Drag Me To Hell is frightening, frenzied, a bit on the freaky side... and quite simply a whole lot of fun.
Director Sam Raimi takes a well deserved break from the hit Spider-Man film franchise to return to his cinematic roots with this adrenaline-fueled ride into the supernatural.
It's been 22 years since Raimi made his last directing foray into the horror genre which launched his career with the unique 1987 cult classic "Evil Dead II". That film was groundbreaking in Raimi's superb blending of frightening horror and classic gore... offset by fast-paced editing and comical slapslick moments... that kept audiences alternately shrieking in fear and delighting in laughter at the film's "over the top" antics.
Now, Raimi returns to the genre where he made his cinematic bones as a director with "Drag Me To Hell"... and it's a long overdue but welcome homecoming for Raimi's fans of the horrific and hilarious.
Actress Alison Lohman plays Christine Brown, a sweet but ambitious loan officer at a small bank who finds herself vying for a key promotion. She's anxious to score the promotion to not only impress her doting boyfriend, Clay ( Justin Long )... but also, his rich and socially affluent parents who she fears look down upon her modest farm girl upbringing.
When Christine's boss suggests she needs to be tougher and make "the hard calls" in business in order to land the position... Christine inadvertently chooses the wrong person upon whom to exercise her tough business acumen.
When a frail, elderly Slavic woman, Mrs. Ganush ( Lorna Raver ) asks Christine to approve a third extension on her mortgage... Christine reluctantly turns the elderly woman down, effectively sentencing her to lose her home. When the woman gets down on her knees and literally begs for mercy... the situation becomes tense as the woman grabs Christine's dress and begins to kiss the hem of her garment. Christine panics at this display and shoves Mrs. Ganush away... gravely insulting the woman before all present in the bank before security escorts her out the door.
After work that day, Christine enters her car to go home... only to be suddenly attacked in the vehicle by Mrs. Ganush. After a frightening... and at times hysterically funny struggle; Mrs. Ganush rips a button from Christine's coat and curses the young woman. Christine tries to forget the traumatic incident as an isolated incident.
That is, until she finds herself being tormented in her sleep and awakened hours by a frightening shadowy being that only she can see... but can reach out and touch her and all things around her in a violent fury.
Christine is not only visited by the shadowy demon; but also, the repeated attacks of an increasingly deformed and hideous looking Mrs. Ganush herself ... who vents her fury on Christine in ways both gory and gut wrenching. The continued attacks prompt Christine to confide in her skeptical boyfriend about her fears. He reluctantly agrees to Christine's desire to seek the advice of a psychic. ( Dileep Rao )
The psychic himself is shocked to discover that Christine is no ordinary customer. She is indeed cursed in the worst of ways. He tells Christine she has only three days left to live... during which she will be incessantly tormented by the shadowy demon, now revealed to be a "Lamia".
Even more horrifying, at the conclusion of the three days... the Lamia will come for Christine and literally drag her through the ground into the fiery bowels of Hell itself for eternity. From there, it is a frenetic race against the clock for Christine, her skeptical boyfriend Clay and the psychic to discover a way to free Christine from the flaming curse that soon approaches.
"Drag Me To Hell" is Sam Raimi at his directorial best in this niche of the horror genre. Watching this film, one wonders why Raimi waited so long to bring this unique storytelling style to a new generation of filmgoers... sadly raised, immersed and numbed by the trite cookie cutter, horror-film bloodbaths of today's cinema.
Like his earlier film from over two decades past, "Evil Dead II"... "Drag Me To Hell" is a unique hybrid of old-school horror film tricks ranging from creaking doors, blowing winds and sudden jolts of frightful imagery... to an unexpected catharsis of laughter at something equally horrific; and yet also, ludricrous and funny.
When Christine battles to fight off a slobberingly vicious Mrs. Ganush in her car with a set of office supplies on the passenger seat... the effect is both a classic horror moment combined with the slapstick humor of a Three Stooges movie. The moment when Christine fends off the old crone with an office stapler... and ultimately plunges a ruler into the old woman's vile toothed mouth... you can't help but laugh out loud, while at the same time cringe at wild, delightfully hilarious audacity of the stunt.
And like the "Energizer Bunny"... despite the well-deserved physical abuse hurled in defense by Christine at the old wicked wench - the crazed Mrs. Ganush keeps reappearing and coming back for more mayhem.
Unlike the sick, twisted Grand Guignol of gore, sadism and torture glorified in such recent films as the "Saw" series and "Hostel"; Raimi's films like "Drag Me To Hell" conjure up amusement-park thrill ride frights and genuine suspense. Yes, there are also plenty of "gross out" moments as well; however, they're tempered with a healthy antidote dose of humor and sight gags to ease the audience through the journey.
In fact, the only blood in this PG-13 film is a scene involving an ordinary bloody nose... played more for laughs than intended to induce cringes.
That's not to say "Drag Me To Hell" is for everyone... especially the squeamish. If maggots, flies, worms, infected bodily fluids aren't your thing... then brace yourself for a healthy dose of that and more to offset the noticeable lack of bloodletting in the film. But after all, it is a horror film... albeit with laughs.
Lohman is endearing in the role of the embattled and cursed young office worker. She makes you root for her redemption up until the very last scene in the film. I hope to see more great things open up for this young talented actress in future roles. Lohman shows some real strength and power at the film's climatic face off with Mrs. Ganush... in the most unusual of settings.
Rao also is effective as the concerned psychic trying to save Lohman from certain doom. However, Lorna Raver as Mrs. Ganush stands out in great scenery chomping glory... in an entertaining way that only a film of this "over the top" nature could sustain or benefit from.
"Drag Me To Hell" is a great entertaining ride full of thrills, chills and humor that only Sam Raimi is able to conjure up in his own unique trademark horror style.
Sam... please, don't wait another two decades to bring us this much fun again.