The corruption of the government and military of Haiti during the Baby Doc years are documented along with the superstitions of the turning of the poorest citizens into zombies. For doctor Bill Pullman, it's a nightmare every where he does, and in his attempts to help those inflicted with the curse of becoming the undead, he becomes the targeted. It's a disturbing vision of a country cursed with extreme poverty, disease, corruption and rumored evil in the name of a certain kind of religion.

The story and direction by Wes Craven are tight and Pullman leads a sensational ensemble. You really feel for the agony of the Haitian citizens with no real possibility of hope, and for Pullman's doctor, his nightmares are often inflicted by the possibility that these dreams that could be reality. The curse follows Pullman back to the states where things continue to get worse. For Pullman, the terror seems to be far from over.

So while it is never actually said in descriptions of the film, this is a political analogy of Haiti at the time as well as a story of far beyond what you normally see in horror films. The monster is human and the tools are the various drugs and herbs used by those who follow this practice. In that sense, it makes it all the more scary because you can see how innocent people can be affected by this in real life if they are vulnerable to such beliefs. As a horror movie, it is a bit disappointing, and the narrative is often sketchy and twisted. But it is an interesting film nonetheless that shows the society often denied to movie audiences outside some very far-fetched films especially those made decades before.

In 1985, Dr. Dennis Alan (Bill Pullman) from Harvard is in deepest Amazon studying the locals. He is given hallucinogens. His helicopter pilot is killed and he's forced to travel the 200 miles on his own. Back in Boston, he's recruited by a pharmaceutical to study a possible case of zombification in Haiti. Christophe Durand was declared dead in 1978 and buried. However he has returned under the care of psychiatrist Dr. Duchamp (Cathy Tyson). She introduces him to Lucien Celine (Paul Winfield) and local hustler Louis Mozart. There is also Dargent Peytraud, the leader of the feared Tonton Macuse who are the thugs of dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier.

I really like the exotic realism and the idea of voodoo zombies. Actually the more traditional horror gimmicks from Wes Craven in the last act is not that exciting. I like the woman eating glass at diner but the last section tries too much. The strength of the movie is any remote connection to reality. It's creepy and Zakes Mokae is such a great villain.

"The Serpent and the Rainbow" is a film that works best if you don't think through the plot but instead just take the movie as it comes. This is because if you think about it, the plot doesn't make a lot of sense---especially the amazingly silly finale. On the positive side, the film has a wonderful sense of creepiness--all brought to you by the guy responsible for the "Nightmare on Elm Street" series, Wes Craven.

The film is set in Haiti during the latter part of the Baby Doc Duvalier era. For some completely insane reason, a doctor (Bill Pullman) has been sent to the country by a pharmaceutical company to learn the secret of zombification so that they could possibly use the zombie formula for positive/curative purposes. This really makes no sense at all. What also doesn't make sense is how horrible and dangerous it is there--with all sorts of voodoo, zombies and terror. The ending is amazingly stupid--where some of this terror is really scary and creepy and some of it is hampered by the 1988-style prosthetics which look very fake by today's standards. Still, the creepy factor is an A+ for the film overall. It's not the sort of film I'd usually watch, but for a change of pace, it was pretty good.