Dem Reviews: Drag Me To Hell

Let me start off by saying that I’m not the biggest Sam Raimi fan. Hmmm, that kinda comes off like me not enjoying his work and nothing could be further from the truth: Army Of Darkness, Evil Dead, Spider-Man 2 (WTF happened with the third installment is beyond me) are all films that I hold in high esteem. But when I hear about a director working on his next project, Sam Raimi’s name never really gets picked up on my radar. Well after watching Drag Me To Hell, that’s probably gonna change.

Now why did it take me so long to acknowledge Sam Raimi’s ability to create compelling films is beyond me. Yeah, I know, next time you see me, feel free to let me know how you feel about my ignorance. But I digress, lets get back to what we’re all here to see.

Drag Me To Hell was a complete surprise to me. Even though I had been hearing to overtly positive reviews coming out of SXSW and other screenings, I went into the film not expecting much and I came out with a giant smile on my face. The film was a good mix of humor & terror much in the vein of the Evil Dead films of yesteryear. Maybe not as much as Army Of Darkness-type humor but it ventures close at some points, including some Ash worthy lines here and there.

I’m kinda glad that Ellen Page passed on the role cause the relatively unknown Alison Lohman really shined in the lead role without any baggage. An excellent supporting cast with Justin Long, Adriana Barraza & that guy from The Fast & The Furious really helped elevate the entire film. And that old lady is friggan scary as all hell and she needs to win an award of some sort for scarring me to the point where I will never trust gypsies again.

Sam Raimi and his team have created and awesome film here and totally worthwhile of your money & time. In a summer where we’re getting hit with some questionable, soulless tent pole films that are nothing more than style over substance, it’s quite refreshing to see a PG-13 movie that delivers on the scares & humor in such a low budget vehicle. This film caught me off guard, no doubt, and I highly suggest you grab a friend and go check out Drag Me To Hell before you go and inevitably spend $12 to see giant robots kicking each others ass. Cause it’s these type of films that we need in between those brainless set pieces to let us know that we’re still able to function properly as human beings. Okay, that’s a bit much but just go watch the film, you’ll like it! Probably.