blog de cine: The serpent and the rainbow

domingo, octubre 19, 2014

The serpent and the rainbow

USA (1988)

The story starts in Haiti, where Denis Alan goes to investigate about a new medicine. This medicine is really special because it becomes people into zombies! It seems unbelievable but there are several cases in Port-au-Prince that confirms that fact. The most important one is Christophe who is alive after a doctor demonstrates that he was dead. Christophe is very clever and he talks to Denis about his experience; he had a prepared powder and the he died. But it was not a real death because after a few hours he was alive again. The mysterious powder just can be made in the jungle under very “dark” conditions. A shaman named Lucien will prepare a bottle of powder composed of dead animals, vegetables and human bones. This powerful medicine have to be managed carefully. Denis is not aware of the danger of that product and he carries it to America to sell it to an important pharmaceutical company. However, realistic nightmares oblige Denis to come back to Haiti and fight against the evil that is controlling zombies.

In 1988 Wes Craven (one of the master of horror movies) filmed this atypical zombie's movie from a point of view of science, and, according to Wes, inspired by true events, The serpent and the rainbow shows a story where zombies are a victims of a medicine and black magic. After the tremendous success of A Nightmare on Elm Street, Wes tried to film a new concept of horror film. With a man controlling dreams (Freddy Krueger Style) by black magic and a Star who is aware of the reality, the plot tries to demonstrate how is possible to create zombies in a real world. A great redefinition of the genre that was forgotten quickly (unfairly) due to spectators hoped another stunning hit about Freddy's life. The serpent and the rainbow is a very recommendable film for fans of classic horror movies because it has all of the (good) ingredients of this kind of films: mystery, black magic, blood, dead, violence, and, of course, a few zombies.

To Remember: Dargent Peytraud, a very nice devil.

To Forget: In the 80's and 90's, Wes Craven preferred to earn money with boring sequels of Nightmare on E.L. Instead of to create new movies such as The Serpent and the Rainbow.