Smell the Movies
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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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| Year: | 1988 |
| Country of origin: | USA |
| Director: | Wes Craven |
| Genre: | Reality horror |
| Starring: | Bill Pullman, Cathy Tyson, Zakes Mokae |
| Rating: | 4/5 |
| IMDB link: | http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096071/ |
| Tagline: | Don't bury me...I'm not dead! |
| Favourite line: | "Don't let them bury me! I'm not dead!" |
Wes Craven's 'true life' zombie tale.
The plot:
Anthropologist Dennis Alan (Bill Pullman) is sent to Haiti by a research company interested in a new substance called tetrodotoxin which, the company believe, will revolutionise anaesthetics.
Shortly after arriving, Alan learns about a man named Christophe who, allegedly, returned from the dead.
His investigations lead him into a complex world of voodoo and political tension, all infused with the myth of zombification prevalent on the island, culminating in Alan's very life being threatened.
And a well crafted tale it is, too, allegedly based on real events - though we generally take such statements with a pinch of the proverbial down here at Smell the Cult HQ.
Horror maestro Craven (Elm Street, Scream, :Last House on the Left), clearly no stranger to dark imagery, weaves quite the visual tapestry here, with bones, snakes, jaguars (cat, not car), witch doctors, corpses and insects all putting in an appearance at some point.
Pullman pitches in with a decent turn as the increasingly frightened yet determined scientist, out to seek the truth, no matter the danger.
Unrealistic, maybe, but well played.
Special mention must be made of the music, which is rich, sumptuous and really sucks you in. Interestingly, it's written by Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Brad Fiedel.
Quite unlike anything I've ever heard in a horror movie before, the composer attempts, successfully, to invoke the feeling of power and mysticism, and very effective it proves.
Not an outright classic, this, but those looking for a horror movie with a slightly different feel to the norm would do well to check this out.
Good stuff.
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