Well, after that abomination entitled Spider-Man 3, Sam Raimi had to do something to appease his (former) fans. And so, he reverted to his horror roots with this entertaining and very tongue-in-cheek “supernatural thriller” starring Alison Lohman and Justin Long.
From the moment the now antiquated Universal logo appears onscreen, it’s obvious that Drag Me To Hell is kickin’ it old school. The story involves Christine (Lohman), a young and very ambitious bank employee who has high hopes of ditching her southern accent and forgetting about her long past fat days. Engaged to Clay (Long), the progeny of upper-classdom, Alison sees a chance to get ahead in life when her boss (the great David Paymer, who I always though would have made a perfect Larry Fine) announces a promotion at the bank. Seeing as her only competition is a complete snot-nose co-worker (Reggie Lee), Alison starts cracking down on her leniency with customers.
Sadly for Alison, her first crackdown is a poor gypsy woman (Lorna Raver) — who, in exchange for being denied her request, puts a curse on Alison. This starts a series of hellish visions and attacks, brought on by the forces of evil themselves. With her bewildered fiancé doubtful that she has been cursed, poor Alison seeks the advice of a palm reader (Dileep Rao), who sets up a meeting with a medium (Adriana Barraza). But will they be able to convince Hell to let well enough alone?
Nah, of course not. Look at the title of the movie, people!
As predictable and simple as can be, Drag Me To Hell invokes the entertaining and unapologetic spirit of an early ‘90s horror film: one that forsakes the whole “moral” and instead goes straight for the jugular with its unsophisticated (yet highly enjoyable) storyline. The gore level here was lowered for a PG-13 rating, and the horror (as well as humor) is right on-par with Raimi’s Evil Dead Trilogy — and so is the popcorn movie factor.
.jpg?t=20130517094513)
Article comments