Leading into the Halloween period, a lot of people are happy to admit that they aren’t too keen on scary movies. In general people don’t enjoy getting scared senseless and finding themselves constantly shunning away from the screen at crucial moments. Enter Sam Raimi…
Drag me to hell is the 2009 return to horror film-making from veteran director Sam Raimi. But more than a return to form, Drag me is an excellent entry into the horror movie genre for those who are a bit squeamish.
God, scratching that itch was good.
The Plot
The film centres around Christine Brown (played by Alison Lohman), a timid banking loan officer, who is ordered to evict an old gypsy woman, Mrs. Ganush, from her house. In doing so the old woman falls to her knees and begs for the approval of the loan, which Christine rejects. Feeling that because of her rejection she has be shamed, Mrs. Ganush puts a supernatural curse on Christine, giving her 3-days until an evil spirit comes and takes her soul.
In safe hands
After the box-office breaking success of the Spiderman trilogy, Sam Raimi is back in the genre where he gained an army of cult followers. Having cut his teeth in the b-grade horror genre with the legendary ‘Evil Dead‘ series, the release of Drag me to hell is seen by many as a homecoming for the director.
By the film’s PG13 (12A) certificate it is clear to see that the objective of the film is not solely to scare the living bejeezus out of you, but rather to show that horror can transcend genres and at times be darn right hilarious.
Insert part A into part B
The key to a good horror for me is not to over complicate things. If things become to convoluted then the film risks either losing the audience’s attention or it spends so much time explaining that it loses their interest.
For me Drag me contains all the essential aspects of a good scare. It has an attractive protagonist, a terrifying witch-like woman with a glass-eye to run away from, an uncomplicated story line and plenty of bodily fluid goo. Its everything you could want.
Bodily fluid goo
I bring up the notion of bodily fluid, for a reason. What really stood out in this film was simply the amount of goo that there is. There seems to be slobbering and other mucus-based gags squeezed into every scene. Now most of the time that’s just plain gross, but somehow it works well in this film. Instead of flinching as faceless killers jump out of the dark, you are more physically repulsed by the image of an old denture-free lady ‘gumming’ Christine in the face. The use of the goo, is a wonderful tool to help breakdown the taboo that horror is one dimensional and in a strange way is an endearing element to the film. It really does work as a great way to bridge the gap between horror and comedy.
Another subtle touch is that the film is only 99 minutes long. This is a great length for a horror film, but it does mean that the pace of it is very important to it succeeding. Once again it pays off having a director that is comfortable in this genre and the film it glides smoothly from story development to scare without lingering unnecessarily on drawing out suspenseful scenes.
The Verdict
I thinks it’s pretty clear to read that I really enjoyed this film, and as I said, its real beauty is that it is a good scary film, but due to its comedic edges is highly accessible to an audience that are plucking up the courage to delve into the Halloween weekend.
out.
