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Making heaven out of 'Hell'
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Theatrical release poster
Sam Raimi seemingly left the horror genre behind following the release of “Army of Darkness” in 1992. Sixteen years plus passed while Raimi went from being a cult horror director to one of the most bankable directors/producers in Hollywood. He directed the hugely popular “Spider-Man” films, while staying low-key in the horror business, starting Ghost House Pictures, which produced several successful films. All the while, horror fans waited, knowing someday Sam would return to direct a film in the genre he helped revolutionize.
On May 29th, 2009, Sam Raimi made his return to horror with “Drag Me to Hell,” and reminded everyone why he is one of the most respected directors in the genre.
Alison Lohman stars as Christine Brown, a bank loan officer who is cursed by an elderly gypsy woman after not giving her an extension on her mortgage and publicly “shaming” her. The curse is three days of mental and physical torture by a demon that will, on the fourth day, come and take her soul to burn in hell for eternity.
When the storyline first hit the web, many fans scoffed calling it a rip-off of “Thinner,” another film in which a gypsy curses someone over some wrong doing. Many disgruntled fans wrote the film off, immediately saying it had already been done and that Sam Raimi had lost his touch. If you are one of these people, put your mind at ease. “Thinner” was a boring, drawn out, truly terrible adaptation of a sub-par Stephen King book (depending on your edition, Richard Bachman), which shouldn't even be mentioned alongside this film. The comparison starts and ends at the words gypsy curse, as “Drag Me to Hell” soars above anything “Thinner” could ever have hoped to be. Yes, the idea is similar, but in the 110 years of film-making, hasn't pretty much everything been done?
What Raimi has done in "Drag Me to Hell" is take a simple idea and turn it into horror gold. In his 16 year absence from the genre he hasn’t missed a step, still having the ability to blend true horror with black comedy. Christine’s descent into hell is as hilarious as it is horrifying with moments that beckon back to the “Evil Dead” trilogy, where Raimi got his start. The acting is as good as any you'll find in a horror film and the cinematography is classic Sam Raimi.
Some directors find a niche early in their career and stick with it, but Sam Raimi is not one of them. He’s worked on a range of films throughout his career, all of them with a real passion for the art. Having Raimi return to horror is a godsend for the fans who have been waiting for a film that truly recaptures the spirit of the old, while harnessing the new technology of the day. “Drag Me to Hell” is that film.
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