GeekTyrant's October Zombie Fest continues with THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW

                                             

           The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)

Continuing with our month long zombie fest I just couldn't decide which zombie movie to use for my first pick so I went with an old favorite of mine and an untraditional zombie story, Wes Craven's The Serpent and the Rainbow.  Say what you will but this is a zombie movie of sorts. It deals with Haitian voodoo that presents a more realistic portrayal of the undead who aren't really undead but are being paralized by a powder and then are buried alive. Bill Pullman plays anthropologist Dennis alan whose curiosity send shim to Haiti after hearing rumors about a drug used by these black magic practioners. You hear stories about voodoo and these instances and this movie was shocking at times and has some of them "crnging" scenes that make a person say ouch!

This 1988 film comes eight years before Craven's most successful horror film landed, remember Scream? The Serpent and the Rainbow is based on the best-seller by Wade Davis.

The film has some of the best one liners of all time. "Don't bury me, I'm not dead." and "I want to hear you scream." Everything about this film to me is just as good as a horror film can get. There simply no weak spots in this more classic.

Trivia:

The CD Soundtrack to this film is extremely rare, as it was pressed in limited quantities. Part of this was due to the film's poor release and the fact that the market was transitioning from LP to CD as a mass format, meaning that the number of copies is much smaller than an average soundtrack album run.

Due to political strife and civil turmoil in Haiti during the production, the local government informed the film crew that they could not guarantee their safety for the remainder of the shoot. The crew subsequently relocated to nearby Dominican Republic to complete filming.

Bill Pullman acted alongside a jaguar, a viper and a tarantula during the course of film. However all the animals were raised in captivity and were relatively tame.

Synopsis:

Dennis Allan is an scientist who visits Haiti on the strength of a rumour of a drug which renders the recipient totally paralyzed but conscious. The drug's effects often fool doctors, who declare the victims dead. Could this be the origin of the "zombie" legend? Alan embarks on a surprising and often surreal investigation of the turbulent social chaos that is Haiti during the revolution which ousted hated dictator "Baby Doc" Duvalier. Often a pawn in a greater game, Alan must decide what is science, what is superstition, and what is the unknown in a anarchistic society where police corruption and witch-doctory are commonplace.