Drag Me to Hell
Richard winterton
Issue date: 6/2/09 Section: Entertainment
Once upon a time, there was a director named Sam Raimi who did a series of horror films called the "Evil Dead" trilogy, and they were good. What set "Evil Dead", "Evil Dead 2" and "Army of Darkness" apart were their focus on gallows humor, as well as a protagonist who welds a chainsaw to his arm and works in house-wares at a department store. As Raimi went on to do more mainstream work, including the "Spider-man" films, the horror genre suffered what might be described as a horrid rampage of mediocrity, leaving untold numbers of "The Ring" clones and bad remakes of '70s films in its wake. Fortunately, Sam Raimi has made a triumphant return to his horror roots with "Drag Me to Hell".
How many times has this happened to you?
You're innocently doing your job as a loan officer at a bank in Pasadena, when all of a sudden you're cursed by a haggard old gypsy for not giving her an extension on her loan. That's what happens to Christine Brown (Alison Lohman), a young farm girl-turned-loan officer trying to rise to the top in the competitive loan officer world. After the aforementioned "gypsy curse," Christine begins to feel stalked by a malign, demonic entity that wishes to do the titular act of "dragging her to hell." What follows is an intense, horrifying and disturbingly hilarious journey in order to save her soul.
The plot of the film is perfectly balanced, and behind the blood and guts and scares, there are some truly complex characters. Christine avoids the major pitfalls of most heroines, managing to avoid being too abstract of a heroine for us to sympathize with. She is often tempted to do horrible things in her attempts to evade the dark forces plaguing her. It's all done in a way that manages to evoke sympathy, yet still maintain an aura of black comedy.
The film is incredibly disturbing, but in a good way. It's not the standard horror trope of "let's have Eli Roth show a bunch of girls get hacked to bits" disturbing; more like "I just got bitten by a toothless gypsy right before stepping into a pile of live maggots" disturbing. The numerous things Christine is subjected to range from the gross to the inexplicable, all utilizing a combination of CGI and green screen in a way that manages to entertain without being too caught up in how pretty it looks. It's "Evil Dead" style mixed with modern special effects.
Raimi does all of this and yet doesn't forget to frighten us. As funny (intentionally or unintentionally) as the film is, it still manages to scare the pants off of its audience. Scenes like a séance in a Pasadena mansion or the ground busting open to reveal hell itself are portrayed with a mixture of gothic horror and good old fashioned B-movie camp horror.
"Drag Me to Hell" manages to set itself apart from the big budgeted, action blockbuster crowd by being what so many of us have longed for: a scary horror movie. It doesn't mill you down with atmosphere thicker than molasses (e.g. "The Ring" and "The Grudge"); it just scares you while being wickedly funny. In short, Sam Raimi's return to the horror genre is a masterpiece.
5.0/5.0
How many times has this happened to you?
You're innocently doing your job as a loan officer at a bank in Pasadena, when all of a sudden you're cursed by a haggard old gypsy for not giving her an extension on her loan. That's what happens to Christine Brown (Alison Lohman), a young farm girl-turned-loan officer trying to rise to the top in the competitive loan officer world. After the aforementioned "gypsy curse," Christine begins to feel stalked by a malign, demonic entity that wishes to do the titular act of "dragging her to hell." What follows is an intense, horrifying and disturbingly hilarious journey in order to save her soul.
The plot of the film is perfectly balanced, and behind the blood and guts and scares, there are some truly complex characters. Christine avoids the major pitfalls of most heroines, managing to avoid being too abstract of a heroine for us to sympathize with. She is often tempted to do horrible things in her attempts to evade the dark forces plaguing her. It's all done in a way that manages to evoke sympathy, yet still maintain an aura of black comedy.
The film is incredibly disturbing, but in a good way. It's not the standard horror trope of "let's have Eli Roth show a bunch of girls get hacked to bits" disturbing; more like "I just got bitten by a toothless gypsy right before stepping into a pile of live maggots" disturbing. The numerous things Christine is subjected to range from the gross to the inexplicable, all utilizing a combination of CGI and green screen in a way that manages to entertain without being too caught up in how pretty it looks. It's "Evil Dead" style mixed with modern special effects.
Raimi does all of this and yet doesn't forget to frighten us. As funny (intentionally or unintentionally) as the film is, it still manages to scare the pants off of its audience. Scenes like a séance in a Pasadena mansion or the ground busting open to reveal hell itself are portrayed with a mixture of gothic horror and good old fashioned B-movie camp horror.
"Drag Me to Hell" manages to set itself apart from the big budgeted, action blockbuster crowd by being what so many of us have longed for: a scary horror movie. It doesn't mill you down with atmosphere thicker than molasses (e.g. "The Ring" and "The Grudge"); it just scares you while being wickedly funny. In short, Sam Raimi's return to the horror genre is a masterpiece.
5.0/5.0
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