paulclaassen
Firstly, allow me to say I thought the role of Christine Brown was way too big and demanding for Alison Lohman and she simply couldn't pull it off convincingly. Apart from this total miscast, the film was indeed very enjoyable. The visual effects are excellent, to say the least! Very eerie at times. As the film progresses, it becomes more humorous than scary, especially the sacrifice ritual with medium Shaun San Dena, which is a bit silly actually. Having said this, though, this is typical of a Sam Raimi film. The film then returns to scary for the final, and I must say I loved the movie's final moment! I did find Christine's curse a bit harsh, though, considering her only crime was refusing a loan agreement (again). If she caused the death of a loved one, I could understand the curse, or if she caused severe bodily harm or trauma to Mrs Ganush. But she didn't. The whole competing for the assistant manager position was also done very amateurishly and quite childish. In closing, I must admit I enjoyed the film in general.
Bryan Kluger
Back in 2009, the brilliant filmmaker Sam Raimi journeyed back to his horror roots and made a fun-as-hell horror-comedy film called 'Drag Me To Hell'. For those of you who don't remember who Sam Raimi is, movies like 'Evil Dead II', 'Army of Darkness', 'The Spider-Man Trilogy', and 'Darkman' are some of his accomplishments. Raimi and his brother and frequent collaborator Ivan Raimi had an idea for a horror film called 'The Curse', but when Raimi booked the 'Spider-Man' gig, that film was put on hold for the next decade. After 'Spider-Man 3' was released, Sam and Ivan went quickly back to their idea to work on a low budget horror film again, which turned into 'Drag Me To Hell'.
If you've seen the British horror film 'Night of the Demon', you'd see some good similarities between the two, but Sam wanted to make a movie about a pleasant and very nice individual who makes one bad decision out of their very own greed, which comes back to haunt them in a the most horrific way. 'Drag Me To Hell' centers on a young woman named Christine (Alison Lohman), who is a sweet and well-mannered loan officer at a bank. She's kind, funny, and has a good boyfriend she loves (Justin Long). Her boss at the bank is always riding her to make the "hard decisions" in order to keep bank profits up and not allow people who need help with extensions or past payments. Christine doesn't agree with this sentiment, but when an elderly gypsy woman comes in and kindly asks for an extension on her house, Christine does not allow it in order to impress her boss and gain a small promotion.The old gypsy woman, played perfectly by Lorna Raver, curses Christine to hell for eternity. The rules are that Christine is now in possession of a button from the gypsy woman and must pass the button along to someone else within three days or she will be devoured by demons in a fiery hell below forever. Of course, none of this seems believable, but when strange and terrifying things start happening, Christine must try to make things right. The film is rated PG-13, which for a horror movie on Sam Raimi's watch, isn't the way to go, but Raimi wanted to do something different and rely on a psychological horror rather than a ton of gore.
Needless to say, Raimi succeeded here on all levels. His ability to show shadows behind doors or evil footsteps lurking is highly suspenseful and works in each scene here. The more potent scares are in your face and downright terrifying, which might leave you nervously laughing at any moment. With the horror genre, Raimi perfectly inputs his comedic genius that rallies behind that of 'The Three Stooges' and some other off-beat dark humor, which is such a delightful and delicious mix of dialogue and gore. The performances are all solid, but the person who stands out is by far Lorna Raver as the old gypsy woman.Raver is a stage actress who is sweet and kind, but in this film, she is ugly, ruthless, and scary-as-hell. It's a great transformation and Raver just jumps into the deep end with her character and never swims back to the edge. At it's core, 'Drag Me To Hell' is a tale of morals and ethics, where you might be a sweet and kind person, but even one slip up and come back to bite you. It's a damn fine message and premise that will make you laugh and hide under the covers with the lights one. This is how you do a horror movie right.
