October 12, 2009

Long before Sam Raimi was bringing Spider-Man to the big screen he was best known (or at least better known) for his visionary Evil Dead horror movies that have spawned numerous sequels, video games, and made Bruce Campbell a household name amongst his legion of cult fans. Known for over-the-top gore, campy scripts, and subversive humor, Sam’s movies are legendary, so I was eagerly looking forward to his return to horror with Drag Me to Hell. Sam dives right into one of my darkest fears, gypsies, second only to clowns for instilling me with a complete sense of dread from the opening scene to the gripping finale. Ever since the movie “Thinner”, I’ve had an unnatural fear of gypsies, who may for all I know be the nicest people in the world, but movies have consistently made them the agents of Satan, so I will continue to avoid…at least in my daily life.

During the opening scene we get a quick glimpse of just how evil and powerful these gypsies can be when we see a troubled young boy who stole a necklace from gypsy get tormented for three nights then dragged to hell. It’s a foreboding sign of things to come as we zip ahead a few years to meet our new cast of soon-to-be tormented innocents.

Meet Christine played by the cute Alison Lohman. As appealing as she looks on screen, I sadly couldn’t buy in to her characters. She just seemed to young to be a bank loan officer up for a VP position, let alone be in a relationship with her rich young boyfriend (Justin Long), who also looks too young to be a Psychology professor at the local university. Casting decisions aside, once the movie takes off you check your reality issues at the door and settle in for the ride.

Christine is up for a VP position at her bank but the decision is between her and another young and upcoming banker. In order to sway her boss and prove she can make the hard decisions, she denies an extension on a defaulted mortgage to a creepy old lady. Little does she know that this old lady (brilliantly portrayed by Lorna Raver) is a powerful gypsy who summons the Lamia to torment her for three days before dragging her to hell.

After a brutal attack in the parking garage – perhaps the best scene in the movie – Christine seeks the advice of a local fortuneteller (Dileep Rao) who immediately senses the curse that has been placed upon her. After some intense nights back at Christine’s house where the shadowy form of Lamia knocks her around she agrees to participate in a séance hosted by the mystic (Adriana Barraza) who was unable to save the young boy at the beginning of the film.

I dare not say more for fear of revealing any of the unpredictable plot twists in store for viewers for the third act, but rest assured, fans of Evil Dead will delight in the numerous (and sometimes comical) over-the-top gore and violence like corpses vomiting embalming fluid, nosebleeds that spray across a bank lobby, eyeballs that pop out and fly across the room to stick on somebody else’s face complete with retinal goo. While Sam normally doesn’t make a picture without a cameo from Bruce Campbell and a certain vintage 1973 Olds Delta 88, sadly, Bruce wasn’t available, so we get two scenes with the classic car.

Filmmaking: 9
Presented in both theatrical and unrated versions, both cuts have some merit. One could argue that less is more in several of the “enhanced” scenes, but others like the fight in the parking garage are definitely better. As with any Sam Raimi horror flick, you get a fun blend of horror and humor, but Drag Me to Hell tips much more to horror than most of his movies, at least until you get some crazy sight gag that trips up your immersion. The script and premise are as believable as it needs to be, with plenty of sinister drawings and books referenced through the film to support the Lamia concept. I’m a huge fan of unexpected and nontraditional Hollywood endings so I loved the final scene, even if I did manage to solve the “plot twist” about 30 seconds ahead of the characters.

Visuals: 9
Drag Me to Hell lit up my new Samsung plasma with a stunning 1080p transfer that offered sickening details in each and every scene. Even the dark parts of the film – particularly the slow 180-pan when Christine looks into her backseat, was perfectly lit to produce the ultimate in sinister shadows and slow reveals. Dark levels are inky black and the overall picture is flawless with not a single artifact or obvious DNR. Some of the CG work doesn’t blend as well as it should, but the puppetry for the goat was so flawless they replaced the live trained goat with the puppet for several of the close-ups. The sets and scenery were excellent with believable locations like the bank office, Christine’s home, and the fortuneteller’s shop that was totally convincing and loaded with details. And be on the watch for the scariest subliminal scene in the movie – it only last three frames, but is totally worth the freeze-frame moment.

Sound: 10
Drag Me to Hell immerses you in terror with an impressive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix that creates a new sensation of horror and suspense. When Christine is being stalked by the shadowy Lamia, thunderous knocking on the walls and creepy creaking on the upstairs floorboards had me cringing. Demonic voice enhancement sent shivers down my spine during the séance and throughout the entire movie we had the fantastic score from Christopher Young to maintain our emotional investment. The balance of score, effects, and dialogue was flawless and I didn’t miss a single word.

Value: 4
For those looking for some valuable insight into the making of this film, you might have to wait for some anniversary edition or future special edition double-dip. For now, Drag Me to Hell only offers a 35-minute Production Diary feature hosted by Justin Long. This feature covers a lot of ground and provided a close look at some of my favorite moments from the film, but I still wanted a commentary or a PiP feature for this film.

A digital copy now has a home on my iPhone, although the overall darkness of the film makes watching it in any type of natural light nearly impossible. It looks great when I can see it. There is also D-Box support, a bookmark feature, and BD-Live support, which now has a very useful news ticker in the main menu announcing upcoming release dates.

Overall: 9.0
I love a good scare and when you can throw in a few laughs without destroying the mood then you have a great horror movie. Sam Raimi is master of his domain, ranking right up there with Clive Barker and John Carpenter. I loved Drag Me To Hell for its story and playing on my fear of gypsies, and while I didn’t necessarily buy the actors in their onscreen professions, they played the characters perfectly. Blu-ray offers stunning visuals, powerful sound, and a chance to watch the movie with added gore. This is a great soon-to-be cult-classic that should be added to anyone’s Sam Raimi collection.