Editorials
Celebrating 30 Years of Wes Craven’s ‘The Serpent and the Rainbow’
Looking back through Wes Craven’s filmography, the realization of just how ambitious he was as a director and artist hits hard. While his voice was always distinct, he consistently sought to try something new and different. From the grimy exploitation of The Last House on the Left to the self-referential teen horror classic Scream, Craven’s clear pulse on the ever-changing horror genre continues to make his loss immeasurable. Perhaps one of his most ambitious projects ever was The Serpent and the Rainbow, released 30 years ago in theaters on February 5, 1988.
The opening card describes the Serpent as voodoo symbolism for the Earth and the Rainbow as Heaven, which means everything living exists between the two. It’s an ironic parallel for the film as a whole; Wes Craven’s film exists in a strange in-between of horror and adventure. Released between directorial efforts Deadly Friend and Shocker, The Serpent and the Rainbow was far more serious in tone. Craven also didn’t intend for it to be a horror film at all. Based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Wade Davis, and adapted for screen by Richard Maxwell and Adam Rodman, Universal Pictures pressed for more horror based on Craven’s usual work. The result is a sort of a grim Indiana Jones-like adventure narrative set against the tense backdrop of deep political unrest with a lot of brilliant gruesome horror moments and imagery. The plot is simple; an archaeologist heads to Haiti to get to the bottom of rumors that there’s a drug used by Voodoo practitioners that turns people into zombies.
While the political unrest of Haiti played prominently in the story, it existed simultaneously during filming as well. While the cast and crew initially began filming there, the government let them know they couldn’t guarantee their safety during the shoot, and so they had to relocate to the Dominican Republic. Because they filmed on location, there’s a lot of authenticity in the film, especially where the extras are concerned. Much of the scenes featuring Voodoo practitioners are real; the behind the scenes featurette on Scream Factory’s fantastic special edition release reveals that the scene that features a woman eating broken glass was a legit practitioner in a trance.
The insane setting during filming and the realism of the Voodoo practitioners used on screen was further enhanced by the father and son FX duo Lance and Dave Anderson. The creepy ghost bride with the snake in her mouth, the decimation of protagonist Dennis Alan’s few allies, and the surrealistic nature of Alan’s nightmares were bolstered by fantastic practical effects crafted by the Andersons, with Craven taking a hands-on approach in their work for the film.
The Serpent and the Rainbow is the type of film made better by happenstance; Davis originally sold the rights to his book on the condition that Peter Weir helm the project and that it star Mel Gibson as hero Dennis Alan. When neither happened, the film shifted into something else entirely when Craven signed on. Dennis Alan likely became a much more endearing, likable character in the capable hands of then-newcomer Bill Pullman. Pullman turned out the type of committed performance that made Alan an intelligent fish-out-of-water that played well to the narrative, whereas it’s easy to imagine that Gibson would’ve turned the character into another ‘80s action hero.
Between the stunning locations, the commitment for realism in hiring actual Voodoo practitioners, the gorgeous work by cinematographer John Lindley, Craven’s desire to turn out a much more sophisticated film, the great effects work, and a stellar cast, The Serpent and the Rainbow is an underrated masterpiece that endures the test of time. As with most things that Craven worked on, studio interference that he add flourishes more on brand with his name, i.e. horror, meant a very different film than what he originally set out to do. Yet, he took those studio mandates and applied them in a way here that meant a much more refined film than what Universal likely expected from the director of Deadly Friend.
It’s bittersweet now to watch The Serpent and the Rainbow, whose entire premise hinges on a zombification drug and cheating death, and think of Craven. A true master of horror with a long roster of films that worked, regardless of style of tone, because of his absolute sincerity given to each and every one of them. Very few directors have many films in their roster that stands up to time well, and Craven is one of them. The Serpent and the Rainbow is still just as effective as it was 30 years ago, and here’s to 30 years more.
Editorials
Before ‘The Blair Witch Project’, ‘Alien Autopsy’ Showed How Real Found Footage Could Feel
The line separating artist from con man is a lot thinner than you might initially believe. While I think we can all agree that lying for the sake of profit is actively malicious behavior, isn’t it also true that the faux documentary aspect of The Blair Witch Project is half the reason why that film became such a cultural phenomenon? After all, if there’s one thing filmmakers have in common with stage magicians, it’s that misleading and misdirecting audiences is simply part of the job.
That’s why I’ve developed a habit of mostly ignoring the moral quandaries behind many of film and television’s biggest “hoaxes” in favor of appreciating the narrative elements that drive productions like Mermaids: The Body Found and even Animal Planet’s highly underrated The Cannibal in the Jungle. However, if there’s a definitive case of a highly publicized broadcast fooling the world into taking it seriously, it has to be Fox’s infamous 1995 TV special Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction.
It’s been over three decades since that eerie footage first haunted television screens right at the peak of the ’90s ufology craze, and in that time, the video has taken on a life of its own. From countless parodies and references in everything from The X-Files to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater (as well as John Dower’s recently released tell-all documentary The Alien Autopsy Scandal, which I’d highly recommend to genre fans everywhere), there’s no denying the legacy of the Alien Autopsy video. However, I rarely see the tape discussed as what it truly is: a highly convincing found footage film directed by a passionate stage magician and brought to life by masterful practical effects work.
That’s why I’d like to invite readers to join me on a deep dive into one of the most infamous broadcasts of all time in an attempt to reevaluate the footage as a fascinating narrative experience rather than a complete hoax.
The TV Special That Convinced Millions It Was Real
Ray Santilli next to Extraterrestrial replica in ‘The Alien Autopsy Scandal’
For starters, regardless of whether or not you believe that there was in fact an extraterrestrial crash in Roswell during the summer of 1947 and that some form of autopsy was performed on the victims, the producers behind the black & white recordings, Ray Santilli and Gary Shoefield, insist that their video was a “restoration.” Though I’d argue that the proper word is “remake”of genuine footage that was too damaged to air on television. That’s why the duo went on to recruit filmmaker and eccentric magician Spyros Melaris and sculptor/monster designer John Humphreys to bring their version of the autopsy to life and sell it to the highest bidder.
This is where the story of the Alien Autopsy as a narrative experience really begins. Melaris claims that his approach to the faux recording consisted of striving for extreme period accuracy in both shooting equipment and setting while also planting subtle details that would initially seem like mistakes but could later be revealed to actually fit the time period. That being said, the filmmaker was under the impression that the short would be released for free as a PR stunt, with the team later producing and selling an informative documentary chronicling exactly how the footage was faked and commenting on how easy it is to manipulate public perception with a good old-fashioned magic trick.
This obviously isn’t how things went down, and that’s likely the reason why Melaris has since distanced himself from everyone else involved with the project. Yet, no amount of behind-the-scenes drama can undermine the genuine effort that went into making the short as impressive as it is. From the sourcing of real animal organs from a local butcher to make the organic part of the creature more lifelike to the highly detailed sculpt that made use of a hollowed-out underlayer that could be filled with fake blood and assorted viscera, there’s a reason why so many Hollywood specialists are still impressed with the artistry on display here.
Of course, the believability is only half the story, as I think that the best part of the autopsy is how Melaris builds on the existing tension by obscuring certain details and often embracing the chaos of what a real examination of extraterrestrial life could feel like. The camera often goes out of focus at just the right time to make certain effects hit even harder, and we can only speculate as to what the hazmat-suited doctors are gesticulating about during the operation. There’s a real air of mystery to the whole thing that almost makes it feel like a cosmically terrifying, cursed film containing forbidden knowledge that civilians were never meant to see.
So when Fox’s Fact or Fiction brings in the specialists to comment on the film and its otherworldly subject, it’s no surprise that we end up with one of the most memorable mockumentaries of all time – albeit one where the participants are unaware that the footage they’re commenting on is basically a large-scale practical joke. A joke that the network was obviously in on, as many participants claim that the TV special cut out significant portions where guests point out that they believe the footage to be an elaborate hoax.
The Lasting Impact of the Hoax Turned Cultural Event
Regardless, I remember going to bed terrified after watching reruns of the special and thinking about the respected pathologist who claimed that the body was almost certainly inhuman, with even effects maestro Stan Winston commenting on how difficult it would be to recreate some of these visuals through practical puppetry. That’s not even mentioning Jonathan Frakes’ dramatic hyping up of the disturbing imagery as if he was talking about the tape from The Ring, with his spooky demeanor here likely being responsible for his later role as the host of Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction a few years later.
Personally, I’d argue that the Alien Autopsy phenomenon had just as much of an impact on me as a horror fan as The Blair Witch Project, a film that was almost certainly influenced by the success of this immensely popular hoax (to the point where they even produced their own TV special commenting on Heather’s found footage). Even if Fox didn’t intend to produce a narrative feature about the aftermath of the Roswell crash, the end product still holds up remarkably well as a highly entertaining mockumentary exploring the idea that we may not be alone in the universe.
While neither Santilli nor the rest of the production team has ever commented on this, I also think it’s very likely that the idea of a faux Alien Autopsy could have been influenced by Dean Alioto’s The McPherson Tape/UFO Abduction. I’ve already written about how this granddaddy of found footage was co-opted by rogue ufologists who began selling bootlegs of the tape at conventions as if it were real evidence of a close encounter, so it’s not that much of a stretch to imagine that Santilli and company could have heard about this phenomenon and been inspired to come up with their own highly profitable hoax.
At the end of the day, it’s unlikely that the Alien Autopsy film is recreating any real footage from Roswell, but I can still appreciate the short and the accompanying television event as a standalone horror story that still influences the way we see found footage to this very day.
After all, the possibility that something could be real is often much scarier than finding out for sure – and that’s why I think Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction is still worth revisiting three decades down the line.
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