The Serpent and the Rainbow

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Serpent and the Rainbow
The DVD cover
Directed by	Wes Craven
Produced by	Keith Barish Rob Cohen
Written by	Wade Davis (book) Richard Maxwell Adam Rodman
Starring	Bill Pullman Zakes Mokae Cathy Tyson
Release date(s)	1988
Running time	98 min.
Country	U.S.A.
Language	English
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

The Serpent and the Rainbow is a 1988 American horror film, directed by Wes Craven and starring Bill Pullman.

The film takes its title from a non-fiction book by ethnobotanist Wade Davis, dealing with his experiences in Haiti as he investigates the voodoo based phenomenon of zombiefication.

1 Synopsis
2 Trivia
3 References
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Synopsis

David Allen, an ethnobotanist/anthropologist from Harvard University, narrowly escapes the Amazon Jungle at the beginning and returns to Boston. Word of his exploits get around and he is approached by a large pharmaceutical corporation looking to investigate a drug that is part of the Voodoo religion in Haiti that they want to acquire in order to mass produce. They send him to Haiti to find out about the drug, but he winds up learning more about zombification instead. In essence, the drug is an alternate and less dangerous method of anesthesia.

When Allen arrives in Haiti the country is in the middle of a revolution of sorts. The government is taking anyone prisoner who they think is against the current political powers. He eventually meets another doctor who helps him research and investigate the so-called zombies. What he finds is the evil that lurks behind the Voodoo religion and the destruction it can cause to the human mind.

[edit] Trivia

The initial printing of the soundtrack was exclusive to LPs, with an estimated 10 or fewer CD copies being printed before discontinuation.^[1]

Author Wade Davis agreed to sell the book rights on the condition that Peter Weir direct and Mel Gibson star. Neither man had any involvement in the project.^[2]

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.^[3]