The Serpent and the Rainbow
1988 Directed by Wes Craven
Synopsis
Don't bury me...I'm not dead!
Dennis Allan is an scientist who visits Haiti on the strength of a rumour of a drug which renders the recipient totally paralyzed but conscious. The drug's effects often fool doctors, who declare the victims dead. Could this be the origin of the "zombie" legend? Alan embarks on a surprising and often surreal investigation of the turbulent social chaos that is Haiti during the revolution which ousted hated dictator "Baby Doc" Duvalier. Often a pawn in a greater game, Alan must decide what is science, what is superstition, and what is the unknown in a anarchistic society where police corruption and witch-doctory are commonplace.
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prob one of the better wes craven films for me . I remember being terrified of it as a kid.. .the skeleton bride with the snake coming out of her mouth ... yea...
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Part of...
Horroctober 2012Whatever happens, death is not the end.
-Lucien CelineOne of the few Wes Craven films I had never seen and it was a nice surprise. It's one of the few modern films I've seen regarding the original origins of the term zombie which is linked to Voodoo. The film is even based on true events... well based on what was written in the book of the same name anyways.
While a lot of Craven's horror films usually have a sense of humor injected somewhere, this one plays it straight and seems all the more creepy for it. The film could be described as a psychological thriller with horror elements since most of the "horror" happens…
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qué miedo tan genuino. y tan político.
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Superb voodoo zombie film. Pullman is great as the scientist who will not quit, with fantastic supporting work from Zakes Mokae as the bad guy Dargent and Brent Jennings as Louis Mozart, the maker of the zombie powder. Some very creepy nightmare sequences, plenty of bits to make your skin crawl and one bit to make any bloke cross his legs made this a thoroughly enjoyable watch from start to finish. Ending goes a bit Nightmare on Elm Street in a cheesy 80s way but whats not to love about that. Highly recommended for any horror fan and especially zombie fans.
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"I want to hear you scream"
"Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh"
"Not good enough...."
Anyone who has seen this film knows what happens next....
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While its reputation overshadows the movie itself, I enjoyed this number mainly for the colorful set pieces, choice of music and the few scares it did offer up. But overall I found it to be a poorly paced thriller that failed to scare the crap out of me, and spent too much time talking.
But I'd still consider it worth watching. The beginning was rather promising as a sexy Bill Pullman takes a trip to Haiti to grow an understanding of a possible case of 'real life zombie.' But it's a little more complicated than that. In comes voodoo and countless scenes taking place during ritual dances, a scary black man and a jaguar motif that I felt was taken…
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A movie as awkward as the career of Bill Pullman.
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While its reputation overshadows the movie itself, I enjoyed this number mainly for the colorful set pieces, choice of music and the few scares it did offer up. But overall I found it to be a poorly paced thriller that failed to scare the crap out of me, and spent too much time talking.
But I'd still consider it worth watching. The beginning was rather promising as a sexy Bill Pullman takes a trip to Haiti to grow an understanding of a possible case of 'real life zombie.' But it's a little more complicated than that. In comes voodoo and countless scenes taking place during ritual dances, a scary black man and a jaguar motif that I felt was taken…
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En contexto al resto de la filmografía de Craven, da más miedo que muchas y es más elegante que la de Meryl Streep como maestra de violín.
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This week Forest & Cory dive into the shadowy world of ritual and superstition in this new special voodoo edition of Slaughter Film. Forest shares his thoughts on the 1987 flick starring Mickey Rourke, Angel Heart, while Cory reviews the Wes Craven, book to film adaptation of The Serpent and the Rainbow.
Also, keep an ear open for a pooping Pope and Vikings that give Cory a huge boner!
Listen to, and download the podcast at Slaughter Film
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Somewhat under rated Wes Craven pic from the late 80's. An adaptation of a biographical novel that's reportedly much better still, it deals with the medical mystery of Haitian Voodoo, i.e real life zombies. Bill Pullman is great in most things he does, and you can't really fault him here either. I'd describe it as more of a drama that happens to feature some elements of horror, including live burial and it walks a fine line between the two. That is, until the ending which just goes for broke. Still, this is the 2nd time I've seen it and my original rating still stands so it's nice to see it still holds up. Definitely an under-rated gem in this Zombie flooded marketplace
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This wasn't my piece of cake. It seemed very forced. I know addressing logic in horror films is absurd, but come on who would go three times in an island in which is being wanted by the fascist goverment?? The zombies were different from what I had seen before not in a bad way, surprisingly. The buried alive imagery was powerful enough but that's about it. It is too slow,the political satire isn't the most subtle and the narration gave the movie a comical sense. Interesting to see a voodoo film but it didn't turn out as something in my spectrum of taste.
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qué miedo tan genuino. y tan político.
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I'm not much into Voodoo, so maybe that's why I just couldn't get into this film. Pullman was good, and Zakes was a great villain, but the movie is very slow and the ending was a tad laughable. The whole BASED ON TRUE EVENTS seemed fake as hell too!
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"Scream all you want. There is no escape from the grave."
Another Wes Craven film that I had attempted to watch before but failed. Tonight I succeeded. This is without a doubt the best film he ever directed in the 80's (except of course A Nightmare on Elm Street).
Do you remember the Stephen King story Autopsy Room Four?
Or what about Edgar Allan Poe's The Premature Burial?
Have you ever seen Kill Bill vol. 2? Or perhaps The Vanishing?
And lastly, have you ever heard one of my absolute favourite Cannibal Corpse songs, Staring Through The Eyes Of The Dead?
In shared morbidity, they all have one thing in common: the dread, not of dying, but being buried alive.…