A very enjoyable B-level horror movie.

Rating: 7/10 (30 November 2009)

Although the first two Spider-man movies were really good - particularly the second one -, with the third one Sam Raimi was showing he was staring to get tired of the franchise. (Although it seems he wants to redeem himself - Spider-man 4 will reportedly be simpler, tighter and more exciting.) In fact, the film was such a creative - but definitely not financial - failure that Raimi decided to return to his roots... and craft a horror film in the vein of his Evil Dead trilogy. Drag me to Hell is the result of that. And although it isn't as effective as the aforementioned trilogy, it's every bit as creepy and darkly funny as Raimi would've wanted it to be. Not a perfect film by any means, but definitely superior (in every way) to his third Spider-man movie.
The film tells the story of loan officer Christine Brown (Alison Lohman), who wants to become an assistant manager at the bank in which she works. She wants this promotion not only because she needs the money and because she wants to secure her future, but also because she's wants to impress her boyfriend, Clay (Justin Long), and his parents. The bank manager, Mr. Jacks (David Paymer), has to decide between her and Stu, her rival, for the manager's position. One day, an old woman called Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver) comes to the bank asking for relief from a mortgage she can't pay, otherwise, she'll lose her house. Mr. Jacks leaves the resolution of the matter to Christine and she decides to be rough in order to impress her boss and secure her promotion. Predictably, Mr.s Ganush doesn't react very well and begs to Christine. She is taken away. But later, the both of them get involved in a physical confrontation which results in the old woman putting a curse into the girl's jacket botton. Soon enough, Christine is stalked by a demon from hell, so she ends up going to a mystic (Dileep Rao) who tells her the demon won't rest until he takes her to hell to burn for all eternity.
If the previous plot summary doesn't sounds like something out of a cheap, B-level horror movie, then I don't know what it does. Raimi has produced Drag me to Hell like an old-fashioned horror movie, making use of over-the-top (but suitably creepy) music, super-loud sound effects, odd camera angles and a very amusing mixture of horror and comedy. When the movie works, it can be both darkly funny and shocking, but when it doesn't... well, let's just say it doesn't seem like a very good motion picture at all. The main problem with Drag me to Hell (and hopefully this won't seem like regurgitating something out of my review for Jennifer's Body) is that it doesn't know whether to be a cheesy horror comedy or a straight-forward scary story. It definitely is a million times more successful than the aforementioned Megan Fox starer, but nevertheless, there were times in which I didn't know if the funny stuff I was watching on screen was supposed to be funny, or if Raimi had failed at scaring me.
Alison Lohman has been very good in previous motion pictures - her performance in Matchstick Men is almost impossible to forget - but in Drag me to Hell she's simply... forgettable. It doesn't help either that it's very hard to sympathize with Christine - granted, what she did doesn't really deserve her being dragged into hell for all eternity, but that doesn't mean she is a very likable protagonist either. Additionally, I didn't think she was particularly bright not that she had much of a personality - Christine seemed to me like a very unfinished character, someone very hard to root for in a film of this ilk. Justin Long is OK as her boyfriend, Clay (although did he really have to be surrounded by Apple products all the time?) and Dileep Rao, as the mystic, adds some gravitas to the proceedings.
Without spoiling too much of the film, I can say that I definitely didn't like the ending. In a very M. Night Shyamalan-ish sort of way, the movie features a last-act twist that a.) doesn't make any sense, b.) doesn't make the movie any more interesting and c.) is very easy to see coming. The film ends on a downer that made me think everything I had experienced before was for nothing, and that made me feel disappointed towards Raimi. I know most horror movies don't happy happy endings, but I definitely wasn't expecting such an abysmal, depressing kind of twist.
So why is Drag me to Hell recommendable, then? Alyson Lohman gives a lackluster performance, the movie doesn't know whether to be scary or funny, and the last-act twist is laughable. Well, these are all aspects that definitely don't work, but when the film does work - that is, when it provides with a shocks, gore, slime, dark humour or interesting plot points - it's a very enjoyable B-level horror movie. Don't get me wrong - it is a very flawed movie, but overall I enjoyed almost every minute of it until the horrible twist spoiled everything. It might not be the scariest or the funniest movie out there, but for what it's worth, it's almost an hour and a half of solid - yet unremarkable - entertainment.