The Serpent and the Rainbow is a zombie film directed by horror icon Wes Craven (the Creator of A Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream). Instead of flesh eating, crazed walking corpses, Wes Craven?s zombies are actual human victims of black magic wielding boucans, or voodoo priests who use magic to enslave one?s soul. This movie is about fear, death, and the nightmare of not knowing difference between hallucinations, dreams, and reality.

The film is set in politically turbulent, poverty-stricken Haiti. A Harvard Anthropologist played by Bill Pullman is sent there to learn about a drug used in voodoo rituals to make one a ?zombie?, meaning that all motor functions cease and the intended takes on the appearance of being ?dead?, only to rise from the death-like trance later. Believing that the drug could be used as an advanced anesthetic, the anthropologist joins forces with an attractive young female (of course) Haitian psychologist to find it. He soon discovers that the victims of this poison have trouble remembering details about their ?deaths?, and that the military government is using it to destroy the lives of people who oppose them. What Bill Pullman?s character begins to realize slowly, through nightmarish visions and drug-induced panic attacks, is that the voodoo priests actually do brandish power over their victims, and once he is caught up in the magic, he must struggle to survive becoming a zombie himself.

The best things about this movie are the nightmare sequences, something that Wes Craven does very well. He spares no creative expense when fashioning hellish dreams and hallucinations for our protagonist. Mummified corpses, buckets of blood, and snakes figure abundantly in these scenes. Perhaps the most shocking sequence occurs when Bill Pullman is buried alive. (Premature Burial is a theme that arises throughout the film). When the anthropologist is not dreaming the scenes are just as frightening. Spine-chilling cemeteries and voodoo ceremonies, as well as a good sex scene, make this a fun film to watch. Wes Craven uses shadows, light and dark, and fast-moving cameras to startle you when you least expect it.

The Haitian element is played up so much that watching this film you almost feel immersed in the culture. Craven never falters for a minute in the authenticity of the storyline. Haitian music and towns are used in this film for an element of realism, and not many sound stages are used (except in some of the ritual scenes).

The last ten minutes of the film are disappointing in that the special effects don?t compare to any done earlier in the film. The ?bad guy?, the voodoo priest who has been turning innocent people into zombies, is defeated by the strength of Bill Pullman and his voodoo allies. The priest bursts into flames and stumbles around, burning and screaming. Moments later, he returns from the dead, burnt, and even wearing a red sweater. Remind anyone of a Nightmare on Elm Street? Is Wes craven obsessed with burnt fiends returning from the dead, or did he just run out of ideas? It seems like he ran out of money when he got to the end of this film, because cheesy flashes of light and cartoon-like drawings are used to represent the ?bad? priests demise and the return of innocent souls to their rightful places.

There is a political struggle taking place in Haiti as all this is happening. In the end, as the voodoo priest is being destroyed, the peasants rebel against their dictator and expel him from the country. They are seen laughing, dancing, and moving around just as Bill Pullman overcomes his zombification as he regains his stolen soul, returning to him his ability to control his thoughts, actions and movements. You?d have to be blind to miss the ?message? that people can be enslaved by an evil government or a voodoo priest just the same. Zombies are people who have lost their ?soul?, or their freedom of thought, movement, and individuality. Anyone who enslaves a person and makes them a zombie (by magic or by political power) is a slave master and needs to be fought. This theme adds sincerity and seriousness to the film. However, I?m not sure we can credit Wes Craven with it; it was most likely a part of the story before he made it into a film. (It is based upon a book by the same name).

I recommend this film to anyone who likes zombies, because it offers a different type of zombie; one who is a victim of voodoo and one who is very much in need of help. Flesh-eaters may be more entertaining at first glance, but having to lie in a coffin, unable to speak or move, while you are covered in dirt, knowing you will suffocate slowly and that when you awake you will be six feet deep and no one will be able to hear you scream is a pretty terrifying thought. ?Don?t bury me, I?m not dead yet??