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Since Sam Raimi is doing Poltergeist in 2015, lets review Drag Me to Hell from the man who brought you Evil Dead and the Spiderman series. It has its high points and its low points, and will both disgust and delight fans everywhere.
The one characteristic of Drag Me to Hell that you’ll notice above any others in this movie is its use of gross-out humor to either scare, impress, or amuse the audience. I can’t say exactly what Raimi was aiming for, but it’s probably a safe bet that he was going for amusement. Depending on the kind of horror flick you enjoy, the gross humor is well done and adds to the movie. For those that are squeamish, it might be better to be armed with a barf bag. While I’m not a big fan of gross myself, it worked for this movie.
Raimi catches you off guard with his scare tactics in Drag Me To Hell. The normal jump scares are there, but there are also little twists that you don’t expect. The movie isn’t so much about showing off how much blood and gore it can spray across the screen, but rather how terrified it can make you using only everyday objects. How many times before have you ever been scared of a handkerchief or a button?
While this film won’t keep you awake at night with the nightlight on, it delivers a fresh look at demons and things that go bump in the night, and sometimes the day too. The scariest part of Drag Me To Hell isn’t any over-the-top computer generated effects, or monsters with red eyes and twelve horns. The scary side of this movie is the psychological effects. What if a seemingly innocent act condemned you to burn in Hell for all eternity? Pain and suffering are key fears in the human mind, and this movie plays well on them. Even if the images on the screen don’t scare you, that little voice in the back of your mind after the movie will. You’ll spend the afternoon wondering if every old lady you pass on the street is about to ruin your life forever.
All in all, Drag Me to Hell is worth your time. It manages to lighten the mood of horror movies today and lets us have fun with it. You may cover your eyes and squeal every time a pesky fly makes its way into someone’s mouth, but you’ll also secretly enjoy it, and that is the point of any good horror film. Fans of the sub-genre Horror Comedy or those who like gross-out humor and/or laughs, this film is for you, it would be a 6 or 7. The spirit of the original Evil Dead lives on. For most other horror fans such as this reviewer who think that most comedy belongs in, you know, comedies, it’s still a 5.5 and worth seeing.
WICKED RATING: 5.5/10 [usr 5.5]
Director: Sam Raimi
Writer(s): Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi
Stars: Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Ruth Livier
Year: 2009
Studio / Production Co: Universal Pictures, Ghost House Pictures, Buckaroo Entertainment, Curse Productions, Mandate Pictures
Budget: $30,000,000
Language: English
Length: 99 mins
Sub-Genre: Horror Comedy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag_me_to_hell
