Right off the bat, I’d like to say that I really am not a
“horror movie-guy.” And all due respect, but if you are one, you know who you
are: you can rattle off obscure B-movie horror actors and directors without
batting an eye, you talk about things like blood spatter and creature make-up
like it’s an artform unto itself and just generally have a real affinity for
the horror and slasher genres. That’s not me. I don’t dislike horror movies, I
just generally don’t choose to watch them and thus don’t usually have much to
say about them. I’m more of a comedy kind of fella. However, like with any
genre, I have my handful that I love and repeatedly return to (and many of
those are even more comedy than horror, such as Shaun of the Dead or the Evil
Dead series). But with Halloween right around the corner, I thought it
appropriate to write up a horror film that I do adore. 
So I’d like to discuss Wes Craven’s
The Serpent and the Rainbow because I
feel that among a seemingly never ending sea of horror films, it stands out as
one of the best. Many of the greatest films, horror or otherwise, are often
based somewhat in fact. The Serpent and
the Rainbow was not necessarily based entirely on fact, but was inspired by
the 1985 book of the same name by Harvard research scientist Wade Davis. The
book details Davis’ travels to Haiti to investigate a voodoo society that utilizes
mysterious drugs that lower a person’s metabolic processes to the point where
they appear dead, are buried alive and resurrected later, having been aware of
everything they’d been through. Leave it to Wes Craven to turn what is
essentially a scientific and fact-based document (albeit a disturbing one) and
turn it into one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. 
In the film, Bill Pullman plays the
protagonist Dennis Allen, a Harvard researcher who, like Davis, goes to Haiti to
look into these “zombification” drugs in hopes of utilizing their anesthetic
qualities. In his investigation Allen, assisted by Dr. Marielle Duchamp (Cathy
Tyson), enters deep into the world of the Voodoo religion and black magic. He
discovers that the drug he is looking for is the reason behind many people
being presumed dead and buried alive. During his investigation he is often
thwarted by his main antagonist, one of the most utterly upsetting characters
to ever be put on screen, Dargent Peytraud. Peytraud is the head of the Haitian
militia group the Tonton Macoute and a powerful Voodoo priest, who arrests, taunts,
tortures and frames Dr. Allen for murder in order to protect the secrets of his
religion and the zombification drugs. Peytraud is always wearing an eerie
toothy grin and can appear in dreams and visions to manipulate people’s minds
and nightmares because Wes Craven determined that I don’t need to sleep at
night. He uses these powers to his brutally creepy advantage, creating
nightmarish and paralyzing trances in various characters. 
Much of the entire film seems like
it could really happen because, to an extent, some of it did really happen. People were buried alive because of a weird
voodoo drug. People do still practice voodoo and black magic. However, the
beauty in The Serpent and the Rainbow
lies more with Craven’s ability to perfectly marry the realistic with the
surrealistic. The film is definitely classic Craven, as it eases between dream
and reality much like in A Nightmare on
Elm Street. But it differs from much of his other work in that it is deeply
rooted in realistic premises. I mean, yes, the film was inspired by real
events, but even some of the less plausible scenes in the movie, such as the
way Peytraud is able to manipulate nightmares, are shot in such a way that it
does not seem farfetched, making The
Serpent and the Rainbow essentially the most realistic zombie film there is.
And that realism is what makes it a great horror film. I’m confident that even
the most steadfast of horror fanatics can’t really argue with that.So, do me a favor and humor me, scream queens and slasher fiends. If you haven’t already, set some time aside to check out Craven’s film and prepare to lose a couple of nights sleep. And Happy Halloween everyone.
-
Jonathan Eagle
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