Product Details

• Number of items: 1

Amazon.com
Touted as a return to Sam Raimi's horror-movie roots, Drag Me to Hell is indeed closer in spirit to the director's Evil Dead pictures than to his Spider-Man films. You got your gypsy gargoyles with rotted dentures, your upchucking corpses, your flexible two-way orifices--yes, Raimi's definitely back in the saddle. There's even a story: a sad loan officer (Alison Lohman) turns down the aforementioned denture-wearing gypsy for a loan extension, which leads to an evil curse and a date in hell in three days' time. A séance, an animal sacrifice, and a session in a storm-tossed graveyard will make the 72 hours pass very nervously, thank you, along with assorted scares. Justin Long plays Lohman's upper-class boyfriend, and Raimi fills the rest of the cast with some unusual and unfamiliar types. Along with the giddy horror-comedy that bursts out of the movie every 10 minutes or so, there's also an underlying mood of pity: Lohman's character is something of a hard-luck sad sack, who does enough wrong things to make her seem like a truly abject individual, well outside the heroic model of most multiplex offerings. (Lohman's own little-girl-lost quality adds to this feeling.) But don't let that get in the way of the fun-ride aspects of this goofy enterprise: Drag Me to Hell is a bunch of Z-movie gags wrapped in top-drawer production values. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

Sam Raimi's Return to Horror
He's back! No I'm not talking about Freddy, Jason, Chucky or Michael. I'm talking about Sam...as in Sam Raimi. It's been almost 17 years since Raimi has helmed a horror flick and he hasn't lost his touch. Drag Me to Hell feels like the ugly (real ugly), long lost sister of Evil Dead II. It blends jump-outta-your-seat scares with Three Stooges style slap stick. If that sounds like an odd combination then you've never watched a Raimi horror movie before...

Drag Me to Hell is a basic morality tale. The whole thing feels like a polished episode of Tales from the Crypt. The story follows Christine Brown (Alison Lohman), a young woman who is looking to move up the corporate ladder at the bank where she's employed. Her boss tells her that she must learn to make the hard decisions if she wants a promotion and the first time she attempts this she forecloses the house of a disgusting, old, gypsy woman (Lorna Raver). If classic horror has taught us anything it's that you don't EVER screw with gypsies (or carnie folk). The dilapidated crone waits for Christine in the parking garage (in Raimi's beat up Oldsmobile!) and applies the 'Curse of Lamia'. The Lamia is a devil goat that loves the taste of souls. It takes three days to fully manifest and then the demon comes looking for its meal which gets dragged back to Hell for consumption.

Christine is perfectly portrayed by Lohman and I'll be damned if that girl doesn't have some spunk! She is cute as hell and has a knack for physical comedy. One thing about Raimi is that he loves to put his actors/actresses through the ringer. Lohman is a trooper as she gets hit in the face with maggots, mud, blood, drool etc... See that's the beauty of this film. Every time something terrifying happens it's quickly followed up with some disgusting gag that makes you cringe and then burst into a fit of laughter. It's a really great group experience...much like a well executed haunted house.

Justin Long plays Lohman's love interest, Dr. Clay Dalton, and to be honest it seems like he's just along for the ride. Make no mistake about it, this is Lohman's movie and she easily carries it all on her own. The rest of the cast is merely there to witness Christine physically and mentally fall apart as the Lamia's curse intensifies.

My only real complaint is that Raimi actually had the budget to create some CG effects. While they don't ruin the movie, I would have loved to see him stick with the real stuff instead. My main problem is that the things he uses CG for could have easily been done with practical effects.

Drag Me to Hell is horror done right. Sam Raimi has crafted one of the best horror films I've seen in the past 5 years. You've got elements of Evil Dead, The Exorcist and Dead Alive all stirred into the wicked witch's brew that is Drag Me to Hell. The packed theatre I sat in seemed to really get into it, but I'm afraid some folks simply won't wrap their heads around all the goofy stuff that Raimi does. Make sure you drag as many friends as possible to see it. Rest assured that everyone will be jumping in their seats, covering their eyes, screaming and giggling like prepubescent schoolgirls! Drag Me to Hell is just flat out fun cinema. Go see it.

Final Grade: A

Drag Me to Hell
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS POSSIBLE SPOILERS (EXPRESSED AS VAGUELY AS POSSIBLE). This film stands tall in the company of recent horror films (the only one that surpasses it is "Trick r Treat"). Two things especially stand out:
--It's a gross-out film, but not in the usual blood-and-dismemberment mode. Few of us today really fear being murdered and dismembered--but in these days of HIV and "swine flu", we do have powerful fears of contamination: "That lady just sneezed near me! That guy wants to shake my hand and I just saw him wipe his nose! I can't take communion at church anymore because we all drink from the same cup! That guy has a nosebleed--stay away from me, I don't want that stuff on me!" "Drag Me to Hell" plays powerfully, excrutatingly, on those fears. There's plenty of saliva, phlegm, blood (very little of it from actual violence), and undefinable bodily fluids on the screen. This gets under one's skin much more than murder and mayhem--because it touches on things that we are actually afraid of.
--There are a lot of clever allusions to one of the all-time great horror films, "Night of the Demon" (aka "Curse of the Demon"). The stalking demon; the inanimate object that suddenly takes on a life of its own (the slip of paper in "Night of the Demon", a scarf in "Drag Me to Hell"); the imperative need to pass the curse on to someone else; and the climax on the railroad tracks. It represents a wonderful homage to a great horror film--and the highest praise I can give "Drag Me to Hell" is to say that it's worthy to stand in the same company as the 50s film to which it pays tribute.
Also--no nudity, no sexual content to speak of, little to no profanity, minimal violence--which allows the little violence there is to have maximum impact. A great film for fans of classic horror.

Drag Me to Hell is a modern horror masterpiece
I can't believe I'm going to say this but Drag Me to Hell is my favorite movie of the year so far (Inglourious Basterds is a close second). I thought this Sam Raimi gem would get mixed reviews at best, so I was blown away when I saw the 100 or so positive reviews flowing in from critics. It ranks with UP and Star Trek as one of the best reviewed movies of the year. That rarely happens with a horror film, but this one is so much more. It's full of dark humor, gross out gags (really pushes the PG-13 envelope), good acting, nice SFX and an interesting story. I can't remember the last time I was this surprised at how much better the movie was than any of the trailers or what I had expected going in.

Alison Lohman really sold me here. She is very cute, but she shows the smarts and toughness you almost never see in a horror flick. Really good stuff from her. The whole cast from Justin Long to the evil gypsy lady is spot on and you can't leave out director Sam Raimi. His visual style here will remind you of The Evil Dead trilogy, but with a bigger budget and just as much creativeness. It was great to see this now summer blockbuster director go back to his roots and knock it out of the park. The music and sound effects are some of the best I've heard in a long time. When it goes from quiet to extremely loud, the sound alone will make you jump. Out of all the movies I have seen in theaters, I can't remember one with sound mixing this good.

Well, do you think I liked Drag Me to Hell just a little bit? Really? When it comes to horror films, especially in recent years, few pack the thrills, laughs and entertainment value that this one brings.

4 and 1/2 out of 5 stars