DVD Review

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DVD: Drag Me to Hell
Rating: PG-13
Starring: Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Dileep Rao
Written By: Sam & Ivan Raimi
Directed By: Sam Raimi
Distributor: Universal Home Entertainment
Original Year of Release: 2009
Extras: See Below
Series:

Drag Me to Hell DVD Review

Sam Raimi’s Return to Horror!

By Tim Janson October 28, 2009

DVD Review for Sam Raimi's DRAG ME TO HELL(2009).
© Universal Home Entertainment

Sam Raimi returns to the horror genre which started his career many years ago with Evil Dead and shows he’s lost none of his ability to terrify, gross-out, and make viewers laugh hysterically. Alison Lohman is Christine Brown, a bank loan officer who is vying with another employee for the assistant manager position. In an effort to show her boss she can make the tough decisions, she declines an old lady’s request for more time to make her mortgage payment. Big mistake! The old gypsy had attacks Christine with hellish fury in the parking garage and puts a curse on her. An evil spirit called a Lamia will come to claim her soul in three days unless she can find a way to dissuade the creature. Along for the ride is Christine’s boyfriend Clay (Justin Long) and a psychic Rham Jas (Dileep Rao) who tries to help Christine rid herself of the curse.

Our psychotic hag gypsy, Mrs. Ganush, seems ripped from an old Universal Pictures horror film and then amped up steroids to give viewers one grotesquely revolting old lady and her harrowing confrontation with Christine in the parking garage is one of the highlights of the film. She spews concoctions of worms, maggots, and a noxious liquid at the drop of a hat! It’s like watching no-holds barred WWE wrestling match. These are typical Raimi demons, wicked yet with an unerring sense of over-the-top slapstick that elicits both screams of terror and howls of laughter.

Alison Lohman does a marvelous job of channeling Bruce Campbell’s “Ash” from the Evil Dead films deftly becoming the terrorized victim, and yet valiant hero as she wages her personal war with the Lamia. She also shows Campbell ’s ability for physical comedy when she duels with a haunted scarf that refuses to be pulled from her face. Justin Long, known more for sophomoric comedic roles, seems misplaced here as the supportive boyfriend.

Raimi shows off techniques that were not part of his repertoire thirty years ago with unique camera angles and perspectives. With the slanted shots I could not help but think of Lovecraft and his penchant for strange geometry playing significant roles in many of his stories.

The script was written by Sam Raimi along with his brother Ivan (thankfully Ted is nowhere to be found) and includes all manner of sight and sound gags including gleefully prancing demons, talking goats, ridiculous run-ins with corpses, and a classic horror film séance.

While not the ground-breaking film that Evil Dead was, Drag Me to Hell is a frenetic and enjoyable ride and a welcome return to horror for Sam Raimi.

Extras

The DVD comes with a multi-part production diary (35:00) that includes segments on stunts, make-up, sound design and notable scenes in the film. These include the battle between Christine and the gypsy in the parking garage, the highlight of the film and one of the most intense female on female fights in filmdom; a segment on Christine’s bloody nose scene where her nose spewed blood like a squirt gun; and Christine’s ordeal when she gets stuck in Mrs. Ganush’s grave and a driving rain storm.

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