Drag Me To Hell
Hell yeah! Sam Raimi’s back to his roots with this off-the-wall scare-a-thon. Famous for the iconic Evil Dead trilogy and well liked Spider-Man trilogy, Sam’s return to the genre is a gooey rollercoaster that absolutely will not disappoint his fans. It’s been almost 16 years since Raimi’s last horror film and what better way to make his return than with a movie called “Drag Me To Hell?” It’s the perfect title for a film so twisted and cynical that it has no place on our godly Earth.
In the film, we follow a young and ambitious loan officer, Christine Brown (Alison Lohman), who hell rains down upon after she denies an aging gypsy a third extension on her mortgage. Because of this, Christine becomes cursed and ultimately tormented by the dreaded demon Lamia who literally intends on “Dragging her to hell” on the third day of the curse. What follows is 99 minutes of devilish silhouettes, popped eyeballs, spewing puss, plenty of puke and one damn scary handkerchief. A lot of Raimi’s die-hard fans have been disappointed by the film’s PG-13 rating, but I tell ya… Just because a movie isn’t gory doesn’t mean it can’t be disgusting and all out terrifying.
The only way I can describe it is “roller coaster ride”. Tension constantly builds and there’s always something lurking. My heart was pumping the whole time but who would have thought that a scary movie could also be so funny? Not since Raimi’s Evil Dead films have I seen such an off-the-wall take on the genre and this brought me back. Stooge-esque comedy was always been Raimi’s forte and somehow he’s mastered the balance between hilarious and horrific.
Written by Sam and his occasional collaborator Ivan (his older brother) this return makes me wish Sam would stick to horror from now on. I’m a fan of his non-horror films such as; Spider-Man, Darkman and A Simple Plan but this is where he excels. From the 1980s Universal opening to the first sequence of a young boy on the lam from the Lamia, Drag Me To Hell never stops being fun. It’s what I wish horror movies could be today and makes a great case for more comedy horror films.
I wouldn’t recommend DMH to the faint of heart but there’s a lot to like and the audience I saw it with loved it. Plus it currently has a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. That’s pretty rare in the genre of horror and darn cool… Or should I say it’s “hella” cool? No, darn works better.