Wes Craven proves his diverse directorial talents (odd turkey forgiven) in this subtle outing which blends Voodoo, love, and dictatorial banana republic regimes into a fascinating tale of one mans quest to unravel the secrets behind a powder that can turn people into zombies.

Not the zombies that walk around and munch brains as some of you may be thinking, but rather still alive but so close to death that they'll end up buried alive, only to come around deep in the cold earth when the effects wear off. The implications for medical science - not to mention the profits - from a near perfect anaesthetic are staggering.

Voodoo is a murky world of superstitions and practices, based in fact, exploited by charlatans, but with truths aplenty behind it. Anthropologist Dennis Alan (Bill Pullman) must battle his way past the deceptions, powers that he does not understand, and a sinister police chief whose bloody secret regime is founded on Voodoo ritual, in order to reach the truth and discover how zombies are made.

It's a much more subtle tale than many of us may be used to from Craven, light on gore, but reaching depths of psychological fear that elude many of his more widely known works. Voodoo is interwoven with these peoples lives, an invisible web of the fantastic that pervades the everyday, and the power it wields over all, both actual and psychological, is explored deeply. Even the cynical Pullman, his mind rooted in disbelief and mistrust, is going to be forced to acknowledge there is more to it than mere superstition.

Much slower and more focused on plots than other Craven films, it builds from a slow start into a fascinating and genuinely scary hybrid of political thriller and supernatural fright fest. The story is intelligently written and soon gathers a momentum of its own, unfolding into a tale of a beautiful land and people with a sinister hidden underbelly of violence, superstition, and corruption.

Excellently shot with stunning shots and terrifying segways, this is a film that falls between genres and makes the most of them all. Zakes Mokae as Dargent Peytraud, the sinister voodoo practicing chief of police, cuts a very dark figure throughout, the tentacles of his secret police and his occult practices writhing through the nations life like some poisoned claw, corrupting or destroying all that it touches.

A true breath of fresh air from many of the shallow slashers and generic supernatural thrillers that infest horror as a whole, this is highly recommended for anyone in search of a deep slice of meaningful storytelling and a constant feeling of pervasive evil in which hope still glimmers faintly.