SXSW Review: ‘Drag Me to Hell’

Editor’s note: While hanging at the ‘My Suicide’ after-party, where Blue October completely rocked it out, we ran into these two guys who were going to check out ‘Drag Me to Hell’ as well.   Needless to say, one of them is an aspiring writer, English major, and creative writing minor, and all that.   He wanted to cut his teeth on a review for ‘Drag Me to Hell’.   Who were we to turn him down?   After all, after two days of nonstop interviewing and movie watching, our writing brains needed a little break.

Here is Cameron Maris’ review of the film.   Note that it contains spoilers, but, if you don’t want to read the whole thing, know the guy says the film is “middling” and that the old Sam Raimi “magic is gone”.

Cameron:

Before Monday morning’s 1 AM screening of Sam Raimi’s new film, *Drag Me to Hell*, rumors were flying around about what exactly we were about to see. Would the* *director be returning to his old pre-*Spidey* tricks**? Â  Would this be a more serious take on a horror movie? Â  Could Raimi return to his B-movie greatness after the cringe-inducing *Spider-Man 3*? Â  In actuality, the results as well as the reviews have been a bit mixed.

The short answer is yes, Raimi is back to his old *Evil Dead* tricks; the lovely Alison Lohman stars as Christine, a bank loan officer with a doting boyfriend (Justin Long), a boss looking to promote her, and a hell of a problem. Â  When she denies a loan to a decrepit gypsy woman, the old bag attacks in the bank, cursing Christine’s button and setting into motion a chain of events that would send the SxSW premiere audience into alternating spasms of raucous cheers, hysterical laughter, and eye-covering nausea.

From a purely film-minded point of view, the film is middling at best. Lohman’s performance is top-notch; she conveys just the right sense of dread and strength in a role that could have been handled by just about any young, blonde, attractive actress. Â  Long’s comic gifts are totally wasted in the throwaway boyfriend role; he’s far more enjoyable in the Mac commercials than he is here. Â  David Paymer is predictably fun as the bank manager, and Lorna Raver is perfect under the grotesque makeup as the haunting gypsy woman. Â  The entire film looks much better than Raimi’s old B-movies; the budget is visible in every element, from sets to effects to cinematography. It’s a movie that looks like *Spider-Man* but feels like *Evil Dead 2*. That’s not a bad thing at all.

The visual effects are obviously not completely finished yet, but there are moments of genuinely impressive wizardry. Â  There’s a ghoulish eye that appears in a slice of cake, only to be stabbed viciously with a fork,
gushing bright red blood. Â  There’s lots of invisible-monster-attacking-the-girl moments, tossing her around her house like she’s a rag doll, and while the effects budget is increased, it gives much the same effect as one of Raimi’s old scenes of the sort. Â  There’s a few good “jump” scares, and a *lot *of “gross-out” scares — I’m talking blood, mucous, bile, embalming fluid — and it’s all gushing everywhere, onto other characters’ faces, into their mouths, etc. Â  And then there’s the kitten. Â  That’s right. Â  One of the ridiculous plot-points is that in order to end the curse, Christine must sacrifice an animal. Â  Cue adorable kitty, cue butcher knife. Â  No hesitation. Â  Stab stab stab stab stab. Â  Splatter splatter splatter splatter. Â  The crowd goes wild.

Despite all of the technical whiz-bang and the cool gross stuff, it’s painfully clear that a lot of the magic is gone. Â  Part of the joy of returning to the *Evil Dead* trilogy, even now, is that Raimi was a master of low-budget horror, and bright red pixels are simply not as viscerally effective as corn syrup. Â  If it were 1981, *Drag Me to Hell* would be a much better film, simply because we wouldn’t see Raimi coming from a mile away, and it would be a low-budget, so-bad-it’s-good discovery. Â  However, if any other director besides the beloved Raimi had made this picture, it would never get a distribution deal. Â  The truth is that it’s not scary, it’s not creepy, and it’s not very thought-provoking. Â  It’s a rollicking fun at times, but it never really takes off from there.

The ending, though, is as must-see as it is predictable. Â  In these times of economic hardship, who *doesn’t* want to see a banker dragged down by writhing demonic hands into the fiery depths of Hell? Â  It was a brief,
exuberant moment, but it made *Drag Me to Hell* very much worth the price of the ticket I didn’t buy.

Overall: 2.5 stars out of 5