A clever throwback: A good, old-fashioned time at the movies

Rating: 7/10 (15 October 2009)

Over the past decade, I couldn't help but notice that Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson have been following very similar career paths. Both started out directing zero-budget, hilariously schlocky and highly stylized horror films, eventually upgrading and by the turn of the century directing big-budget studio-produced fantasy films. Jackson lent his unique vision and style to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, while Raimi's Spider-Man films featured a fascinating combination of low-budget horror sentiments and stylistic choices with enormous-budget production values. Now, after he finished his original Spidey trilogy (and before moving on to the upcoming sequels), Raimi went back to his roots and delivered a good, old-fashioned schlocky horror entertainment. And boy does he deliver.
Unlike the two Evil Dead sequels, this film isn't a straight-up horror comedy, although it is quite hilarious. It's not a parody, though, and doesn't feature visual gags or jokes or anything like that. But rather, it just features scenes and concepts that are so over-the-top, one can't help but to laugh. In fact, this film can be seen as the exact opposite of "modern" horror movies: those films push the gritty realism of the situations they depict (even if they are usually nothing more than cheap torture and gore), while in this film, Raimi makes a point to emphasize the mythical, fantasy element and how over-the-top it is. By not taking itself seriously, the film leaves itself room to basically do whatever it wants, and stylistically, it really feels like a throwback to a more old-fashioned style of horror entertainment. It's not even that intense a film – it's rated PG-13, features no nudity or gore (but it does feature a lot of gross-out scenes featuring various insects and liquids) and most of its scares come from its sound design and editing.
Speaking of the sound design and editing, the film is a technical wonder. Because it's so stylistically over-the-top, Raimi has the freedom to do what he wants with his camera, and the film features some really well-shot and well-crafted scenes and sequences that greatly intensify its sense of style. Probably the most inspired technical element of the film is its sound, from the brilliant sound design and effects to its pounding musical score which is also one of its biggest throwbacks to an older-fashioned style of film. The performances are also top-notch; good casting choices led to actors who don't phone in their performances but rather invest a lot of effort, both physical and emotional, into their roles, and the results are most noticeable. Alison Lohman particularly stands out, and she's also an underrated favourite of mine so it's great to see her get meaty leading roles like this one. Justin Long can be absolutely hilarious when he wants to so it's still strange for me to see him in completely straight-guy roles such as in Live Free or Die Hard, but it actually works in this film.
Ultimately, what makes this film work so well is that it never takes itself seriously. Raimi uses the best stylistic flourishes at his disposal to lend it an atmosphere and feeling of an older and more classic type of horror film, a film that isn't really scary at all (except for a few jump-out-of-your-seat scenes which are just part of the throwback) but one that works on a purely entertaining level as an old-fashioned good time at the movies.