Cursed Films: The Serpent and the Rainbow
Photo credit: Universal-Scream/Shout Factory
The Serpent and the Rainbow: A movie centered around a religion that has been so bastardized by Hollywood that the general population believes it subsists on curses turns out to be the least cursed in the series.
The Plot
Anthropologist Dr. Dennis Alan (Bill Pullman) is thrown into physical and spiritual turmoil when he is sent to Haiti to research a drug used by the Vodou priests to create “zombies”.
The movie is loosely based on the true story of Wade Davis and his research and postulations on real life zombie Clairvius Narcisse. His published theory is that tetrodotoxin (the killer stuff from blowfish) and the datura plant caused Clairvius’s state. Yep, zombies are real, but they don’t want to hurt us or eat brains.
Started With a Blessing
The movie’s producers wanted the movie to be as accurate as possible, so the cast and crew flew to Haiti to be blessed in a Vodou ceremony.
The actors experienced culture shock from the abject poverty, and real turmoil, as the country had just deposed dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier a year earlier.
Don’t Mess With What You Don’t Understand
Serpent scriptwriter Richard Maxwell became convinced he was cursed that he-depending on who you talk to-had a nervous breakdown, or became possessed. He was eventually flown to Miami and given to the care of his wife.
Actor Bill Pullman had a less frightening experience of a spiritual nature, but does not like discussing it.
What You See is Real
The ceremonies onscreen are not Hollywoodized-they are real.
Wes had stated he did not want to make this a horror film; it was to be true Davis’s book. Davis’s book was respectful to the Haitian community at large, and was written in a way that he had hoped would counter all of the hateful, racist stereotypes.
Leaving Haiti to Finish the Film
The political unrest perpetuated the crippling poverty left behind by Jean-Claude Duvalier. A chance for locals to be paid $3.00 as extras caused rioting as more locals began to show up than were hired. Sensing that their protection was coming to an end, the cast and crew escaped and finished filming in the Dominican Republic.
The Finished Product
The Serpent and the Rainbow wrapped, and Hollywood took hold. Neither Wes Craven nor Wade Davis were happy as they could have been-Wade felt it was almost as bad as its racist predecessors, Wes was unhappy with the horror element; he was trying to get away from horror films at the time. But in time, Wade has been a little more accepting.
Fascinating
This is one of the few films to portray Vodou ceremonies in a positive light, or just plain correct in general.
The only recent equivalent is Papa Midnite on the short-lived NBC series Constantine.
Meltdowns aside, this film seems to be the least cursed of the series, and I’m okay with that.
Cursed Films streams on Shudder.
The Serpent and the Rainbow is available on DVD and some streaming services.
