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The Serpent and the Rainbow
RRP: £5.99
Our Price: £3.39 (subject to change)
Interlectual viewing
Review date: 2007-12-28 Rating: 8 out of 10
After viewing People Under The Stairs etc..I was somewhat hesitant in purchasing S&T.Rb (Serpent and The Rainbow) especially as it was made a lot earlier. I very much enjoy watching horror films, but personally, they need to have a good strong story, good acting, good camera work and music score when needed.
I purchased S&T.Rb a couple of weeks ago, and what my wife and I watched, was an excellent interlectual horror film. Haitians are very strong believers in Voodo and continues to this day.
What you watch is a very strong cast of actors and actresses, especially Bill Pulman and the wonderful and non-ageing Kathy Tyson !! sorry readers a little senstive when it comes to our Kathy Tyson !!
The story is NOT far-fetched and when the word Zombie is mentioned you can understand the meaning of the word. Not, like our wonderful George A. Romero of the walking dead back to life, but an interesting in-sight into Zombiefication and how it occurs and the onset of long term mental health issues.
The powder that is mentioned, and seen, in S&T.Rb is today still secretly under wraps and even to this day medical professionals are still trying to work out the affects and how it is made.
There are a couple of scenes that seem to take the viewer away from the main story, but are soon put back on track.
The scene where poor old Bill Pullman is trussed to a chair, naked, is enough to make any Man's Man go straight for their crutch !!!! only if he could REALLY scream, may be his would of been spared !!
Well made film. Personally, one of Wes Craven's better films. I do hope that Hollywood are not going to rouine the remake of Last House on the Left.
Similar Products
- The Serpent and the Rainbow
- Prince Of Darkness [1988]
- The People Under The Stairs [1991]
- The Thing [1982]
- Re-Animator [1985]
Reviews
AN UNDERRATED WES CRAVEN GEM
Review date: 2007-11-03 Rating: 8 out of 10
In late 70s Haiti, a personal revolution sweeps the island. The voodoo priests on the island assume control and begin to practice their dangerous spells on the population. Dennis Alan, (Bill Pullman) a botanist working in the Amazon basin, is exploring the uses of a psychotic drug used there and has to crawl his way through the jungle to get back home. Once there, he is sent to investigate the discovery of a zombie in Haiti. Skeptical at first, David goes with the best of intentions to now how to reanimate the dead. When he arrives at the hospital that houses the rumored zombie, he is introduced to a powerful voodoo priest's ceremony. There he meets Lucien Celine, (Paul Winfield) a personal friend of Marielle Duchamp, (Cathy Tyson) one of the nurses. As he continues his relentless pursuit of the zombie drug, Dennis is immersed into the world of voodoo and ancient spells that goes way over his head. Tortured by what he knows and what he feels is going to happen to Marielle, David has to fight for his very soul amidst the powerful voodoo priests.
The Good News: This is one of the very few horror films ever made that treats it's subject matter as accurately as possible. It's true that all the depiction's 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. To me, the world of voodoo is something that is beyond merely tampering with, and this film is a wonderful guiding principal for those who might be interested in it. Whatever the people in the film are doing to the regular characters to turn them into zombies are very powerful people, and the spells and potions used to control and create them are just as powerful. This gets so much better when he has been overwhelmed with the voodoo world, and everything comes crashing down on his world. The practice of making a zombie is fully explored, and the process is an incredibly creepy one. We get to know it in intricate detail, and the realness of it makes it that much more compelling. 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, and that it happens in a quick manner of time is staggering. What really gets to you is the dream sequences he keeps having. My favorite is the first one, early on in the film. He dreams he's inside this candlelit room and witnesses a wedding being performed. The bride wanders over to him with the veil down, and as she gets close to him, he lifts the veil to reveal the bride is a charred corpse. She pulls her mouth down, and out shoots it's tongue and latches onto his chin. One of my favorite scenes in the film, and one of the biggest scares in a movie as well. Another big one is the part where he's dissolved into a wall of blood, that was a creepy scene. It was also nice since the torture inflicted on him was more mental than physical. And what needs to be said for the heart-stopping climax? It is justifiably famous, and it is a true twist ending that hardly anyone will be able to spot coming, yet is completely in tone with the rest of the movie. It really is one of the best endings to a film ever.
The Bad News: Because of the supernatural and religious themes portrayed in the film are very accurate, it may upset the very religious persons out there. This is something that some may be put off against because it may clash with their faith.
The Final Verdict: I don't know why this one isn't more well known among horror fans, but this is one of Craven's best friends. It's very accurate about its subject matter, and that is so rare in today's movies. See this one at once, all Craven fans, supernatural and horror fans, but the overtly religious should exercise caution.
Scary or What??
Review date: 2006-11-30 Rating: 10 out of 10
This is one of the few films which got me sweating (especially as the hero is interrogated by the Ton Ton Macoute chief and voodoo villain). Set in the time immediately prior to the deposition of Baby Doc Duvalier's inherited rule on Haiti, it does bring out some of the hopelessness of that first black-ruled "state" (only Liberia beating it as a place not to live...). The film is a cinematographically stunning and riveting mixture of adventure thriller, political thriller and horror movie. The three parts interact seamlessly, which is a huge achievement. Well worth buying. I saw it on British TV 15 years ago but forgot the title and only tracked it down via the international movie data base. Get it.
Not My Favourite Wes Craven Film
Review date: 2004-07-09 Rating: 4 out of 10
This is based on true story. And I once saw a documentary about the 'voodoo' drug that this film is about. So the base material is true.
This is not your typical Wes Craven horror movie. I don't really class this as a horror movie. I do believe in voodoo but I find some of the things that happen in this film hard to swallow.
The film may work as a 'Romancing The Stone' action-adventure type film but I don't think this is a very good horror movie, it's not the least bit scary and it's not one of Wes Craven's best films.
About the closest Hollywood ever got to real Voodoo
Review date: 2004-03-14 Rating: 10 out of 10
A remarkable film set (mostly) in Haiti, adapted from Wade Davies' semi-autobiographical novel. Hollywood does not usually come up with stories about real Voodoo - strange, then, that this film deals with its darker side, the making of zombies. Perhaps that makes it sensational enough for Hollywood! Believe me, zombies are not the shuffling, shambling creatures of Lenzi and Fulci films - they are real enough, drugged close to death and buried for between 24 and 72 hours (depending on various things). Subsisting on very little oxygen, victims' brains are damaged and they spend the rest of their lives robbed of will and purpose, the slaves of those who commissioned their creation. The ceremony is serious and dark Voodoo (Vodou to the congnescenti), embracing the Voodoo world-view of death and power to the priests who appear to "bring the dead back to life." Let is be said that this is a "last resort" punishment in Voodoo, akin to the death sentence elsewhere.)
This film captures the essence all right. It is brilliantly photographed, atmospheric and well acted.
Bill Pullman is charged with obtaining the zombification formula for a pharmaceutical corporation. Revealing it violates Voodoo secrets and the miscreant is punished. The entire cast is convincing but Zakes Mokae plays a brilliant Chief of Police with a degree of irony and ruthlessness so very in character with Papa Doc's ton-ton macoute (secret police) - not the people you want dealings with after a night on the town!
Aside from being a first class horror/thriller, it is laden with Voodoo symbology and sentiment. It probably goes near the knuckle violating Voodoo secrets but thankfully stops short! Bear in mind the film is fiction but based on life.
I rarely rate a film full marks but this one deserves it.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Paul Winfield
Brent Jennings
Bill Pullman
Cathy Tyson
Zakes Mokae
Creators:
Bill Pullman (Primary Contributor)
Cathy Tyson (Primary Contributor)
David Ladd (Producer)
Doug Claybourne (Producer)
Keith Barish (Producer)
Rob Cohen (Producer)
Adam Rodman (Writer)
Richard Maxwell (Writer)
Wade Davis (Writer)
Director(s):
Recording label: Uca Catalogue
Manufacturer: Uca Catalogue
EAN: 5050582220575
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2004-03-08
Number of discs: 1
Audience rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 98 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1988-02-05
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: French (Original Language)
Language: Spanish (Original Language)