The Serpent and the Rainbow
by Wes Craven
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Actor: Bill Pullman, Brent Jennings, Cathy Tyson, Paul Winfield, Zakes MokaeDirector: Wes Craven
Brand: Universal Studios
Producer: David Ladd
Producer: Doug Claybourne
Producer: Keith Barish
Producer: Rob Cohen
Writer: Adam Rodman
Writer: Richard Maxwell
Writer: Wade Davis
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Original Language); Spanish (Original Language); French (Dubbed); Spanish (Dubbed)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 98 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-09-23
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Universal Studios
DVD Reviews of The Serpent and the Rainbow
DVD Review: The mystical culture of Haiti introduced in outstanding manner
Summary: 5 Stars
The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988) is a sci-fi, mystical, pagan movie
based on the culture of Haiti done in an outstanding manner, more so
for a movie completed with the technology of that time.
In the European and American nations, little is known about Haiti
than its economical history, such as the triangular trade and its
Carribean Island location.
This story will change all that. Those involved in this project are
incredibly talented: script, editing, special effects, costumes,
coordination of the extras, etc.
The quality of the DVD transfer is glossy and crystal clear, and the
audio is done to perfection as well, music, chanting, singing, songs,
etc. The picture is wide-screen, as well.
The actors often are too easily underestimated, for some reason or
other but here, they really pull through, taking the picture up
another notch. Bill Pullman as Dennis - just another "American"
tourist, wearing a T-Shirt, jeans - only this time, mandated by his
employer, a pharma company, to retrieve samples of a narcotic rumored
to be used in Haiti by the Tonton Macoutes chief of police. It is
also associated with Voodoo mystical rituals and with torture
techniques, mind control experiments, and more to repress political
dissidents, persona non grata, enemies and the unwelcome. Pullman has
to separate the fact from fiction.
Zakes Mokae masterfully plays Peytraud, the Macoutes police boss,
leading a double life as the underground voodoo shaman or godfather,
on the negative side.
Paul Winfield is Lucien, on the positive side, whno uses his
influence, knowledge, and training for the good and healing of the
same population.
The symbology is explained somewhat, with python snakes, rainbow,
tarantulas, funerals, the use of insect blood, skeletons, and others.
The filming sets are tightly focused on the story, strictly
controlling the street, hotel, and the landscape scenes, to only
further the film and its story, vs. any potential distraction.
Remarkable events happen to Pullman on the island, as his jaded,
atheistic, dismissive and Wall St Journal view of what his trip will
be about, is turned on its head, as he becomes the object of
strong-arm tactics by Moake for not heeding warnings, related to
straying from his tourist visa. Not even after submitting to torture
interrogation at one point, and getting involved with dissidents who
were administered the narcotic Tetrodotoxin, and the TonTon's mind
control (such as being buried alive) does the American stop. He
further gets romantically involved with his business contact on the
island, (Cathy Tyson.)
Some of the sets would naturally trigger a panic from city slickers,
if visiting the Rain Forests of the Amazon or the jungles of Haiti,
if falling down a 30 foot deep pit, or if confronted by a tiger. This
is double so, when facing voodoo as a belief system, not knowing its
rules, much less its intricacies and those believing it.
As stated, Mokae's character is deeply involved with the occult, and
psychologically manipulates victims, implanting hallucinations,
flashbacks, over 12 hour drug trips, imprinting massive fear in the
victims. They are convinced that taking them out would be an
inconsequential matter, as suggested by the piles of skulls in a
dungeon, located under the interrogation room.
The compound's preparation is apparently owed to the voodoo shamen,
over many generations, requiring the Bufo Marinus sea toad fish, sea
worm, puffer fish, skeleton bones, fire, various rituals, and is
explained and played well by Brent Jennings's "Bokor" character.
Some parts seem accessory to the storyline, such as the lighting of
500 candles in the middle of a tall and dense jungle, the
sleep-walking skeleton,the swimming and diving at a waterfall, name
dropping Lucrezia Borgia, etc.
The staging of a murder, to incriminate Pullman's character to gain
leverage is not unheard of, in cult of personality regimes.
Some of the special effects are extraordinarily well done, such as
when adversaries are thrown against the wall, the masterful filming
in very little light, with total clarity, the high-end picture
quality, etc.
In sum, this movie is definately something for sci-fi fans, and for
everyone.
Description of The Serpent and the Rainbow
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