i was biased against this movie and resistant to watching it, expecting yet another painful and ignorant depiction of Haitian Vodou. it was not that. i usually like Wes Craven and should have trusted a little more.
the initial plot of the white american professor traveling to bring new medicines back from the deep dark jungle was a setup. instead of the expected white savior narrative, Bill "president lone starr" Pullman constantly throws himself into situations where he is ignorant and a danger to himself and others, fully believing in his status as a white american to get him out safely. as a result he gets innocents and friends targeted and killed, having to be rescued by the people whose beliefs and advice he ignored. he spends most of the movie zooted out of his gourd, harrassed by spirits, and getting his balls tortured. and Craven really knows how to do a nightmare scene. man does he get it.
the ceremonies and magic scenes felt well researched and the movie was willing to show the peaceful and spiritual religion and syncretism that Vodou encompasses. since it's based in real events it got me to read more about the recent history of Haiti (and, from just one throwaway line, the US invasion of Grenada (the wiki page is incredibly apologetic lol (why are you saying 'vietnam syndrome' like it's a bad thing))). it also managed to grasp the real horror of the nature of the zombie--not merely a living death, but slavery after death, an enslavement that can't be escaped even by death--and perfectly placed in the political climate and revolution of the time. i think this movie holds up a lot to analyze and shouldn't be brushed aside too easily when we talk about the history of Black horror films.