Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?

Manthast Absolutely amazing

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Married Baby Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

Claudio Carvalho In 1985, after a successful research in Amazonas, Dr. Dennis Alan (Bill Pullman) from Harvard is invited by the president of a Boston pharmaceutics industry, Andrew Cassedy (Paul Guilfoyle), to travel to Haiti to investigate the case of a man named Christophe (Conrad Roberts) that died in 1978 and has apparently returned to life. Andrew wants samples of the voodoo drug that was used in Christophe to be tested with the intention of producing a powerful anesthetic. Dr. Alan travels to meet Dr. Marielle Duchamp (Cathy Tyson) that is treating Christophe and arrives in Haiti in a period of revolution. Soon Alan is threatened by the chief of the feared Tonton Macuse Dargent Peytraud (Zakes Mokae), who is a torturer and powerful witch. Alan learns that death is not the end in the beginning of his journey to hell."The Serpent and the Rainbow" is one of the creepiest and most originals zombie movie ever produced. Directed by Wes Craven, the story uses the background of political environment of Haiti and entwines horror and politics. Bill Pullman has good performance and Cathy "Mona Lisa" Tyson completes the romantic pair of the story. But Zakes Mokae "steals" the movie with a scary performance in the role of the wicked Peytraud. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "A Maldição dos Mortos-Vivos" ("The Curse of the Living Dead")

TheRedDeath30 In our modern horror cinema, the "zombie" genre has been overtaken by flesh-eating ghouls and infection films that come from the Romero/ Fulci family tree. However, before Romero's Living Dead films, the word "zombie" often had a very different connotation, going back to the voodoo rituals that would create mindless slaves. From classic horror movies like WHITE ZOMBIE and I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE to Hammer's PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES, this was the archetype that Hollywood explored when it talked about zombies and it is this territory that Craven hearkens back to in this late 80s classic.There is a lot to love about this movie, starting with that general concept. Though lovers of classic cinema may be familiar with the films I mentioned, most "modern horror" fans hadn't really seen a voodoo zombie movie before. To me, as a 13 year old kid when this was released, this was something completely new, exploring a culture that was wild and exotic and more than a little creepy.That creepiness pervades this movie. There is so much atmosphere created. Craven does a great job of introducing his main character to psychotropic drugs right in the beginning. This allows him to play with some surreal dream imagery thereafter and create all sort of bizarre images for us, all wrapped under the guise of our heroes mind being opened up to the spiritual. Beyond the dream images, Craven injects all manner of wonderful imagery into this movie, using the Haitian landscape, human fear of being buried alive, catholic and voodoo iconography and some of the creepiest cemeteries you'll see. All of it creates this world where just about anything is possible and most of it will be nightmarish.The writing is actually pretty good, for a horror movie. They work in the requisite budding romance, without it ever feeling tacked on and unnecessary. They manage to add in several subplots, as well, that add to the movie instead of detract, created a very layered film that not only explores voodoo, but the temperature of the Haitian political climate at the time.Some of the effects now look a little dated, but I'm not going to hold that against a movie. They are products of their time, naturally. If they are one of those lucky films that manages to hold up, even better, but many look dated 30 years later.The biggest negative to me and the thing I notice the most on recent viewings is that Bill Pullman is just...bad. He's presented to us as an almost Indiana Jones type of explorer and I'm not buying it for a minute. His vocal tone seems more high-pitched than I him being in his other roles. The worst parts of his performance come when he's relied on to perform the more physical aspects such as the torture scene, or his big moment when he's been drugged and looking for help. He just looks really amateurish to me in these moments and I find that he's the biggest thing keeping this from being a little higher rated in my opinion.

Rainey Dawn Very interesting movie! What makes this movie scary is that things like this really do happen in certain parts of the world... it seems South America mainly.Most people are familiar with the get bit by a zombie you will turn into a zombie scenario which is not that realistic. Romero's Night of the Living Dead or other zombie films are good examples of it. But Serpent and the Rainbow is not that type of a zombie film.Serpent and the Rainbow is a very underrated and extremely creepy film about REAL ZOMBISM. Yes I say REAL ZOMBISM! To understand the movie Serpent and the Rainbow on a deeper scale research REAL ZOMBISM: Scopolamine aka Devil's Breath is one such drug from the Borrachero tree it is also known as Angel Trumpet: Brugmansia. This plant is known turn people into a zombie-like state... people will even give up their free will.If one is interested in real zombism and other magic from South America I recommend a book by Jaya Bear: Amazon Magic: The Life Story of Ayahuasquero & Shaman Don Agustin Rivas Vasquez -- very good book that goes well with the the theme of the movie "Serpent and the Rainbow".Yes I loved Serpent and the Rainbow! It maybe Wes Craven's best movie to date! 9.5/10

sunznc The Serpent and the Rainbow has some great scenes of what is supposed to be Haiti, and I suppose some of it is, and there are some great sets as expected and some great scenery. The story itself is actually interesting however, the film is marred by poor dialog and a rushed feel. Also, the ending is flawed by Hollywood special effects that seem out of place in the otherwise gritty and rustic feel of the prior scenes.Bill Pullman's acting lacks conviction and he never really seems to get into his character too deeply. His characterization seems to have a loose, slightly comic feel to it.I would have much rather have seen something less slick and perhaps more low key or mysterious with some of the situations. Even Angel Heart, which is also about Voodoo, is able to convey mystery and death without splashy animated special effects. This is not a bad film and it does contain some very interesting scenes. Some of the dialog and acting seem a bit thin and weak at times which is too bad. It's strengths are the sets, the lighting and the atmoshpere.