Drag Me to Hell is a kitsch horror movie by the established Sam Raimi, director of The Evil Dead series. This is the story of Christine Brown (Alison Lohman); ambitious loan officer desperately trying to get a promotion in the cut throat world of this L.A. bank. The story begins when the mysterious elderly gypsy Mrs Ganush (Lorna Raver) arrives requesting a third loan extension on her home. Big-hearted Christine opts to make a plea on Mrs. Ganush’s behalf and asks her boss to grant her the extension. When Christine’s boss Mr. Jacks (David Paymer) puts the decision firmly back in Christine’s hands, she makes the fatal decision of denying Mrs. Ganush of the loan extension, resulting in the repossessing her house and thus shaming her.
When Mrs. Ganush casts a damming curse over Christine, her life becomes full of terror. Tormented by an ancient spirit, Christine has three days to ward it off before the clutches of the spirit come to drag her to eternal damnation in the depths of hell. Increasingly terror-stricken Christine sinks to new levels of desperation in an attempt to banish the spirit and break the curse; turning to a cash-hungry fortune teller and even slaughtering a kitten (despite her apparent ‘animal rights’ ethics, noted earlier in the film when she firmly announces “I’m a vegetarian”). And what would any good teen horror be without the back-story of her toilsome relationship with her toff of a boyfriend (Justin Long) and his imposing parents.
Scenes of epic nosebleeds and the young blonde squirming around in a muddy, water-logged grave is Raimi’s way of letting us all know he’s not above the B-movie style gritty directing that made The Evil Dead (1981) so well received by loyal horror fans.
With grotesque scenes of projectile vomiting and buzzing flies reminiscent of The Exorcist, Drag Me to Hell makes for a great homage to such a cult classic. This movie repeatedly provokes a giggle with horror scenes that are unashamedly ridiculous. Eye-balls in cakes and Christine being thrown around the ceiling by the evil demon makes for brief entertainment; however the vital ‘scares’ lack the ability to truly chill the audience to their core.
Predictable, implausible and just a tad funny; Drag Me to Hell is packed full of jumpy scenes and terrifying computer-generated images, yet lacks a story line you can successfully sink your teeth into- thus making it toilsome to be truly horrified by this half-hearted horror flick.
This movie falls into the Marmite category; dividing audiences straight down the middle. It’s better to make your own mind up on this one. If you like a tame horror that’s guaranteed to make you jump, cringe and wince you’ll love this film. Yet if you’re a little harder to be won over by scary movies, you may find that the lack of tense build up, convincing acting and psychological terrors means this slap-dash excuse for a fright fest just doesn’t cut it.
