The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)

Dennis Alan, an ethnobotanist/anthropologist from Harvard University, narrowly escapes the Amazon Jungle at the beginning and returns to Boston. Word of his exploits gets around and he is approached by a large pharmaceutical corporation looking to investigate a drug that is part of the Voodoo religion in Haiti that they want to acquire in order to mass produce. They send him to Haiti to find out about the drug, but he winds up learning more about zombification instead. In essence, the drug is an alternate and less dangerous method of anesthesia.

When Alan arrives in Haiti the country is in the middle of a revolution of sorts. The government is taking anyone prisoner who they think is against the current political powers. He eventually meets another doctor who helps him research and investigate the so-called zombies. What he finds is the evil that lurks behind the Voodoo religion and the destruction it can cause to the human mind.


This is honestly IMO one of the most original and overlooked tales of the undead!! for some reason this film always had a bit more realism within its plot and viewing this as a young buck it sure did make an impression on me and still remains as one of my favorites til' this day.

The film is very loosely based on a non-fiction book by ethnobotanist Wade Davis, dealing with his experiences in Haiti as he investigates the story of Clairvius Narcisse, allegedly poisoned, buried alive, and given a herbal brew whose effects mimicked zombification.

Probably Craven's last decent film...

I haven't seen it in quite a while, but from what I remember it was pretty creepy...it has been on satellite lately, but I never can seem to catch it from the beginning...