When I saw that Drag Me To Hell was rated nearly seven stars at IMDB , I figured I would give it a shot. I generally shy away from certain types of horror films (especially slashers) because they simply don't appeal to me. Because this film had higher ratings based on multiple sources, I went against my better judgment and streamed it anyway.
Drag Me To Hell begins with a flashback forty years ago, where we witness a child being brought before a Santeria (Adriana Barraza) for healing. The child (Shiloh Selassie) is being stalked by a supernatural force. The dark forces win. When we catch back up to the current time, we meet Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) a promising loan officer who feels threatened by another new loan officer who is vying for the same assistant manager position that she covets.
After speaking with the Bank Manager (David Paymer), Christine realizes that she is going to have to make tough decisions in order to compete for this job. The opportunity presents itself in the form of an old disgusting hag that shows up at her loan desk asking for an extension on her house. The hag is two months behind on her mortgage and Christine makes the tough decision to foreclose. Her actions have consequences which take the form of a curse. Christine desperately seeks help to shake the curse while trying to convince her boyfriend Clay Dalton (Justin "I'm a Mac" Long), a psychiatrist, that she is not losing her mind.
Drag Me To Hell employs a gross black humor that was a bit predictable but disgustingly funny. However, Director Sam Raimi gets carried away with the whole vomit thing. Maggot vomit, blood vomit, embalming fluid vomit...you get the idea. He seems to have a mouth fetish (one character even asks if he got a particular fluid in his mouth). I guess ingestion is one of the sickest forms of gross, and Raimi exploits it to the fullest extent. I liked it at first, but quickly grew tired of it. Not being a fan of this genre, maybe I'm just missing something. The constant gagging was...well, vomit inducing. Visual ipecac.
Drag Me To Hell is pretty easy to predict, but does have a few bits of misdirection that keeps the audience guessing. If I were looking for positive aspects, I would say that Raimi does a good job of creating visual tension to create that seat gripping effect. Even though you see it coming, the delivery does a good job of manipulating the audience. The characters are cookie cutter average without a lot of depth. The dialogue was decent for a film that was otherwise not my cup of tea. Overall, the story was merely okay.
Lohman was pretty good in the lead role. If she had more to work with I would probably rave about her, but I wasn't convinced by the story. I was too busy being grossed out. I kept expecting Long to say "I'm a Mac" which was kind of distracting. He just doesn't "do it" for me. Paymer was pretty good in his limited role as the Bank Manager. He is dry and subtle, but his character actually had a little depth. The cast was decent but I really wasn't sold...partly the acting, partly the script.
The MPAA gave Drag Me To Hell a PG-13 rating. This is probably dead on the money. The horror aspects of this film are the stuff that nightmares are made of. The death, violence, animal cruelty, and tight suspense are all factors that are likely to frighten younger viewers. The language is another minor factor. The film did not have any nudity or adult situations. The rating is pretty much based on terrifying scenes that may scare younger viewers. Run time is one hour, 39 minutes.
I wanted to like Drag Me To Hell. Some reviewers gave it very high ratings. I was very disappointed in the end product, but it may have a lot to do with my own viewing preferences. I simply avoid this genre because these films normally do not appeal to me (there are exceptions). If you are a fan of this genre, take that factor into consideration and read other reviews of this film. If you are more casual in your film tastes, avoid this one. I would not recommend this film, but will give it a bonus point for some black comedy elements. 4/10.
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