- Joined
- Jan 2, 2007
- Messages
- 1,067
I think Sam Raimi gets the big picture. Something seriously lacking in horror films lately is the word "Fun." Horror movies almost always have a long period of stagnation, and we're currently in there. Were seeing the return of slashers through remakes, and the Asian horror boom is still leaving a painful mark. Most PG-13 horror films are too tame to do much, most R rated horror films are too stupid and not in the entertaining way. But Drag me to Hell, Sam Raimi's latest effort comes to us in the spirit of Creepshow or even his own Evil Dead II. While maybe not as over the top or gruesome as those two, it comes to say one thing: Horror movies should be fun.
The plot is pretty simple: A young bank teller makes the mistake of pissing off a Gypsy woman. Again, and again, and again. Naturally some curse is placed and she tries her damnedest to get rid of the curse lest she have her soul stolen and tortured by the "Lamia" (Its just Samael in disguise.) and she goes a little nutters in the process. The film is ridiculously predictable, almost every sequence of scenes I opened my trap and said "I bet *Insert horror cliche here* is going to happen" and while I only made one mistake, this didn't ruin the film for me because as cliched as it is, I felt in many ways it was intentionally done and maybe as a self-parody; plus the film, believe it or not, genuinely mixes creepy with funny. Something most "comedy horror" movies only do one of. They either just do the comedy, or just the horror. While Drag me to Hell might not be as silly or over the top as Evil Dead II or Army of Darkness, its still very tongue and cheek and there are moments that hit the audience so fast and hard that you'll probably have a "Spit the coffee" moment of raucous laughter. There's even a scene that just has to be a tribute to Evil Dead when an eyeball along with some brain matter is launched towards the main characters face after someones head gets hit with a strangely placed anvil. Yet believe it or not, the creepy works as well. Samael in disguise is shown briefly through some shadows and the deterioration of the main character mentally is surprisingly effective and peppered through the comedic moments are some fairly good "Classic" horror effects and tricks. I'll even admit although it was once again fairly predict, the ending was actually kinda creepy.
I'm glad I rented this. Its one of the most entertaining horror movies I've seen all year. Its nice to see Sam Raimi remembering his roots and its nice to see a horror film that's overall goal is unclear or dubious in quality. Drag me to Hell is all about one thing: Having a good time. It has laughs, it has thrills, and it has chills. Highly recommended for Raimi fans and fans of this type of film.
(I watched the Unrated version, I'm not sure the difference between the theatrical and unrated. There are a couple scenes I can say pushed the PG-13 rating, so I'm guessing those are the added ones. Not having seen the theatrical I can't tell you how much different the versions are over each other.)
9.3/10
The plot is pretty simple: A young bank teller makes the mistake of pissing off a Gypsy woman. Again, and again, and again. Naturally some curse is placed and she tries her damnedest to get rid of the curse lest she have her soul stolen and tortured by the "Lamia" (Its just Samael in disguise.) and she goes a little nutters in the process. The film is ridiculously predictable, almost every sequence of scenes I opened my trap and said "I bet *Insert horror cliche here* is going to happen" and while I only made one mistake, this didn't ruin the film for me because as cliched as it is, I felt in many ways it was intentionally done and maybe as a self-parody; plus the film, believe it or not, genuinely mixes creepy with funny. Something most "comedy horror" movies only do one of. They either just do the comedy, or just the horror. While Drag me to Hell might not be as silly or over the top as Evil Dead II or Army of Darkness, its still very tongue and cheek and there are moments that hit the audience so fast and hard that you'll probably have a "Spit the coffee" moment of raucous laughter. There's even a scene that just has to be a tribute to Evil Dead when an eyeball along with some brain matter is launched towards the main characters face after someones head gets hit with a strangely placed anvil. Yet believe it or not, the creepy works as well. Samael in disguise is shown briefly through some shadows and the deterioration of the main character mentally is surprisingly effective and peppered through the comedic moments are some fairly good "Classic" horror effects and tricks. I'll even admit although it was once again fairly predict, the ending was actually kinda creepy.
I'm glad I rented this. Its one of the most entertaining horror movies I've seen all year. Its nice to see Sam Raimi remembering his roots and its nice to see a horror film that's overall goal is unclear or dubious in quality. Drag me to Hell is all about one thing: Having a good time. It has laughs, it has thrills, and it has chills. Highly recommended for Raimi fans and fans of this type of film.
(I watched the Unrated version, I'm not sure the difference between the theatrical and unrated. There are a couple scenes I can say pushed the PG-13 rating, so I'm guessing those are the added ones. Not having seen the theatrical I can't tell you how much different the versions are over each other.)
9.3/10
