Loh-man on fire.
Drag Me to Hell
Directed by Sam Raimi
Universal Pictures/Ghost House Pictures, 2009
By Sean Kelly
Back in the late 1970s, a man named Sam Raimi got together with his high school buddy Bruce Campbell and made a low-budget horror film called The Evil Dead. After the film was released in 1981, it became a huge cult hit, spawning two sequels, and even adapted into a campy musical. Evil Dead launched Sam Raimi’s film career, where he went on to make more genre films culminating with taking the helms on the Spider-Man franchise. Throughout his success, Raimi hasn’t forgotten his horror roots as five years ago he started his own horror production company Ghost House Pictures, which resulted in films such as The Grudge and 30 Days of Night. Now, before he begins production on the fourth Spider-Man film, Raimi returns to his horror roots directing Drag Me to Hell.
Before I talk about the film itself, I believe I should talk briefly about the film’s rating. The official MPAA rating of the film is PG-13 for sequences of horror violence, terror, disturbing images, and language (for us in Ontario, the rating is 14A for Frightening Scenes, Gory Scenes, and Disturbing Content). The PG-13 rating is almost considered sacrilegious in horror circles and, given Raimi’s history of having mass blood and guts in the Evil Dead films, it might appear that he has given in to the Hollywood corporate machine to make a horror film that would appeal to as mainstream an audience as possible. However, since there have been PG-13 horror films that were truly scary (including the Raimi-produced The Grudge), I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and see if the film was truly the “return of true horror” advertised in the trailer.
After seeing the film, I have to say that this line comes more from the studio marketing team’s desire to make a buck than to capture Raimi’s intentions. It quickly became apparent to me during the film’s first major horror sequence that Raimi was seeking to return to the not too serious, campy horror that made the Evil Dead series so beloved (that’s probably not that surprising, since Raimi wrote the script for this film shortly after Army of Darkness and sat on it until now). This type of horror, which in some cases involves Looney Tunes-like goofiness, might alienate those unfamiliar with the campiness of the Evil Dead series who were expecting a more earnest horror film (that trailer message didn’t help). As a big Evil Dead fan, though, I was reeled into the campiness of the film and I had quite a good time. I even thought that the 80s era Universal logo at the start was a nice touch.
I reference Evil Dead continuously because this film would probably be the closest Raimi has gotten to creating a fourth film in that series. In fact, there is a séance scene in the film that feels like a deleted scene from Evil Dead. All that’s missing is the blood and guts, though Raimi does manage to sneak one massive blood spray under the PG-13 rating.
In the lead role, I thought that Alison Lohman did a good job (and though I don’t want to diss Canadians, she was probably the better pick than the original choice, Ellen Page). My only real criticism of casting her is that she looks ten years younger than she really is (something that worked to her favour in Matchstick Men) and, as such, she didn’t appear to be the kind of person that is working as a loan officer in a bank. That aside, she held her own in the horror scenes — including a creepy scene that would make pet-lovers cringe — and even got a few good one-liners in. In addition, even though he will probably be forever known as the “Mac Guy,” Justin Long (whose first major leading role was in the horror film Jeepers Creepers) did a competent job as the sceptical, yet supportive boyfriend.
In the end, Drag Me to Hell was certainly not the return of true horror that it was billed to be. However, it was still a fun campy horror film that will probably make fans wish even more that Sam Raimi grabs Bruce Campbell and makes that fourth Evil Dead film.
I actually thought the lead actress reminded me of Ellen Page, so I’m not surprised to hear she was up for the role.
It was frustrating to know exactly how this was going to end- especially when I don’t like those kind of endings..
Well the big difference between the two actresses is that Alison Lohman is 29 and LOOKS too young to be working at a bank, while Ellen Page is 22 and IS too young to be working at a bank. :P