OK film fans, when you have your senses invaded and befouled by a cinematic dump (like yesterdays Daybreakers) the best thing to do is to cleanse the palette with something pure. Myself, I like to stay in the same genre. So tonight we clear a wanna be mainstream but obviously crappy B-movie with an effortlessly superior B-movie that reminds us just how fun films can be.
Drag Me to Hell, directed by the magnificent Sam Raimi, is a genre film elevated beyond its limits by a master. Every sight, sound and horror cliche gets a shiny polish and is lookin' brand new. Raimi roots run deep in this genre, The Evil Dead trilogy has a devout cult following (of which I'm a card carrying member!) and is where he honed his craft before getting bumped up to the big leagues.
Our victim, Christine Brown (Alison Lohman), makes a simple decision in her job as a loan officer at a bank; she turns down a request for a 3rd extension on a home foreclosure (greedy banks, you may now consider the subtext established!). One problem, the request is from an elderly gypsy woman who appears as if she may already be dead. And as any good B-movie can attest, that's grounds for a curse straight from hell. If there is a moment that can be milked, Raimi goes for it. If someone has a bloody nose, it's a gusher reminiscent of the Dan Ackroyd's Julia Child skit. If a corpse can leak bodily fluids, why not have it be a stream so viscous and copious that it appears to be coming from hell itself. When our victim is alone every sound is filled with ominous tones and evil can found everywhere. It pays to be wary of both kitties and cake.
The laughs from the audience I was in were as loud as the screams. One gentleman even stood and applauded the screen at the end. B-movies should make us cheer, both at their ridiculousness and their aspirations. Where yesterdays foul pretender Daybreakers, was all posturing and aggrandizement, Drag Me to Hell is a confident, masterful use of dialogue, sound, cinematography and editing woven seamlessly to create something we rarely see in films anymore: a boisterous good time.
I first saw the Evil Dead in 8th grade!! And quickly became a fan! In college I had the movie poster glaring it's eyeballed skull from my side of the room over at my roommate! I LOVED DRAG ME TO HELL!!!!!! It's been A LONG TIME since I've seen a GOOD horror movie, and this fixed the bill! Thank you for reviewing it! and for the rest of the slackers out there..see this movie IT WAS THE BEST!!!!!
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