Drag Us Home, Raimi

Rating: 7/10 (4 June 2009)

This much insanity shouldn't be legal...and so much fun. Thankfully, no one told Sam Raimi, who shakes off Hollywood expectation and demographic-appeal concerns with "Drag Me to Hell," a back-to-basics horror flick that's one of the strongest original works of genre storytelling so far this year. To those who would bemoan or dismiss the vitality of this frequently reviled class of film...this one's for you.
Confession Time: I have never been a big fan of Raimi's work; his well-regarded "Evil Dead" trilogy never consumed me with the same sense of ballistic fanaticism it inspires in most. I could appreciate his distinctive way of mixing the extremities of the genre (demons, decapitation, dismemberment) with gleefully broad (and outright ludicrous) physical humor, but something always kept me from fully embracing this auteur's style. A theatrical screening of "Army of Darkness" last year had me thinking I might have been a bit harsh in my assessment of Raimi's work. After all, even his more streamlined, serious mainstream works (the masterful "A Simple Plan," for instance) contain undeniable stylistic echoes of his macabre roots.
As with other horror directors whose humble beginnings have spun off into commercially and critically successful careers (David Cronenberg and Peter Jackson immediately come to mind), part of the thrill of "Drag Me to Hell" is to see the accumulated experience of a now-seasoned filmmaker played out in the genre he helped define. The result is classical in style while distinctly contemporary; silly and funny while genuinely jolting and unnerving; polished and slick while grungy and crude. These contradictory traits are a clear invitation for the already-initiated, and newcomers will have the pleasure of experiencing Raimi's now-highly refined joybuzzer shocks without the safety net of familiarity.
The premise is deliciously simple, creating a uniquely internal logic that gives Raimi free reign to pull out all the stops: Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) is a promotion-seeking loan officer who, in a split-second of avarice, denies Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver), an old gypsy woman, an extension on her mortgage payment; as a result, she visits a three-day curse on Christine that, if not stopped, will literally send her to hell. Supported by faithful boyfriend Clay (Justin Long, balancing the dramatic and comedic quite well) and the assistance of "seer" Rham Jas (Dileep Reo), Christine is driven to extreme measures in the battle to save her soul, leading to sequences that will leave even the most jaded horror hound uncertain of the outcome. In addition to the macabre elements and the suitably outlandish special effects, Raimi builds adequate suspense and even integrates some genre-crossing sidesteps (a great sequence where Christine meets Clay's parents is played liked a romantic comedy that segues into horror before once again returning to comedy) that deliver a one-two punch of terror, humor, and character development. Its initial scenes even invoke "The Twilight Zone" in the sense of bland domestic drama giving way to powers beyond man's ability to control.
True to its title, "Drag Me to Hell" is a film without barriers or limits; nothing is definite in Raimi's world, and in the best horror tradition, the guarantee of a Happy Ending is punctuated with a solid question mark. All the more impressive given the film's PG-13 rating; in an era where horror films are stigmatized for whatever commercially-viable moniker the MPAA attaches to them, it speaks volumes for Raimi's tact and skill the wildly creative grotesqueries that fit within the seeming "confines" of this rating. With a generation of filmmakers that miss the point of "horror" and go straight for gore, it's downright refreshing to see a veteran (who made his name in gore) embrace straight-laced fear...and succeed wildly.