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Sam Raimi Icon returns to horror genre

Posted on Jun 22, 2009 in News

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If you’re a die-hard Sam Raimi fan then you know that the films that put him on the map weren’t the three hugely successful “Spiderman” movies, but the horror trilogy “Evil Dead.”

“Drag Me to Hell” represents his first full-fledged return to the genre that got his career started in the first place.
As such, it’s certainly a cause celebré for horror fans.

Many had their doubts, as Raimi’s main contribution to the genre as of late was as a producer for Ghost House Pictures, whose films range from perfectly terrible (“Boogeyman” 1-3) to passable-but-nothing-spectacular (“The Grudge” 1-3).

As it stands, only “30 Days of Night” came close to Raimi’s cult classics.

One of the main reasons the films falter is by self-censoring for the kiddies to attain the much hated (at least by die-hard horror fans) PG-13 rating.

Obviously, the gambit worked, as the films have mostly made money, but the end results often leave much to be desired.

This is not to say a horror film need be gratuitously gory to succeed, by any means. When it was announced that “Drag Me to Hell” would likewise be a PG-13, many suspected Raimi had lost the stuff that made him an icon to many horror fans.

I prepared myself for the suck-fest to come, taking some comfort in the fact that at least the film might be redeemed when the inevitable unrated edition was released on DVD.

“Drag Me to Hell” finds Raimi working on full steam, making a horror film the way only he can, with equal doses of grisly FX and gross-out humor. It’s the type of film that will make you laugh even as you gag at the disgusting gore.
“Drag” revolves around Christine Brown (likeable Alison Lohman, of “Matchstick Men”), a bank loan officer who is in line for a promotion. After her boss suggests she step it up if she wants the job, she makes the unfortunate decision to turn down an elderly woman (Lorna Raver) for a loan extension.

Turns out the old gal is a gypsy, and she promptly curses poor Christine to be dragged to hell in three days.
Christine’s skeptical at first, but when things start getting freakier by the minute, she’s forced to take it seriously, enlisting the help of her boyfriend (Justin Long) and an Indian medium (the excellent Dileep Rao).

Yet the simplistic plot works wonders for Riami. He should bring such enormously entertaining results, even under the confines of a PG-13 rating.

Substituting ickiness for gore, Raimi never lets up, with one scare after another, with endlessly inventive ways of making viewers jump right out of their skins.

Nor does he cut cutie Lohman any more slack than poor Bruce Campbell, who suffered the tortures of the damned for real during the famously grueling “Evil Dead” shoots.

Lohman is slung about, covered in goo, mud, and who knows what else, and it does not look like she had any more fun than Campbell did.

It’s a testament to how revered Raimi still is to this day that he would get such a talented serious actress as Lohman to go through so much insanity.

Even more impressive, Raimi refuses to take the easy way out any step of the way, all but begging the audience to cry foul right up to the final frame.

In short, Raimi fans shouldn’t worry. PG-13 or not, “Drag me to Hell” delivers the goods, and then some.
 

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