Drag Me To Hell (2009)
Directed by: Sam Raimi
Written by: Ivan Raimi, Sam Raimi
Starring: Alison Lohman, Dileep Rao, Justin Long, Ruth Livier
They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks and that is exactly why I was not that impressed with Raimi’s new effort, Drag me to Hell. Focussing on how a young bank clerk (Alison Lohamn) is stalked by a mad, old gypsy called Mrs Ganush when she sets the wheels in motion to repossess the wretched crone’s house. The intro and first encounter with Mrs Ganush are all professionally staged and build up the tension fine.
Then it feels as if Raimi’s decides that he has to please his horror fan base by going through a greatest hits package of all his trademark, special ‘overloud’ sound FX tricks and ‘jump out your pants’ moments? This adds up to a moderately effective, if patchy, shocker.
Perhaps it is because the nasty crone (first half) is more threatening than the demonic spirit in the second half but the story never really gets going. The slapstick horror does not work well and I think they should have played it straight for maximum scares? This is lazy filmaking from a one time, true horror maestro.
Rating:
[pt-filmtitle]Drag Me To Hell[/pt-filmtitle]
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