Drag Me to Some Other Better (and Scarier) Movie

Rating: 6/10 (1 November 2009)

Those hoping that "Drag Me to Hell" represents a return to Sam Raimi's horror roots will be sorely disappointed. This is more "Spiderman" than "Evil Dead."
The likable young actress Alison Lohman plays a woman cursed by an old crone who must figure out how to break the spell if she doesn't want to be dragged you know where. Her efforts involve some time spent at a seance, the sacrificing of a pussy cat, and lots and lots of scenes of the creepy old lady jumping out at our heroine and uttering over-amplified sound effects. Indeed, the only nominal scares to be had in the film come from this over-used effect, and it's not scary so much as merely startling, and stops being even that after Raimi uses it for the umpteenth time.
I'm not criticizing Raimi for making a scary movie that's not scary. It's clear his tongue was planted firmly in cheek when making this film, and that he was more interested in kitsch than he was chills. But that doesn't mean I wasn't disappointed in the final product. It's hard not to be disappointed in teeny-bopper fare like this when you know what Raimi is capable of. It's like expecting "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and instead getting an episode of "Charmed."
Justin Long plays Lohman's boyfriend, and though the character he plays is a supportive good guy, there's something so smarmy and cocky about Long that I couldn't help but dislike him.
Grade: B-