The Serpent and the Rainbow:
Dr. Dennis Alan is hired by a pharmaceutical company to visit Haiti in search of a miracle "zombie" drug that can bring the sick back to health, and the dead back to life. There he discovers a dark and disturbing criminal underworld filled with corruption, murder, and voodoo. Based on the non-fictional novel of the same name by Wade Davis, The Serpent and the Rainbow is a chilling and surreal tale filled with surprises and creepy imagery. Bill Pullman (Spaceballs, Independence Day, While You Were Sleeping, Lost Highway) shows his range here. I always thought of Pullman as more of a comedic actor, but he's able to pull off the role of Dr. Alan really well, and he looks genuinely terrified and unsettled in certain scenes. The rest of the cast, including Cathy Tyson, Zakes Mokae, Paul Winfield, Brent Jennings, Michael Gough, and Conrad Roberts, all are really good, especially Mokae, who plays a sinister and corrupt military officer, who serves as a really frightening villain in the film. The film was directed by masterful horror filmmaker Wes Craven, the man behind genre classics like The Last House on the Left, The Hills Have Eyes, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Scream. He does a great job directing, making the narrative very surreal and nightmarish (almost like a dream), and really showing the horror of the situation. This isn't his biggest success, but I'd say it's one of his best films. It's right up there with Nightmare and Last House. The music by Brad Fiedel is haunting and atmospheric. The whole movie has a very moody and creepy feel to it, and it's a really great movie to watch around Halloween. It's kind of part of the "urban horror" subgenre, which includes films like Tales from the Hood, Urban Legend, Candyman, and Death Sentence (a thriller). In that respect, it also works, and the atmosphere is kind of similar to Candyman, both films feel like a surreal bad dream, and both films will probably stay with you long after the credits roll. The Serpent and the Rainbow is one of the best horror movies of the 1980's, and unlike many films of that period, it's not cheesy or overly gory, it's just a well-written, bone-chilling horror film, with good acting and direction. It's one of Craven's best films, and it's surreal and dream-like qualities elevate it above just another scary movie and turn it into a nightmarish experience. The fact it's based on a true story just adds to the creep factor. 4/5 stars.
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