HELL, This Movie is a Lot of Fun! ...(The Review QueenBflix Picked On! LOL)

First of All, for a "dissenting" opinion and a review of this review, please check out my friend QUEENBflix's review. This film never met her expectations and she wanted to see that Raimi has grown. Her review is a great comparison to Raimi's past work, may give you an idea of what you may NOT like about this film, that Raimi has faltered in her expectations, as well as a rebuttal to this review. However, if you just want to read details as to how this film plays out, may have seen the film for what it is (which is basically a dumbed-down darkly satiric film and doesn't pretend to be anything else) and are just in for pure fun in a horror  film with demonic overtones--Read on.

Known to mainstream audiences as the director of the blockbuster franchise "Spider-Man", but loved by cult horror junkies as the director of the "Evil Dead" franchise; arguably the cheesiest, funniest, most delightful films in the history of splatter horror cinema. Sam Raimi returns to his roots since his absence from the horror genre in the 90‘s, and "Drag Me to Hell" is a film that plays upon the audiences' obsession with the supernatural, demonic curses, and the occult. No one can play on our obsession with the occult better than Sam Raimi--No one. "DRAG ME TO HELL" is his welcome return to the horror genre.

A farmer girl turned loaning officer named Christine (Alison Lohman) is determined to win a promotion within the bank branch she works in. Her Boss wants her to make the tough decisions, and so when she is asked by a creepy, unkempt old gypsy (Lorna Raver) to extend the payments to the mortgage to her home, Christine refuses. Angered and humiliated, the old crone stalks Christine and ends up cursing her--so who would believe such things? Christine just wants to get her life on track with her boyfriend, Clay (Justin Long) but now, mysterious things begin to happen. Christine begins to have nightmares, and experiences hallucinations. Now time is slowly ticking away for Christine, as the curse of an invisible demon is hot on her trail and it would drag her soul to the netherworld after three days.

"Drag Me To Hell" is classic Sam Raimi, the film is astonishingly so familiar that the film feels and plays like a throwback from Raimi's past. It is one gorgeously silly, goofy elegy to gothic schmaltz and it never pretends to be anything else. The film is a bit "bombastic" in its style but Raimi makes everything work. Demonic possessions, ghouls, shadowy demons, frenzied slapstick humor, cheeky comedy, flying witches, malevolent unseen entities that threaten to kill mere mortals--all the successful elements that made the "Evil Dead" successful are omnipresent in the film. Even the invisible fast moving first person view chase sequence is compressed into the film. All the charm and cheesy fun is repackaged into this film, Hell, it is so familiar that it unbelievably feels like a homage to Raimi's past work in horror.

However, the bucket-loads of fake blood and the intentional gratuitous scenes of gore in "Evil Dead" are curiously gone from the film. "Drag Me To Hell" has great production values, and obviously the film has a larger budget than "Evil Dead", with some use of CGI, and fortunately, it may be as hilarious as the "Evil Dead" series. I have heard rumors that there are two cuts of the film, a PG-13 version and another that is R-rated. This film may or may not be a ‘cleaner' version, and after watching the film, I do think there may be a more gruesome cut since the film has several plot missteps, but this flaw doesn't necessarily hamper the film too much. It may have been toned down on the blood and gore to appease PG-13 viewers, Raimi manages to keep the film at an even pace, all the while maintaining his horror sensibilities.

Raimi maintaining his sensibilities and style is a very good thing. The film with its very simple set ups, basic plot devices, would be very mediocre it wasn't for Raimi. His flair for nauseating scene gags, darkly comedic dialogue, precise timing and delivery, then the film would be very ordinary. Honestly, the film's screenplay offers nothing new to the horror genre, and does nothing to reinvent the horror genre. There is a séance scene, a kitty and a cat named Hecuba, dramatic crashes of lightning, a graveyard exhumation with organ riffs; all these formulas have been done numerous times, but no one does better than Sam Raimi. The stapled eyelid, toothless biting, puking loads of blood, projectile secretion gags, clonks and bumps--the film is so hilariously awesome in the way it makes everything work. Mrs. Ganush's barfs are so hilariously nasty that it may be one of the film's highlights.

The cast plays their respective roles with a lot of zest and gusto. Alison Lohman goes from charming to petrified as soon as she gets ‘cursed'. It should also be noted that her character displayed some nice doses of comedic bloodlust, and the mighty puke of blood. Lorna Daver is the personification of raw nasty "toothless" indignation, her Mrs. Ganush character is hilariously creepy, for an old gypsy. Daver almost stole the show from Lohman, her scenes may be the film's major selling point. The overused boyfriend is played by Justin Long, and while his character may sometimes feel unnecessary, he did what he was supposed to do, and that is to ease the film's non-humorous horror sequences. Newcomer Dileep Rao plays the overmatched psychic who defines the details of curse and its unforgiving nature, and special thanks would have to be given to the goat--no farm animals were harmed during filming.

The film isn't your high-minded indictment of this country's mortgage system, and it is so predictable; you can see the twist coming from the beginning of the last act. Yet, despite its many plot missteps, the film manages to sidestep its many plot fumbles by maintaining its energy, humor and charm. Fans are privy to classic Sam Raimi and be on the look out for a yellow Oldsmobile and for a fly that flies around Christine that ends up on the camera lens. The film has all the ingredients of a Sam Raimi B-movie supernatural hookey that revels in its own absurdity. It delivers the goods--it never pretends that it is anything else. I'm just happy to see him return to form, after his absolute misfire, Spider-man 3. So the next time an old gypsy barfs and spits bile onto the desk of a loaning officer, give her what she wants.

Sam Raimi is Back.

Recommended! [4- Stars]