Drag Me to Hell: Review By SMRTALEC

This review would probably be considered void to those who are fans of Sam Raimi because I’m not familiar with his Evil Dead movies. I never saw them, in fact, the only work of Raimi’s that I’ve seen are the ‘Spider-Man’ films. I went in watching this with an open mind because I wanted to give Raimi a shot at this genre. I’m still bitter about the disastrous Spider-Man 3 but I blocked that all out when walking into this.

I had no idea what to expect other than for it to be a horror film because that’s how the film was marketed, “Sam Raimi’s return to horror.” I know some of you Evil Dead fans may gasp at this, but the only part of any of the Evil Dead films that I’ve seen is the final fight scene at the end of ‘Army of Darkness’. So that one scene pretty much defined what Evil Dead was all about for me.

The movie definitely had that big, popcorn movie, feel to it. The audience was really into it (I’ll explain why later) and the movie had elements to it that had “fun” written all over it. This is the kind of movie you should see on opening weekend with a rowdy crowd. Without the hysteria, you wouldn’t be as thrilled and entertained. I couldn’t see myself watching this at home, alone, and still feeling that amount of satisfaction. The story felt very cliche, it didn’t bring anything new to the table. From what I’ve heard of the Evil Dead trilogy and it’s massive cult following, it sounds original and unique. But this plot just seemed very over-used and recognizable. But the thrills and laughs pretty much drowned out the unoriginal plot. I did like the exaggerated and ridiculous moments in the film. When they first hit, I immediately understood that it was meant to be ridiculous and therefore funny. So I was picking up on the humor and that didn’t bother me like it would for most viewers. I really liked how Raimi would scared the audience but then have some gross and funny gag follow that so well. It was just a good chemistry on screen and the audience loved it.

So basically this is a horror film that centers around Christine Brown (Allison Lohman) who is a loan officer, is up for a promotion, and has a boyfriend (Justin Long) who is randomly a professor at some university close to her office. I thought it was cool how all the settings were based in LA. That was pretty cool. After a financially broken gypsy approaches her with a request for a third loan, Christine has to reject her in order to prove to her boss that she’s able to make “tough choices” so that she could get her promotion. The gypsy begins beg in desperation and after pulling away from her grasp, the old gypsy slips and falls to the ground. Embarrassed and upset by this the old gypsy attacks her but is then quickly taken away by security. Later that night, Christine gets inside her car in the nearly empty parking structure and the crazy, old gypsy is waiting for her in the back seat of the car. A fight between the the gypsy and Christine breaks out in the car and at the end of it the gypsy casts a curse on Christine for “bringing shame upon her”. The rest of the movie takes place within of a few days with Christine trying to figure out how to rid herself of the curse which lead to finding aid from a fortune teller and an old, hispanic, witch doctor. The movie is filled with good thrill to scare the audience and of course some ridiculous, grotesque moments as well.

I wouldn’t say the cast brought their performances to the screen but it was good enough for what the movie is. You can’t really expect great acting from a horror flick. The main cast included Alison Lohman, Justin Long, David Paymer, and Lorna Raver as the crazy, old, gypsy.

Although I wasn’t too impressed with the story, the pacing worked out well. It was finely structured to keep audiences enthralled with how Christine would survive each day of the curse and find a way to save herself.

The cinematography definitely had a Raimi effect. The way the scenes were lit, especially during the day, reminded a lot of the ‘Spider-Man’ films, and the night scenes which were more grim looking, looked good.

Honestly, I couldn’t tell you how much I liked the music because I don’t remember it. I pay attention to the score because I’m a huge soundtrack listener, so if I can’t remember what the music was like then it probably was too “horror” generic. I think Raimi used the same composer from ‘Spider-Man 3’ though.

Very quickly, about the audience, I happened to win tickets to the hollywood premiere through the ‘Myspace Black Curtain Screening’ contest Myspace usually holds every month. The premiere was at the Chinese Grauman Theater which is huge and amazing theater. The sound was perfect for this type of film and the theater hold so many people. I couldn’t remember the last time I was in a theater that big with that many people. Since most of the people there worked on the film, they were really hyped to see it so the audience was extremely rowdy and into it which made the experience even more fun.

I probably liked this movie more because of that but aside from that it was a likeable movie and I did enjoy myself...except for that third act which was a little too ridiculous. If you’re into a fun, horror, summer popcorn film, then I’d recommend for you. Enjoy!