lots of scares

Rating: Null/10 (7 June 2009)

I just saw this film today and wanted to set down my views while they are still fresh in my mind. This is the third horror film I have seen this year after The Last House On The Left and The Haunting In Conneticut and I think its the best. It has gotten some of the best user ratings on IMDb and some have said that it may go down as a cult classic. Sam Raimi has achieved fame in recent years by directing the very popular "Spiderman" franchise, however he started his career directing horror films and returns to his roots so to speak in this one. In fact, a little bit of nostalgia here, they use the old Universal logo from the 1980's before the film starts. Right away the title Drag Me To Hell slaps you in the face. I had never heard of Alison Lohman, but she is definitely a young actress with promise. She plays Christine Brown, a young bank loan officer bucking for a promotion from her boss, played by the noted actor David Paymer, an old Gypsy woman comes to her asking for an extension on her mortgage. To show her boss she has guts, she denies it and the old woman puts a Gypsy curse on her. She will be tormented by an evil spirit for three days and then dragged to hell to burn for all eternity. Boy and I thought I had a bad day at work! I have only seen two other horror movies that really scared me, The Night Of The Living Dead and Pet Semetary and I also add this one. I had genuine chills at various parts of the film. Lorna Raver is chilling as the old Gypsy woman who torments Christine. They really put on the gross makeup. She needed serious dental work! She has got to be the ugliest actress I have ever seen since Anne Ramsey in Throw Mama From the Train. She is one actress that you can say didn't make it because of her looks. The special effects are really awesome especially in the seance scene. I felt like I was on Disneyworld's Haunted Mansion Ride. Raimi uses humor in this film as well. I liked the scene where Christine has a nosebleed from hell all over her boss and the scene where the goat is talking in the seance! I only have two complaints with this film. Raimi goes overboard with gross special effects, like the scene where Christine has a vision of the old Gypsy woman vomiting blood and maggots on her face or where she sees an eye and fly eggs in her cake. Alfred Hitchcock rarely used gory special effects in his films. He was really the master of horror and suspense because he realized that grossness doesn't make a great film. Raimi should have taken note of this. This film could have been just as effective without being gross. Also, I have a problem with the ending SPOILER ALERT MAJOR SPOILER WATCH OUT. Lohman did a very fine job of making Christine seem so real to me. She was basically a decent person. She was a simple farm girl who was a vegetarian who loved animals. She even admitted in the end that it was selfish and wrong of her to deny that old woman. She admitted it was just so she would get a promotion. I sort of knew how this film would end about twenty minutes before the final credits. It all has to do with that envelope. The final scene where she falls off the platform and is dragged into hell forever made me feel like I'd swallowed an ice cream cone whole.