A young woman's act of cruelty summons demonic forces to torture her.

Rating: 10/10 (18 June 2009)

This review contains a Spoiler about the movie, that I make in hopes of countering a popular criticism of the film. Knowing it will, I believe, help many people enjoy the movie MORE.(Spoiler commences in the next paragraph).
Before I say anything else about this movie, I have to make a comment about what other reviewers have said about the film, and correct a general misinterpretation of the film. I made the same misinterpretation when first viewed it, but on reflection, (which a rewatch confirmed) I realized that what many people describe as a "gypsy curse" is in fact a demonic curse, and nothing to do with the gypsy woman at all. Raimi in his interviews has emphatically stated that the character of Mrs. Ganush is the victim in the story, and the way he shoots the parking lot scene, and the reality-bending events that happen there, indicates quite clearly that Christine is already haunted by the Demon, and the thing in the parking lot is NOT the pitiful old lady who was begging her for mercy in the bank. Thus, all the reviews that claim Mrs. Ganush is a villain are quite wrong, and do Raimi's masterful film no service. Later in the film we see multiple examples of demonic "Ganush" appearing, and we know it's the Demon in her form, so why believe that the thing in the parking lot is the real Mrs. Ganush? And more importantly, this means that the "curse" is just a trick of the demon's. Christine damns herself by believing in this "curse" and in her descent to further depravity, including her final horrible crime against the REAL Mrs. Ganush at the end of the film. The Parking Lot creature is an exaggeration of the aspects of the real, pitiful, old lady that Christine found repulsive.
What is brilliant about the film, for me, is the way Raimi tricks the audience into believing the lie along with Christine, and sympathizing with the choices that damn her at the end. People who call this a "comedy" are truly off the mark ...this is a deadly dark horror film ... just because it includes an anvil gag doesn't make it a comedy, since the anvil gag is clearly constructed by terrifying supernatural forces. It's not a cartoon if it's constructed by Demons to torture you.
I did not see the original Evil Dead films, so any references to those films were lost on me. I prefer it that way, since I enjoyed this film as perfect by itself, without the distraction of referencing.
I have gone back and seen this film 4 times in the theater now (though I did wait for Bargain Tuesdays and a Matinees). It really is beautifully constructed and shot. A real honest to god FILM. If you pass up the chance to see this in the theater, you really have missed a treat, because Raimi really makes use of the whole screen. (Note Clay's reactions in the background during the reading of Christine's fortune .... Justin Long does incredible work in this).
My only quibble with the film is that, while Raimi pulls a great deal of subtlety out of Allison Lohman (as Christine), I feel her acting fell down slightly whenever she was required to show real anger ... when required to be truly angry she didn't really pull it off, but I saw what Raimi was going for, and it still worked. Brilliant film. Don't miss it.