Perfect Blend of Horror and Comedy

Rating: 8/10 (4 June 2009)

"Drag Me To Hell" is the latest opus of Spiderman director Sam Raimi. He also wrote this screenplay. I know that Sam Raimi is a skilled horror director by reputation, but I admit that I have not yet seen his Evil Dead series. We get glimpses of this talent particularly in Spiderman 2 where there is an overextended scene in the operating room with chainsaws. I made sure that I saw this film on the big screen.
The story is about a mousy loan officer of a small town bank named Christine Brown. In her desperate effort to impress her boss to gain a promotion, she decided to stand firm and reject an extension to the loan of an old Gypsy woman named Mrs. Ganush. Of course, you know she made a big mistake in crossing and shaming this woman in public. From that day on, we witness her world turn into a veritable living hell. Furthermore, the curse inflicted on her also included the threat that her soul will be dragged into the fires of actual Hell within three days.
This whole film was a very wild ride. It was done with tongue fully in cheek. It is preposterous and over-the-top, but you know it was done on purpose. The first fight encounter between Christine and Mrs. Ganush in the car sets the incredulous pace for the scares to come. Just sit back and enjoy the relentless tension, the jump-out-of-your-seat scares, the loud yet effectively scary cacophony of the musical score and sound effects, the disgusting overflow of bodily fluids, etc...
The main reason for the success of this film lies on the antagonist, rather than the protagonist. Mrs. Ganush is certainly one of the most memorable cinematic ghouls since Sadako! Her decayed teeth (actually dentures), her sharp fingernails, her damaged eyes and her wizened face will surely haunt many a viewer's nightmares. Lorna Raver should be commended for her gruesome performance! My main beef was I do not really like Alison Lohman who played Christine Brown. I did not think she was a very good actress. In fact, her small-girl voice in those lame radio ads almost dissuaded me to watch this. I felt she actually dragged my rating down a bit due to her dismal acting in the lead role, no less.
Overall, I will recommend this film to lovers of horror flicks. This is a notch above the run of the mill screamfests. You will get jumpy. You will cover your eyes. You will cringe. You will cower. You will laugh nervously. Don't take this film experience too seriously because this movie isn't really supposed to be that way. You will be captivated up to (literally) the very last scene.