The Serpent and the Rainbow: Wes Craven's Preposterous Take on Voodoo

Imbued with creepy atmospherics and clever set pieces, The Serpent and the Rainbow is a handsomely made horror film plagued by a horrible script and wafer-thin characterization. For most of its running time, we are asked to swallow one quasi-religious diatribe after another. This pseudo-science blather is delivered ad nauseam by veterans Bill Pullman (in post-Lone Star mode) and Paul Winfield; two perfectly capable talents laid to waste by a tidal wave of embarrassing dialog. It's difficult to take their roles seriously in a film that ends with Pullman's character channeling some sort of jaguar spirit that allows him to conjure up a Carrie-style telekinesis in order to defeat his Freddy Krueger-like nemesis. In the film's climax, which takes an already preposterous story to obscene levels, the aforementioned scene is shoe-horned into the narrative without any apparent purpose or logic behind it. It is a perfunctory and goofy scene that stands in stark contrast to an otherwise serious story with some downright frightening scenes. A scene in which Pullman is buried alive is a shining example of how capable Craven can be and is arguably one of his most effective.

And if trying to swallow the notion of Bill Pullman as a respected anthropologist isn't ludricous enough, try to accept the film's dubious disclaimer as a true-to-life account of Haitian zombies who possess supernatural powers. You'd be hard pressed not to double over in fits of laughter when you see just how serious Craven treats the subject matter. It also doesn't help that the entire film features some of the worst expository voice-over narration this side of Harrison Ford's mind-numbing dialog for Blade Runner.

It's hard to understand why Wes Craven continues to be so lauded as a horror icon of 80s in light of the much better output of the era. John Landis and David Cronenberg displayed a much better understanding and mastery of the medium. His talent for building suspenseful scenes based on fresh and original ideas is consistently undermined by poor choices in casting and writing. The Serpent and the Rainbow is certainly no exception.