THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW (1988) Review by Steve Kirkham

THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW (1988)

3 stars
Fabulous Films. Blu ray. Out Now

Wes Craven’s THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW, is a loose adaptation of the true experiences of Voodoo and Zombies by ethnobotanist Wade Davis as laid out in his book. The film opens in 1978 in Haiti. A large crowd is gathered for a funeral which will link to the later story. In 1985, in the Amazon Basin, our lead Dennis Alan (a young, fresh faced Bill Pullman) has a weird, hallucinatory encounter with a powerful shaman and his “medicine”. Later, back in Boston, having survived this brush with evil forces, he meets with his old professor Schoonbacher (Michael Gough), who introduces him to Andrew Cassedy (Paul Guilfoyle), who is the head of large pharmaceutical firm.

Cassedy has a job offer for him, as he talks about zombification. He shows Dennis the death certificate, from seven years ago, of one Christophe Durand, who was spotted recently alive and zombified! The company wants him to go to Haiti and find out what drug is being used to create these “undead” – as it may have wide application for modern medicine, and of course, make them mega bucks.

Arriving on the island, he meets up with Dr Duchamp – who, shock horror, is a woman (played by Cathy Tyson). How many times have we seen that revelation! She can help him in his quest to find the zombie powder. Before long they become embroiled with the unrest in the community and have to deal with Dargent Peytraud (Zakes Mokae) and the deadly Tonton Macoute militia.

Perhaps not one of Craven’s better known outings, he builds a creepy atmosphere and there are several well realised nightmare sequences with visceral imagery – something the director has experience with – but this isn’t one of his best, as the narrative often drags. That being said there is much to admire here – there is a powerful score by Brad Fiedel and the exotic local colour is well captured by cinematographer John Lindley.

Interestingly this was originally to be a project starring Mel Gibson and directed by Peter Weir. Craven started the shoot in Haiti, but the internal turmoil there meant they had to complete the film in the Dominican Republic.

The only extra is the trailer plus you get a double sided poster featuring new artwork by Rich Davies.

Steve Kirkham