History Film / TheSerpentAndTheRainbow

* AndIMustScream: Anyone Subjected to the zombie powder remains completely aware of what’s happening, unable to fight and well aware that it well wear off.

* BigBad: Dargent Peytraud is the ultimate antagonist, threatening and harassing Alan before driving him from Haiti under threat of death. Whilst he claims he is trying to prevent Alan from aiding rebel causes, it's implied the actual reason is a combination of fear that Alan will reveal the secret of how zombification works, thus robbing him of some of his power, and just random petty cruelty.

* FrameUp: Peytraud kills [[spoiler: Christophe's sister]]. and takes pictures of Alan lying next to her body to blackmail him into leaving the country.

* JumpScare: As Alan wonders through graveyards looking for Christophe and doubts there’s anyone there, he turns and finds himself facing a figure holding up a shovel, causing him to jump back and fall into the grave. It turns out that the man was a grave robber rather than Christophe, but the actual Christophe appears just a minute later, as Alan begins to question if he was ever resurrected in the first place.

* MindRape: Peytraud specializes in inflicting haunting dreams and other psychological tortures on his enemies and floats the ColdBloodedTorture he inflicted on people is nothing compared to the mental torture he’s capable of.

-->'''Peytraud:''' "This country lives on the edge, Doctor Alan. One weakness in the wrong place and over it goes right back into slavery again, just like with the French. The United States would like anarchy here, I'm sure. Well this isn't Grenada, Doctor Alan! I'm here now! There are people like me who'll make sure that doesn't happen. You'll remember that." [[note]]As seen under NoCelebritiesWereHarmed, Peytraud's viewpoints are almost directly lifted from Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier. During the 20th century American-Haitian relations were very tense. This culminated in the American Occupation of Haiti. A horror-show in which the Haitian economy was restructured for the benefit of American Corporations. Segregation was enforced reducing Black Haitians to third class citizens in their own country. The mixed race elites occupied the second class. Furthermore, determined to assert control, wanton cruelty and summary executions ruled the day. American's even used forced labor resulting in the deaths of thousands of Haitians. This left deep resentment and hatred in the minds of Haitians, remember Haiti was founded in an anti-slavery revolt. Papa Doc grew up during this period and was ''very'' bitter towards the United States. During both his and his son's regimes they made constant appeals to the horrors of the occupation telling the people it was either them or back to that.[[/note]]

%%* BigBad: Dargent Peytraud.

* CardCarryingVillain: Peytraud. As to be expected from a man whose both a secret police official and an acknowledged practitioner of Black Magic.

* ColdBloodedTorture: Done by Peytraud to Allan when he doesn't want to leave the country.

* GroinAttack: With a [[NailEm nail]]. "I want to hear you ''scream!''" [[spoiler:In the first case, Peytraud only tries to terrify Allan without actually doing much damage. When Allan does it to Peytraud at the end, however...]]

* MightyWhitey: Actually averted, as described in the film itself he's "A schoolboy in a world of Oxford Graduates." Alan is hopelessly outclassed and only spared "disappearance" because Peytraud doesn't want to deal with a dead prominent American during political upheaval. [[spoiler: Once the regime begins the crumble Peytraud takes the gloves off. If not for Christophe, direct intervention from Selene and the souls of Peytraud's victims Alan would have died at least thrice over.]]

-->'''Peytraud:''' "This country lives on the edge, Doctor Alan. One weakness in the wrong place and over it goes right back into slavery again, just like with the French. The United States would like anarchy here, I'm sure. Well this isn't Grenada, Doctor Alan! I'm here now! There are people like me who'll make sure that doesn't happen. You'll remember that."who expresses relief and concern for Dennis having made it out of Haiti after picking up on how uncomfortable he seems to talk about it, and shows pride and gratitude in what he did and sounds genuinely interested in hearing an explanation of how the process works.
** [[spoiler: As seen under NoCelebritiesWereHarmed, Peytraud's viewpoints are almost directly lifted from Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier. During the 20th century American-Haitian relations were very tense. This culminated in the American Occupation of Haiti. A horror-show in which the Haitian economy was restructured for the benefit of American Corporations. Segregation was enforced reducing Black Haitians to third class citizens in their own country. The mixed race elites occupied the second class. Furthermore, determined to assert control, wanton cruelty and summary executions ruled the day. American's even used forced labor resulting in the deaths of thousands of Haitians. This left deep resentment and hatred in the minds of Haitians, remember Haiti was founded in an anti-slavery revolt. Papa Doc grew up during this period and was ''very'' bitter towards the United States. During both his and his son's regimes they made constant appeals to the horrors of the occupation telling the people it was either them or back to that.]]

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Peytraud is pretty blatantly based on both Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier (being a voodoo sorcerer) and Luckner Cambronne (being the head of the Tonton Macoutes). Given that the Duvalier family still had many supporters when the film began production in Haiti despite Papa Doc's son and heir Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier's recent ouster, one suspects they were more concerned about harm coming to the celebrities acting in the film.
* NothingIsScarier: The most terrifying sequence of the movie is arguably when [[spoiler: Allen is buried alive by Peytraud]]. The camera shows nothing but blackness [[spoiler: inside of the coffin while Allen gasps for air and screams for help.]]
* NotUsingTheZWord: Discussed ("If you don't like the word 'zombie,' you can choose another word").
* TheNounAndTheNoun: ''The Serpent and the Rainbow''

%%* RuggedScar: Mozart has several.

%%* SecretPolice: The Tontons Macoutes.

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: The film was inspired by a book of the same name, by a botanist who went to Haiti to scientifically analyse the substances used in Voodoo rituals and investigate the legends of powerful Houngans who could re-animate the dead as zombie slaves. [[spoiler:Turns out the truth is somewhere in the middle. Zombies are real, but they're not actually dead, it's just a combination of fugu poison, oxygen deprivation-induced brain damage from being buried alive for a while and a healthy dose of the power of suggestion.]] In fact, the author, Harvard ethnobotanist Wade Davis, was extremely unhappy with the film, because it ended up presenting voodoo in the sensationalist BlackMagic sideshow light that he notably avoided in the book. There are several passages in the book in which he condemns the way [[HilariousInHindsight Hollywood has demonized ''vodoun'' religion in film]].
%%* WitchDoctor: Peytraud.

Meanwhile, Haitian [[SecretPolice paramilitary]] leader Dargent Peytraud (Zakes Mokae) notices Dr. Alan's investigations, and seeks to intimidate him into leaving the country. Alan stands up to the man, only to have his dreams haunted by visions of Peytraud, and the living dead.

-->'''Peytraud:''' "This country lives on the edge, Doctor Alan. One weakness in the wrong place and over it goes right back into slavery again, just like with the French. The United States would like anarchy here, I'm sure. Well this isn't Grenada, Doctor Alan! I'm here now! There are people like me who'll make sure that doesn't happen. You'll remember that."
* NiceGirl: Mrs. Cassedy, who expresses relief and concern for Dennis having made it out of Haiti after picking up on how uncomfortable he seems to talk about it, and shows pride and gratitude in what he did and sounds genuinely interested in hearing an explanation of how the process works.

* JumpScare: As Alan wonders through graveyards looking for Christophe and doubts there’s anyone there, he turns and finds himself facing s figure holding up a shovel, causing him to jump back and fall into the grave. It turns out that the man was a grave robber rather than Christophe, but the actual Christophe appears just a minute later, as Alan begins to question if he was ever resurrected in the first place.

%%* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler: Christophe]]. Rescuing [[spoiler: Alan]]. After he’s BuriedAlive.

%%* RebelLeader: Celine is implied to be one.

%%* ScaryBlackMan: Peytraud, as well as his men.

* BigBad: Dargent Peytraud.
* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler: Christophe]]. Rescuing [[spoiler: Alan]]. After he’s BuriedAlive.

* ChekhovsGun: The eating of glass mentioned below. [[spoiler:The woman dining with Dennis back in the US, gets controlled by Peytraud, and does this right before she tries to kill him]]

* TheHero: Dennis Alan.
* HollywoodVoodoo: At least, in the sense that it the religion was highly sensationalized ([[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory see below]]).

* RebelLeader: Celine is implied to be one.
* ReligiousHorror: Voodoo or vodoun, in this case.
* RuggedScar: Mozart has several.

* ScaryBlackMan: Peytraud, as well as his men.
* SecretPolice: The Tontons Macoutes.
* SlasherSmile: Peytraud often shows this.

* TookALevelInBadass: Dennis Alan at the end.

* WitchDoctor: Peytraud.
* YourSoulIsMine: Haitian dictator Dargent Peytraud keeps a collection of them.

* OurZombiesAreDifferent: Averted. See YouKeepUsingThatWord.

Anthropologist Dennis Alan (Creator/BillPullman) travels to Haiti to investigate rumors of a drug used by {{black magic}} practitioners: one allegedly capable of transforming the living into zombie slaves. He meets with Marielle Duchamp (Cathy Tyson), a Haitian medical doctor who has been working closely with cases of zombification. One of her most recent cases is a man named Christophe, a fresh zombie with a better memory than usual. In their investigation, they meet with Louis Mozart (Brent Jennings), who, despite being something of a {{con man}}, is willing to provide them with the mysterious zombie drug.

* TheSociopath: Captain Dargent Peytraud runs Haiti's SecretPolice with an iron fist, crushing all dissenters with sadistic gusto. His favourite things to do are torture people and fake their deaths with voodoo magic, burying them alive to steal their souls for his power. At times Peytraud pretends to be a WellIntentionedExtremist that wants to keep Haiti strong in the face of Western imperialism, but he shows no hesitation in doing this to his fellow countrymen as well.

* TheSociopath: Captain Dargent Peytraud runs Haiti's SecretPolice with an iron fist, crushing all dissenters with sadistic gusto. His favourite things to do are torture people and fake their deaths with voodoo magic, burying them alive to steal their souls for his power. At times Peytraud pretends to be a WillIntentionedExtremist that wants to keep Haiti strong in the face of Western imperialism, but he shows no hesitation in doing this to his fellow countrymen as well.

* NightmareSequence: Dennis Alan suffers through this more and more frequently as the movie continues, eventually having to cope with waking {{hallucinations}}.

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: The film was inspired by a book of the same name, by a Botanist who went to Haiti to scientifically analyse the substances used in Voodoo rituals and investigate the legends of powerful Houngans who could re-animate the dead as zombie slaves. [[spoiler:Turns out the truth is somewhere in the middle. Zombies are real, but they're not actually dead, it's just a combination of fugu poison, oxygen deprivation-induced brain damage from being buried alive for a while and a healthy dose of the power of suggestion.]] In fact, the author, Harvard ethnobotanist Wade Davis, was extremely unhappy with the film, because it ended up presenting voodoo in the sensationalist BlackMagic sideshow light that he notably avoided in the book. There are several passages in the book in which he condemns the way [[HilariousInHindsight Hollywood has demonized ''vodoun'' religion in film]].

** BiggerBad: Duvalier.

* SpoiledByTheFormat: When Alan makes it back to America after only about an hour and ten minutes it’s easy to expect That there’ll be more to the movie

* VillainHasAPoint: Peytraud is every bit a monster, but his MotiveRant is absolutely spot on about the precarious state of Haiti and the threat posed by hostile greater powers. His declaration that Haiti won't go back into slavery on his watch would be downright heroic...if it didn't translate to being the CompleteMonster described above.
* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: The film was inspired by a book of the same name, by a Botanist who went to Haiti to scientifically analyse the substances used in Voodoo rituals and investigate the legends of powerful Houngans who could re-animate the dead as zombie slaves. [[spoiler:Turns out the truth is somewhere in the middle. Zombies are real, but they're not actually dead, it's just a combination of fugu poison, oxygen deprivation-induced brain damage from being buried alive for a while and a healthy dose of the power of suggestion.]]
** In fact, the author, Harvard ethnobotanist Wade Davis, was extremely unhappy with the film, because it ended up presenting voodoo in the sensationalist BlackMagic sideshow light that he notably avoided in the book. There are several passages in the book in which he condemns the way [[HilariousInHindsight Hollywood has demonized ''vodoun'' religion in film]].

* MotiveRant: Peytraud's actually makes [[VillainHasAPoint a disturbing amount of sense]]: "This country lives on the edge, Doctor Alan. One weakness in the wrong place and over it goes right back into slavery again, just like with the French. The United States would like anarchy here, I'm sure. Well this isn't Grenada, Doctor Alan! I'm here now! There are people like me who'll make sure that doesn't happen. You'll remember that."