In the 1988 film, "The Serpent and the Rainbow," Dennis Alan (Bill Pullman) is a ____________ and ___________ from Harvard University.

The 1988 film, "The Serpent and the Rainbow," has Bill Pullman in the role of Dennis Alan. He is a anthropologist and ethnobotanist from Harvard University. In the film, he narrowly escapes the Amazon Jungle, a moist broad leaf forest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. He is able to return to the U.S. (Boston, MA) after acquiring rare herbs and medicines from a local shaman.

During his ordeal, Alan drinks a hallucinogenic potion and experiences a horrifying image of a black man that he met at a funeral. His experience also has him totally surrounded by corpses in a bottomless pit. He is finally able to see his totem jaguar spirit which leads him out of the South American jungle to safety.

This 1988 movie was in fact based on the true life experiences of Wade Davis. The role of Dennis Alan comes from events in Davis's vivid life. Other stars are Cathy Tyson (Mona Lisa), Zakes Mokae ("Dust Devil," "Waterworld"), Paul Winfield ("The Terminator," "Damnation Alley") and Michael Gough ("Horror of Dracula," "Batman"). This movie was filmed on location in Haiti; it is a frightening excursion into the belief of black magic and the supernatural.