Thursday, June 11, 2009

'Drag me to Hell' - Review

Hey Guys,

I recently got to the cinema for the first time in ages and watched 'Drag me to Hell', the latest horror flick from director Sam Raimi. The advertising boasted his recent Spiderman hits but I, like most I imagine, associated this more with the Evil Dead franchise and as it turns out fans of this series should be right at home with this movie.

It's time to strap on a pair of protective goggles, keep your mouth firmly shut and checkout the trailer for Drag me to Hell before I go on.

So, what did you make of that? Looks like a straight forward horror film right, plenty of creepy things going on and enough to make you think this is a serious film. This was certainly what I was expecting having seen the trailer and heard some guys at work talking about the movie. 'You'll need a strong stomach' I was told...right!

Drag me to Hell is a blast, not at all a serious attempt at horror but rather a true return to his roots for Sam Raimi who must've had a whole lot of fun filming 'Evil Dead' and wanted to revisit this style of 'casual' filming after a bout of high budget movie making. I'm surprised the cast weren't all suffering whiplash with the amount of nods to the Evil Dead series, from possessed people being made to jive in the air to the cheesy one liners that made Bruce Campbell's career! 'I'm gonna get me some' ring a bell to anyone?

Not quite 'Come get some' but you see what I mean! There was even a reference to a visit to a log cabin out in the woods part way through the film, though unfortunately the film didn't go there the mention was loud and clear!

The cast play their part reasonably enough, this film isn't going to grab any oscars but then it would be absurd to think they were ever going to try! Alison Lohman plays the main lead, Christine Brown, in the film as a young, career focused woman who inherits a gypsy curse from the hair grabbing Mrs. Ganush played by Lorna Raver. It's a surprise Christine has any hair left by the end of the movie as Mrs. Ganush certainly makes a good effort to yank it all out in pretty much every scene she's in!

From the moment Mrs. Ganush is removed from the bank the film begins its trek down the absurd, with a crazed old woman 'gumming' her victim as she desperately tries to bite her victim; and later a talking goat that is very reminiscent of the famed 'Dead by dawn' mounted deer. I know I keep harping on about the similarities here but they jumped out at me so many times that they have to be acknowledged.

It would be easy to sum this review up by saying that if you enjoyed Evil Dead then there's no doubt you'll enjoy this movie but should there be any of you that have taken up residence under a rather large rock I feel I should wrap up my thoughts on this with a little more detail.
Drag me to Hell is a fine twist of horror and comedy, which if you get behind then you'll love but if you're after a proper fright then this isn't the film for you. There's eye-balls popping, embalming fluid gushing and demons jigging, what more could you ask for!?!
Emeny.

1 comment:

Burnsy said...

Demons are real...