The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)

PHEW!  For all of my reviews, writing something for The Serpent and the Rainbow is frankly a bit daunting — but let’s do it anyway.  Prepare for a long, drab description in 3 … 2 … 1 …

Synopsis

In 1988, a Harvard doctor by the name of Dennis Alan (Bill Pullman) has been hired by a large pharmaceutical corporation to travel to Haiti in 1985 (which is tricky because they don’t supply him with a time machine) to investigate the case of a man who died in 1978 and has apparently returned to life with the aid of a Voodoo drug.  The pharmaceutical corporation wants Dr. Alan to acquire the zombie drug so they can research it; their intent is to mass produce and sell it as a type of “super anesthetic”.  While in Haiti, Dr. Alan hooks up with a brainy local hot chick by the name of Marielle Duchamp (played by Cathy Tyson), then gets mixed up in deception and Voodoo.  Apparently this fictional film is loosely based on the non-fiction book of the same name.

Marielle Duchamp (Cathy Tyson) doing the Safety Dance … either that or she’s tied up. Who knows … it was the 80s!

Or at least to say, if you have a sense of humor, you can interpret this film that way and write big long run-on sentences, because really who reads all of these reviews anyway?
(Although I was told once that a person read, and had a good laugh, my review of the zombie film “Billy Elliot” — yes, it’s a zombie film.)

So on a more serious note… well, somewhat more serious…

This film was budgeted at $7M and made nearly $20M at the box office, so I don’t know if that makes it good but the marketing was good enough to get people to watch it.  I guess Wes Craven was trying to cash-in on his good name and Nightmare on Elm Street success.  Whatever the case, it kind of looks like an 80s film and it definitely feels like an 80s horror-mystery film.  I wouldn’t suggest going out of your way to watch this, but if you are looking for something to play while you hang out … well, spin it up.  I’d rate this film Yellow Puss.

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