Superb, unpretentious horror

Rating: 10/10 (8 September 2010)

Raimi goes guiltlessly berserk – or "Argento" in the urban cinephile lingo – presenting what has to be one of the finest tongue-in-cheek and deliberate horror surrealist jokes in history. In no more than the plot of a curse to be fulfilled in three days, Drag me to Hell blinks an eye to a burlesque version of the Exorcist, but finds its cinematic opposite in Tourneur's Curse of the Demon. "Pity" then that Raimi doesn't for a second believe his story. This is not to say, however, that he won't rely in his finely measured directorial prowess and make you believe. The old gypsy woman curse sequence ought to be anthologized in the years to come, scares, virtuosity and mise-en scene is near perfect, but what is actually audience needed here, is Raimi' s incredible contempt for thick headed seriousness and academic recognition.