The real-life story of a Harvard anthropologist who takes an assignment from a rich pharmaceutical firm to investigate a "miracle" drug found in a well-established religion in Haiti, "voodoo." He soon finds the local fascist police force has taken as much interest in his findings as has the drug firm. From the book by Wade Davis.
Dennis Alan heads to Haiti in hopes of obtaining a mysterious potion that represses the nervous and respiratory systems without causing death; this draught would also scientifically explain the myth of the zombie. Once on Caribbean soil, however, Alan encounters powerful cults, government corruption and a poverty-stricken populace ready to revolt -- and he finds himself deeply seduced by voodoo, though his sense of logic cannot comprehend its mystical nature. But more earthly dangers lurk in the form of an evil magistrate and the local police, who do not hesitate to torture Alan when he defies their leader. In the end, Alan emerges from the experience radically changed, with the realization that Western notions of science cannot explain the many things he's witnessed in this world.
The screenplay was inspired by the Wade Davis' 1985 book.
DVD Features:
Region 1
Keep Case
Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85
Audio:
Dolby Surround - English
Dolby Surround - French
Dolby Surround - Spanish
Interactive Features:
Scene Access
Interactive Menus
Story
Wade Davis: Harvard ethnobotanist and writer
Art Director
David Brisbin: Production Designer, Art Director, works with Gus Van Sant
Review 1:
"...Craven's cross-over into the mainstream....An excellent cast, one that raises this far above the level of ordinary exploitation..."
Source: New York Times
p.C3 02/05/1988
Review 2:
"...Distinguished by superior production values, [the] film is intriguingly eerie..."
Source: Variety
02/03/1988
Review 3:
"...Ambitious, entertaining....A highly visual and skillful blending of supernatural and political terror, high adventure and anthropology..."
Source: Los Angeles Times
p.C4 02/05/1988
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