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Movies / On DVD / The Serpent and the Rainbow
The Serpent and the Rainbow

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The Serpent and the Rainbow (1987)

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59 %
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Reviews Counted:27

Fresh:16

Rotten:11

Average Rating:5.6/10

Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Synopsis: Dennis Alan heads to Haiti in hopes of obtaining a mysterious potion that represses the nervous and respiratory systems without causing death; this draught would also scientifically explain the... Dennis Alan heads to Haiti in hopes of obtaining a mysterious potion that represses the nervous and respiratory systems without causing death; this draught would also scientifically explain the myth of the zombie. Once on Caribbean soil, however, Alan encounters powerful cults, government corruption and a poverty-stricken populace ready to revolt -- and he finds himself deeply seduced by voodoo, though his sense of logic cannot comprehend its mystical nature. But more earthly dangers lurk in the form of an evil magistrate and the local police, who do not hesitate to torture Alan when he defies their leader. In the end, Alan emerges from the experience radically changed, with the realization that Western notions of science cannot explain the many things he's witnessed in this world. [More]

Starring: Bill Pullman, Cathy Tyson, Zakes Mokae, Paul Winfield

Starring: Bill Pullman, Cathy Tyson, Zakes Mokae, Paul Winfield

Director: Wes Craven

Director: Wes Craven
Story: Wade Davis

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Nov 30, 1999

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for The Serpent and the Rainbow

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Despite the strongly emphasized exoticness its Haitian scenery, The Serpent and the Rainbow may be Wes Craven's most pedestrian film.

Full Review Source: Projection Booth | comment Comment
10/26/07
Rob Humanick
Rob Humanick
Projection Booth

Offers a few good scares but gets bogged down in special effects.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
09/25/07
Variety Staff
Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Craven combines the terrifying dream sequences of A Nightmare on Elm Street with the subtle and evocative atmospherics of Val Lewton.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
09/25/07
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Genuinely frightening.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
09/25/07
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Unfortunately, the political parallel between the ideological repression of Baby Doc's regime and the stultifying effects of the zombifying fluid is only sketchily developed, leaving us with a series of striking but isolated set pieces.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Derek Adams
Derek Adams
Time Out

A lame documentary-flavored horror story.

Full Review Source: Lessons of Darkness | comment Comment
01/25/06
Nick Schager
Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness

No review available.

comment Comment
07/19/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

comment Comment
02/18/05
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

No review available.

comment Comment
11/19/04
Robin Clifford
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

The Serpent and the Rainbow has a screenplay that often breaks its spell.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
08/30/04
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A trippy, guilty pleasure.

comment Comment
08/30/04
John Wirt
John Wirt
Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA)

Director Wes Craven learned that the scariest things often have nothing to do with special effects wizardry.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
08/27/04
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

No review available.

comment Comment
01/24/04
Spence D.
Spence D.
IGN Movies

A scary, hallucinogenic and underrated horror movie, and one of Wes Craven's best.

comment Comment
11/04/03
Blake Davis
Blake Davis
KFOR Channel 4 News

Mildly effective "fact" based horror from Wes Craven.

comment Comment
10/19/03
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Genuinely chilling, one of Wes Craven's best.

comment Comment
01/12/03
Rob Vaux
Rob Vaux
Flipside Movie Emporium

Possibly Craven's best -- an original voodoo thriller that's also primo Pullman

comment Comment
01/09/03
Luke Y. Thompson
Luke Y. Thompson
New Times

Craven tries something different, with mixed results

comment Comment
01/05/03
James Sanford
James Sanford
Kalamazoo Gazette

An invisibly smart film, a lot brighter underneath than its surface gloss would suggest.

Full Review Source: Netflix | comment 1 Comment
11/07/02
James Rocchi
James Rocchi
Netflix

No review available.

comment Comment
08/08/02
Cory Cheney
Cory Cheney
Urban Tulsa Weekly
 
 
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