Drag Me To Hell

Trust me, I wanted to love this film but I ended up hating every minute of it.

The plot, script, acting, direction, 'special' effects and overall production left a lot to be desired.

I could, blow-by-blow, tear the entire movie apart, but I'll only take one scene as an example of how utterly flawed I think this film is.

(SPOILER ALERT!)

Remember the scene in the bank where the 'heroine' suddenly starts to erupt blood from her nose and mouth? Why do the people in the bank start shouting at her to 'Stop'? Why does no one try to intervene and attempt to help someone who is obviously in distress and losing pints of blood? Then, after this trauma, why does she simply stroll out of the building and into the next scene as if nothing's happened (bar a blood-stained shirt)?

And don't get me started on the 'wake' scene for the witch/gypsy protagonist.

Awful film. Utterly, mind-numbingly awful.

It's more than 30 years since 'The Evil Dead', Mr Raimi, so please try a little harder next time.

I really wanted to see Drag Me To Hell because I'm a big fan of Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead movies. I've always thought Raimi was a brilliant horror film maker. Drag Me To Hell's opening scene is extremely effective. It just keeps you wanting more. Raimi works brilliantly at letting the audience know what they're in for.

There's more than just a hint of The Evil Dead in here. Raimi works on convincing you that the characters are just every day normal people in which extraordinary things are going to happen. Within 15 minutes, you know Lohman's character is in trouble and that's where the jumps start. Most of them are cheap shocks in truth, but they all work really well. You'll know what I mean when you jump out of your seat because of a handkerchief.

When I went to see this at the cinema with friends most of them had pretty much the same reaction. Not being familiar with Raimi's work or that the movie was intended to be tongue-in-cheek and quite funny in parts, the general opinion was that it failed as a horror movie, but succeeded as a comedy movie. The `gumming' scene comes to mind as a particularly funny scene which is also quite sinister at the same time.

I find it particularly amusing that I went to see this movie three times at the cinema and this is my second view of it on DVD and I still jump out of my seat at some of the scares. Some of them are just so unexpected that when you watch it again you just forget they're there.

There are two different versions of the movie available in the US, theatrical and uncut. The uncut version is the only version available in the UK, although the DVD artwork does not specify this. A few scenes are bloodier and the F-bomb is dropped. The certificate is still 15 though. I couldn't recommend picking up Drag Me To Hell more, it's officially one of my new favourite movies.

We all know that Sam Raimi is responsible for the Evil Dead and Spider-man trilogies and after completing Spider he returned to the genre he does best... and what a comeback it is. While the plot is hardly original and there are some silly moments peppered throughout the film Sam has that uncanny ability for making the audience feel at ease one minute...then scaring the hell out of you the next by making use of the dark shadows, eerie creaks and loud bangs.
I for one jumped quite a few times in places and that for me is what a good horror movie should be about.
A welcome return to form then but don't watch it alone....