By Malice Intended
Some say an artist should always disappear into his work. That he should make his points with subtlety and grace, rather than incorporating anything that loudly announces his presence. The work should always speak for itself.
We should all be thankful that Sam Raimi does not wholly subscribe to this school of thought. His latest, Drag Me to Hell, is a horror/comedy funhouse that reminds us just how much fun it can be when an artist infuses his work with his personality. Drag Me To Hell gives us a panoramic view of Raimi’s id. Hell is in many ways a companion piece to Raimi’s Evil Dead films in that it represents a return to his roots, employing many of the same tricks and techniques. However, such a description would sell the film short.
Hell finds Raimi a slightly more sophisticated, and subtle filmmaker. Over the past 28 years, Raimi has evolved as a filmmaker, lending his unique touch to everything from Crime dramas (A Simple Plan) to big-budget superhero blockbusters (Spider-Man). With Hell, Raimi has returned to his old playground with a few new tricks.
Loan officer Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) is up for a promotion at her bank. On a fairly routine day at work, she is unfortunate enough to cross paths with an elderly Gypsy woman named Ms. Ganush (Lorna Raver), who comes to her seeking an extension on her mortgage. In an effort to show her boss (David Paymer) that she can make tough decisions, she denies Ms. Ganush the extension. Ms. Ganush grovels and begs, but Christine still refuses her. Humiliated and enraged by Christine’s lack of empathy and humanity, Ms. Ganush puts a curse on her. 
For three days she will be haunted and tormented by a ferocious demon known as Lamia before ultimately being dragged to Hades by the beast for eternity at the close of the third day. Christine seeks comfort from her loving but cynical boyfriend Clay Dalton (Justin Long), and ultimately seeks out the help of fortune teller Rham Jas (Dileep Rao). After Rham’s advice fails, he brings Christine to spiritual channeler Shaun San Dena (Adrianna Barazza). She had confronted the demon 40 years earlier and conducts a séance to draw it out and dispose of it. The second and third acts chronicle Christine’s attempts to escape her fate.
Hell’s basic structure is where it resembles the Evil Dead films. The plot merely provides a framework for writer/director Sam and co-writer Ivan Raimi to cut loose and have fun in a way that the mega-budget Spider-man films don’t allow them to.
The actors do the material justice by giving us better performances than a movie of this nature truly requires. Lohman provides us with an protagonist that cannot easily be categorized as a “heroine”. She isn’t exactly a horrible person, but her narcissism and fluctuating morality reveal her to be somewhat flawed. As her fate draws closer, her true nature becomes more evident. There’s nothing like a demon clawing at your soul to show you what you’re really capable of. To Lohman’s credit that we still feel for her character even though the film itself suggests that her predicament is not wholly undeserved. We can also relate to her guilt and sense of bemusement at the situation. Like her, we like to think of ourselves as basically good people, even as we casually do not-so-nice things to others..
Equally good is Justin Long as the long suffering boyfriend. His performance works because he really buys into the material. Clay suspects that his girlfriend may in fact be losing her mind, yet he stands by her side. The material could easily provide fodder for a maudlin and cheesy soap opera. Justin Long redeems it by committing to it without a trace of irony. His believe allows us the ability to accept our own suspension of disbelief.
Frantic camera work, weird angles, and cartoonish makeup FX are all in abundance. However, Raimi doesn’t bludgeon you with them, instead choosing a minimalist approach with many of the sequences here in order to ratchet up the tension. Raimi truly understands rhythm and timing. His usual bag of goodies is used more as a payoff or a punch line. He’ll tease you with a foreboding shadow or a spooky sound effect, and then pull the rug from underneath you.
If Drag Me To Hell has a weakness, it’s the over reliance on jump scares and the dodgy CGI. Such things could be considered par for the course, however. This labor of love is a cheesy B-level horror film from a guy who has mastered the form. Raimi’s enthusiasm makes “Drag Me to Hell” more than the sum of its parts.
Drag Me to Hell isn’t for everyone, but it’s also not as much of a niche product as the title and advertising materials may suggest. While not a mean-spirited gore fest, it contains enough of a gross-out factor to appease teenagers and horror buffs. It manages to show that horror films can be scary and funny without relying on slasher/splatter clichés and current trends. Raimi will show you feats that will in equal parts amaze, frighten and delight you. In the end, he only wants you to have a good time.
Out of 5
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