Early Movie Review - “Drag Me To Hell”
**** STARS
Sam Raimi, creator of the classic “Evil Dead” trilogy and Director of the “Spiderman” films, has made the best horror film of the past 20 years with “Drag Me To Hell”. This white knuckle modern horror classic is already my pick for the best movie of 2009. From beginning to end it is unrelenting and completely terrifying while still containing Raimi’s campy humor. This movie has the perfect blend of jump out of your skin scares and uncomfortable gore with the grossest sound effects I have ever heard in a film just thrown in for good measure.
The film follows a loan officer (Alison Lohman) who is ordered to evict an old woman from her home and finds herself the recipient of a supernatural curse that turns her life into a living hell. Desperate, she turns to a seer to try and save her soul, while evil forces work to push her to a breaking point. I love that Raimi isn’t afraid to give his female lead, Alison Lohman, a Bruce Campbell-style beating. For example, in one scene Alison Lohman starts bleeding from her mouth, and when she goes to cover it, blood shoots from her nose all over the place.
This isn’t your average horror film; this is a Sam Raimi horror experience that will have you screaming in disbelief. “Drag Me To Hell” has all the right elements that make up a classic horror movie tale; a gypsy curse, a sassy Medium to add comic relief, the gross out gore, perfectly timed scares and terrifying demons. Raimi has created a frightening tale that may have not been able to be pulled off if it weren’t for his trademark style and swooping camera angels.
The pacing of “Drag Me To Hell” grabs you by the jugular within the first 5 minutes and it doesn’t give you much time to breathe leading up to its twisted ending. It’s refreshing to see one of Hollywood’s most inventive directors fully reinvigorated. Raimi has lived up to the hype surrounding his return to the horror genre. While going gloriously over the top, Raimi makes us laugh as much as he scares the pants off us. “Drag Me To Hell” is well on its way to becoming an immediate classic and could very well be the sleeper hit of this summer. All I have to say is, “you are forgiven for “Spiderman 3” Mr. Raimi”.
May 28th, 2009 at 11:52 am
DAMN! i’m so bummed i missed this! i have to see it. i love the evil dead trilogy, and it’s great to know that Raimi stayed true to himself in making this movie. also, i know you don’t hand out 4 stars lightly, especially to a horror flick…so this must be a crazy kickass movie.