THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW (1988)
Starring Bill Pullman and Cathy Tyson
This was the first flick that showed the level of Craven's brilliance as a horror filmmaker.
Yes, his earlier pics were all brilliant too. But they were hardcore schlock. This film isn't quite so hardcore on the schlock side. It's more intellectual. You can actually have a serious conversation with a date after seeing this movie. Craven had also made a lot of crap in his time before producing this thinking-man's fear flick—a film so good it's a great political thriller in addition to being the best voodoo movie, ever.
Part of the success is due partly to the fact that "Serpent" is based on a true story.
While attending Harvard, anthropologist Wade Davis traveled to Haiti and discovered a real-life drug that literally turns people into zombies—making them appear dead, then resurrected.
His book about his experience, "The Serpent and the Rainbow," was more an excursion into the folklore of the region than a horror tale, but leave it to Craven to change that.
In his version—replete with severed heads, zombies and a gruesome torture scene no male will ever forget—Davis is on a mission to find the drug for a corporation and finds himself in a psychic voodoo war against a political leader in the country. Eventually he's turned into a zombie himself—and is totally conscious at his own autopsy and then burial.
With a large budget and great performances by Pullman as Wade, Tyson as his African love interest and Zakes Mokae as the Haitian leader who uses voodoo to oppress his people, "The Serpent and the Rainbow" is an excellent, accessible horror film that appeals to genre fans and mainstream audiences.
An absolute must-see.