bill Pullman (the only person you're likely to recognize here) having flashes of being buried alive multiple times by voodoo priests. In fact, most of the film does a good job at making the viewer question as to what is real and what is being hallucinated, even when Craven cuts back and forth from Haiti to America in the latter half of the picture. These very psychedelic-influenced transitions can create a mildly difficult plot to follow for those with an easily distracted mind (or for someone who is just plain tired), and I think might be the main reason as to why this isn't more popular with mainstream horror fans as Craven's other efforts are, like A Nightmare On Elm Street or Scream are. Serpent is also much slower-paced than those two films are, taking its sweet time to build to the revelation of the "zombie powder" or even a real main villain, who while admittedly is very creepy, you wished had shown up with speaking lines a tad bit sooner. Damn if he didn't have some horrible teeth too.
The final twenty minutes of The Serpent and the Rainbow are fairly chaotic, leaving the viewer simply breathless for a few minutes, and setting up for a potentially macabre, but almost fitting ending. Alas, I do think it kind of falls apart though. Don't get me wrong, it doesn't collapse under itself or anything severe like that, but part of its own solution feels like a bit of a copout, whether it was incorporating real life events or not. And the final "showdown" felt more like something lifted out of a slasher film, with elements from Masters of the Universe or a knockoff that was equally as cheesy. I'm still going to give this one a solid recommendation though. After all, it isn't often that you see horror films dealing with voodoo as a serious threat, and doing an effective job at making it creepy. Repeated viewings may increase an overall enjoyment, and help accentuate the positives.
Tomorrow, we see if the Cronenberg legacy can carry on with ANTIVIRAL!
1 comment:
It is a weird flick for sure! I've read the book on which the movie is based. Very interesting stuff but not nearly as dramatic as the movie. The trippy sequences are kind of overdone but the combination of terrifying mystical visions, political paranoia, and exotic locale makes it a unique movie from Wes Craven.
There was a similarly themed movie called "The Believers" that came out around the same time.
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