DRAG ME TO HELL
Like for many Sam Raimi fans, Spider-man 3 left a very sour taste in my mouth, and it took a skanky, toothless old hag to violently gum it away for good…
Unlucky bank loan officer Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) chooses the wrong day to be career-driven when she refuses gypsy witch Mrs Sylvia Ganush (Lorna Raver) an extension on her home loan and gets (somewhat unfairly) cursed to be dragged down to hell by an ancient goat demon called the Lamia. Haunted by her experience and receiving less-than full support from her well-meaning boyfriend Clay Dalton (Justin Long), Christine turns to fortune teller Rahm Jas (Dileep Rao) for assistance, which he initially refuses to give out of fear. When things really start getting freaky for her he eventually puts Christine in touch with experienced medium Shaun San Dena (Adriana Barraza) and together they try to dispel the curse and the dark forces behind them...
Drag Me To Hell is Raimi back on top form as he returns to his comfort zone of mid-scale, character-focused horror comedy. Here he delivers a master class of pacing, framing and storytelling, creating a true new horror icon in Mrs Ganush, expertly portrayed by Raver as genuinely terrifying, but retaining an intangible sympathetic quality to the bitter end (and beyond). Lohman puts in an admirable performance as Christine, bearing the worst of Raimi’s infamously punishing physical direction for hours on end, and still coming back asking for more. Long plays Clay pretty close to type, and his familiar, non-threatening style works in the context of the film, ruling out unnecessary exposition away from the core story. All the main actors put in solid performances, bringing depth and believability to the characters, and the film also includes welcome cameos from familiar faces from previous Raimi films (but sadly no Bruce Campbell).
There are some pretty gross and shocking moments in the film (hooray), especially for its 15 rating, but the way Raimi weaves his vision it never stops being fun even for those of a less psychotic, I mean, more nervous disposition than myself…
I would thoroughly recommend this film to anyone who values entertainment, and if you haven’t seen it, do…
JonnyRAW
No comments:
Post a Comment