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Bill Pullman, Cathy Tyson, Zakes Mokae, Paul Winfield, Brent Jennings ... see more see more... , Michael Gough , Conrad Roberts , Badja Djola , Theresa Merritt , Paul Guilfoyle , Dey Young , Aleta Mitchell , William Newman , Tony Cecere , Francis Guinan , Michael Jackson

Horror maven Wes Craven attempted a slight change of pace from his usual slasher movie milieu with this chiller loosely based on a true story. Bill Pullman stars as Dennis Alan, a Harvard researcher s... read more read more...ent to Haiti by a pharmaceutical company to investigate the zombie legend and any possible connection it might have to a rumored drug that could be used as a new breed of powerful anaesthetic. Once on the Caribbean isle, Alan is aided by a good voodoo priest or "houngan" (Paul Winfield) and his daughter (Cathy Tyson), who runs a local clinic. Alan's search also pits him against an evil houngan, Dargent Peytraud (Zakes Mokae). Peytraud also controls the Tonton Macoute (the Haitian secret police), who are involved with soon-to-be-deposed dictator "Baby Doc" Duvalier. The Serpent and the Rainbow was based on the book of the same name by Wade Davis, an ethnobotanist whose real-life hunt for the zombie drug was credited with cracking the medical mystery behind the myth. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

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59% liked it

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Critics

59% liked it

27 critics

R, 1 hr. 38 min.

Directed by: Wes Craven

Release Date: June 1, 1987

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DVD Release Date: October 10, 2000

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Flixster Reviews (697)

  • TheDudeLebowski65
    August 15, 2011
    TheDudeLebowski65
    After directing some of the most legendary Horror films in the business, Wes Craven continues his streak of creepy horror films with The Serpent and the Rainbow, a film that is often overlooked. Using voodoo as his subject, Craven conjures a creepy horror film that has some inten... read morese moments and good scares. The Serpent and the Rainbow is a film that relies on its atmosphere to create its tension and steadily build up the horror. Set on a Haitian backdrop of Voodoo, and the undead, you get one creepy film. This is a solid offering from Wes Craven, and I thought it was a film that well crafted to bring on genuine scares. Bill Pullman and Paul Winfield were terrific in their roles, and I have to say, that this is one of the best roles that actor Bill Pullman has ever chosen. I think this is a terrific of horror cinema, and one that every Wes Craven fan should watch. A very creepy film with some terrific acting, make this a must horror film. An effective film, The Serpent and the Rainbow though has a few flaws which bring the film down a notch, but it's still good nonetheless. This is an awesome departure from Wes Craven's usual work, and overall is a solid and creepy horror film that will give you a few good chills. A terrific film, one that is underrated and quite possibly one of Wes Craven's best and overlooked films.
  • WrenchLT
    June 26, 2011
    WrenchLT
    An American anthropologist travels to Haiti to discover the zombification drug used in voodoo cult practices. It's inspired by true events apparantly which is always appealing to me and it was an interesting take on the zombie genre and quite enjoyable overall. It does have some ... read morecool scenes but it's not a gore fest.
  • DragonEyeMorrison
    November 9, 2010
    DragonEyeMorrison
    Starts ok, goes to crap in the second half. It has it's moments.
  • SirPant
    March 29, 2010
    SirPant
    Big respect to Craven for leaving the Freddy Franchise to make a more serious horror film. Not that this comes across as very serious, I would in fact file this one under (unintentionally) cheesy 80's horror film, lots of fun and very re-watchable.
  • MidnightMadwoman
    January 12, 2009
    MidnightMadwoman
    The reason I watched this originally is because I wanted to see the film that inspired one of my favorite songs: Voodoo by Godsmack. I found it a little disappointing, to tell you the truth. I was expecting a little more brooding darkness and horror, but this movie reminded me a ... read morelittle bit of Altered States in its pacing and themes. If I had made a movie about voodoo, it would look much different than this.
  • 366weirdmovies
    December 24, 2008
    366weirdmovies
    An anthropologist travels to Haiti in search of the legendary "zombie drug" and gets mixed up in voodoo and third world politics. Sadly, horror movie cliches eventually overtake the unique premise and vivid nightmare sequences. Zakes Mokae's black voodoo priest steals the show.
  • Stinger839
    December 5, 2008
    Stinger839
    See this if you want a Voodoo horror drama about an American who goes to Haiti in search of uncovering the truth and feasibility of zombification.

    This film has an interesting, and in horror, not always effective, structure where the first two thirds are spent on genuine plot an... read mored character development, with only hints at the lurking malice to come in all its gory. Craven pulls off this tough format with utter grace and natural pacing. The horror stuff kicks in at an hour into this 90 minute feature, and it's a regular Craven wallop of effective and inventive horrific distortions of reality. So it's a divided film (but the parts compliment and tie together). The first segment is legitimate drama and if done through to feature length by a non-horror director, would be praised as such. That's what makes the horror part work - that Craven's whole film balances and feels real in its plot and characters. So much horror films cannot achieve this.

    Bill Pullman does a really stellar job as the scientific Westerner scouting for the next pharmaceutical breakthrough in a dangerous politically upset poorer nation. His character falls into the Haitian world so well, that the second half, wherein Voodoo takes center stage, the magical and spiritual elements his character once doubted now seem wholly real, and for him, beyond lethally dangerous. We can believe that souls are really at stake; this is what any good drama with Voudon or or Christianity or paganism or any faith-based practices aims toward.

    The production design is stellar. The Voudon temple setup reminds me of old Hammer Voodoo films.

    Reflecting on many of the earlier non-supernatural action sequences in the movie, I really like Craven's action style in the 80s, and think he doesn't always get acknowledged for his extreme flair for orchestrating action because his primary peer their is John Carpenter. (They are each complete masters of the action horror, but Carpenter is utterly and incomparably genius with his action directing, and Craven is utterly and incomparably genius in his talent for horror.)

    The three primary zombie (or zombified) examples here are just plain great. The makeup is subtle and the sell is in the acting and scene framing and lighting. The harsher and gorier bits (which are non-zombie but still atypical and advanced in concept) are very 80s; they're NOT BAD but they have that distinctly 80s makeup aesthetic going on and the big tell is in a poorly done decapitated head.

    Like how the finale reconnects the spiritual and physical worlds - while a small group combats for their souls, a nation-forming revolution ensues in the streets above.
  • djdemersseman
    October 21, 2008
    djdemersseman
    It gets 3 stars almost, if not entirely, based off its premise. There are a few cool scenes though. But Bill Pullman? Really?
  • matertenebraum
    October 14, 2008
    matertenebraum
    In this intense thriller inspired by a non-fiction book by Wade Davis, Bill Pullman plays Dr. Dennis Alan, who travels to Haiti in search of a mysterious white powder that is supposed to have powers of resurrection. While there, he hooks up with attractive local doctor Marielle D... read moreuchamp (Cathy Tyson) and locks horns with nasty, psychotic villain Dargent Peytraud (Zakes Mokae).

    For me, "The Serpent and the Rainbow" is one of those rare scary movies that thoroughly engrossed me. It's a heart-pounding, solidly acted (particularly by Mokae), elaborate movie with lots of local flavour since the film-makers had the good sense to film it on location in Haiti. The atmosphere is so heavy that it's palpable. I would consider it to be one of the better Wes Craven pictures which I have seen. It's probably not one of his better known films - I think that most of them get kind of over-shadowed by the original "Nightmare on Elm Street" and the "Scream" trilogy. But I would suggest that interested viewers seek it out. It takes Dr. Alan and the viewer on an interesting if morbid journey.
  • FilmFanatik
    August 17, 2008
    FilmFanatik
    A disturbing film, this one gave me my greatest fear.

View All The Serpent and the Rainbow Reviews

Critic Reviews

Variety Staff
September 25, 2007
Variety Staff, Variety

Offers a few good scares but gets bogged down in special effects. Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum
September 25, 2007
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

Genuinely frightening. Full Review

Janet Maslin
August 30, 2004
Janet Maslin, New York Times

The Serpent and the Rainbow has a screenplay that often breaks its spell. Full Review

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The Serpent and the Rainbow is uncanny in the way it takes the most lurid images and makes them plausible. Full Review

Richard Harrington
January 1, 2000
Richard Harrington, Washington Post

Take a powerful, revealing nonfiction book, sift through it for its most cliche'd elements and turn it into a terror film and you've got The Serpent and the Rainbow. Full Review

Desson Thomson
January 1, 2000
Desson Thomson, Washington Post

[Craven[ seems wiser and more story-conscious -- but thankfully still full of the same surprises. Full Review

Fernando F. Croce
April 1, 2010
Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion

Flavorful Grand Guignol Full Review

Rob Humanick
October 26, 2007
Rob Humanick, Projection Booth

Despite the strongly emphasized exoticness its Haitian scenery, The Serpent and the Rainbow may be Wes Craven's most pedestrian film. Full Review

September 25, 2007
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Craven combines the terrifying dream sequences of A Nightmare on Elm Street with the subtle and evocative atmospherics of Val Lewton. Full Review

Derek Adams
February 9, 2006
Derek Adams, Time Out

Unfortunately, the political parallel between the ideological repression of Baby Doc's regime and the stultifying effects of the zombifying fluid is only sketchily developed, leaving us with a series ... Full Review

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    • Dennis Alan: What do you want from me?
    • Dargent Peytraud: I want to hear you scream!
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The Serpent and the Rainbow Trivia

  • Can you name the 1998 movie from this quote " When you wake up scream, Doctor Allen. Scream all you want. There is no escape from the grave." *extra Wes Craven directed it.   Answer »
  • What director links the movies "The Last House on the Left", "The Serpent and the Rainbow", "The People Under the Stairs" and "The Hills Have Eyes" (1977)?  Answer »
  • If you've seen this horror movie, you should remember a scene that wouldn't have been the same without a hammer and nail. What movie is it?  Answer »
  • Lucien Celine: Whatever happens, death is not the end. The above quote is from what 1988 horror film, directed by Wes Craven  Answer »
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