Friday, March 18, 2016

100 Scariest Movie Moments: #29 The Serpent and the Rainbow

I think it took me several viewings to really get The Serpent and the Rainbow. However, it’s a creepy movie. As far as I can tell, it’s the source of the “powder that makes you appear dead for several days” cliché, although I believe this may only be that powder’s primary use in horror. It generally seems to pop up in dramas and mysteries in which the plot dictates that a character be dead, then not be dead.



The film is very loosely based on a true story, because the reality was far less interesting. There was an anthropologist who claimed that such a powder actually existed. Today, there’s an ongoing controversy over whether or not he committed fraud. The alternative seems to be that there is such a powder, but it has such an unbelievably low success rate that no one’s ever been able to reproduce it under laboratory conditions, and the actual cases of zombies are rare anomalies that happen just often enough to make people believe.



That said, this movie delves into the nature of reality and belief. Dr. Dennis Alan (Bill Pullman), our main character, goes to Haiti, hoping to discover the secret of zombies because of the potential uses as an anesthetic for surgery. The movie is technically a period piece, set against the downfall of Bebe Doc’s government, but the setting is only ten years before the film was made.



Dr. Allan finds a knowledgeable practitioner named Louis Mozart (Brent Jennings). Mozart’s an interesting character, as he’s willing to help Dr. Allan purely for his own benefit. Initially, he wants money for the powder, but eventually gives it to Dr Allan simply because he believes it could make him famous. Louis is a wise-cracker, who we're led to like, but far from heroic.



On the other hand however, a priest and official under Bebe Doc by the name of Peytraud (Zakes Mokae) is determined both to drive out the foreigner and to protect the secrets of Voodoo. This is not because of his piety, but simply because he sees the power of the religion as something to keep enemies of the regime in line; so he threatens to steal the soul of Dr. Allan.



The eventual fall-out walks a line between the magical and the mundane. Dr. Allan has many horrifying experiences that may be supernatural, or may simply be the result of chemically induced hallucinations. Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter, because both possibilities are terrifying beyond belief. Eventually, this culminates in Dr. Allan being buried alive and dug up to face Peytraud in a vulnerable state.



Bill Pullman gives an excellent performance. I’ve heard some accusations of racism directed against this movie, but given that every main character other than Pullman’s is black, it seems to make perfect sense that the villains are black. Furthermore, Voodoo is portrayed as a Religion that has been corrupted by the leaders of Haiti, not simply as evil magic.



The final few minutes of the movie arguably go a bit too far with their imagery and actually begin to come across as silly. On the other hand, I suppose a man who’d just been poisoned and buried alive might see some silly things. Whether he’s been attacked with magic physically, attacked with magic psychologically or just dosed with chemicals is left for the viewer to decide. Hell, any event that happens after Bebe Doc fleeing Haiti (which, at minimum, we know actually did happen) is pretty much up for grabs.



I wish more movies like this existed, mixing physical terror with the psychological. There is no monster to jump out and say “boo.” There is only human evil in whatever form you believe it manifests, harnessing whatever powers it can. This movie is great.

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