Jennifer Senick (columbo@vt.edu) :
This movie is absolutely wonderful. Bill Pullman plays a Harvard PhD who gets trapped in a
voodoo corcle in Haiti. A must see if not just for a gratuitous sex scene!! Louise
Eidson (lbeidson@norfolk.infi.net):
The Serpent and The Rainbow received a great review from Siskel and Ebert ages ago (read
the review on the Chicago Sun's on-line history of movie reviews from one of those guys -
forget which) so it must have been legit.
Knowing that it was based on a true story makes the movie even more appealing. Yes, it was scary (it ain't a horror for nothin'), but the acting in it was really good. Ladies - want to hear Bill say a few words in French? Then this is your movie (although he only asks the lady about her brother, but hey, at least it sounds sexy...). It also has, as my colleague mentioned earlier, a gratuitous sex scene, but it's Bill, so it's okay.
The plot is really challenging - finding the recipe to a voodoo powder drug so that it
can be replicated and used for medicinal applications in the States (I remember they
talked about naming the drug Zombitol...). Bill also plays kind of a Indiana Jones scene
at the beginning of the movie - he was much thinner in that movie. Certainly the
unbearable heat of Haiti has something to do with it. Alice Zemaitis
(azemaiti@staff.uiuc.edu):
I have to say The Serpent and the Rainbow is one of my all time favorite Bill Pullman
movies. I enjoy watching horror movies, but I found this one to be particularly
intriguing. This is one I had to watch over and over because there were so many
interesting ideas, scenery shots, etc. within it that I kept catching new ones each time I
watched it. This one is a must see for Bill Pullman fans! For fans of horror movies, this
movie was directed by Wes Craven who also directed all of the Freddy Krueger, Nightmare on
Elm Street movies. Susan :
I suppose I should begin by qualifying my opinion with the confession that I dislike the
horror genre (though sci-fi horror, like Alien is OK). But I was willing to give it a
try...unfortunately.
The problem wasn't with the plot, it was with the director and actors. The whole film
has a TV movie-like and/or bad B flick feel. The acting is poor and stilted (even the
voice-overs are without emotion or engaging delivery). A BIG waste of time. Janina
(jvonfurs@aol.com) :
This is my all time favorite movies, period! I still love it after ten years. As a former
anthropologist, I shuddered when I heard that Wes Craven had gotten his hands on Davis's
book (which is actually more about the actual formula research and not the political
happenings.)
This is the most respectful movie Hollywood has done about the diasporic religion, voodoo (or Voudon.) It shows what is true about ALL religions - some people are in it for the true spirituality it gives them, some are in it for the organizational power.
Now, off the soapbox, I think BP does a GREAT job of capturing the Young Anthro in the Field. He manages to capture the intellectual cockiness well, esp. when faced with comeuppance that is inevitable for those who think they know all about the "primitive" society they study. :-)
I enjoyed the pace of the movie too, it explains enough of several complex subjects running in paralllel (Haitian politics, brain biochemistry, and Voudon) so that the movie is understandable to laymen and satifisying to experts.
Kudos on a sensitive performance Bill!
(By the way, the sex scene is not gratuitous. She is possessed by Erzulie
the Goddess of love and one of the ways to honor her is with making love. It is a
pilgrimage, after all.)
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