A "Hell" of a good time at the movies, for real. 10/10

Rating: 10/10 (29 May 2009)

In "Drag Me to Hell," Our Heroine Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) has it all: a good job, a great boyfriend - Clay (Justin Long), and a bright future ahead of her. But in three days, she's going to lose it all. Why, you ask? Is it because she got fired from her job as a loan officer? Did her boyfriend Clay cheat on her, because his rich parents think she's a poor little country girl and he's too good for her? Did things in her bright young life suddenly take such a big turn for the worst that there's no way back?
You might say so. (Sounds like some Lifetime drama, doesn't it?) Things have taken a sudden turn for the worst in Christine Brown's life, all right. In three days, she's going to Hell, that eternal place of damnation, fire, and brimstone that all those fancy, big-name religions keep talking about.
"That guy," "Evil Dead trilogy" director Sam Raimi, returns to his horror roots triumphant with "Drag Me to Hell," which he has co-written with brother Ivan. Of course, he's come a long way since "The Evil Dead" (1982) and its sequels (1987's superior sequel "Evil Dead II" is my personal favorite of the three); he's spent the last half-decade adapting Marvel Comics' flagship character (and my personal favorite superhero) Spider-Man to the big screen - "Spider-Man 2" (2004) is my personal favorite superhero film of all time, and is also my #2 favorite film of all time. (Just for the record, though, "The Evil Dead" scared the living sh** out of me!!!)
If you know Raimi's "Evil Dead" movies like you know your own face, then "Drag Me to Hell" will be a never-ending delight. It contains much of Raimi's classic manic, frantic horror movie style: frantic pacing, frantic, shaky camera-work, outlandish sights & sounds, fountains and fountains of undead goop and bile, and outlandishly dark humor. "Drag Me to Hell" is a brilliant hark back to simpler times for Raimi and company. (He's also put some of his horror trademarks to work - quite successfully, I might add - in the "Spider-Man" movies.)
Raimi also loves to torture his lead characters, many times in the most outlandishly (I'm sure using that word a lot here) over-the-top and comical ways imaginable. In the "Evil Dead" movies, it was Bruce Campbell as the horror genre's supreme demon-slayer, Ash; in the "Spider-Man" movies, it was Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. Here, it's Lohman's Christine Brown.
As a loan officer with a loving boyfriend and a promotion to assistant manager being dangled in front of her by her boss Mr. Jacks (David Paymer) and the office kiss-a** - Stu Rubin (Reggie Lee) - also vying for the same position, Alison seems to be at a crossroads in her life. So when an old woman, dear old Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver) appears at her desk pleading for an extension to try to pay off her mortgage, Christine suddenly gets a cold heart and denies her request.
That was not a good idea, because dear old Mrs. Ganush is also a Gypsy with an army of soul-stealing, soul-hungry demons at her disposal. So a Gypsy curse is placed on Christine so that in three days, after three days and nights of non-stop demonic torment, the Dark One will come to claim her soul and drag her to the demonic underworld for all eternity. Clay scoffs at the idea of demons in the real world, but psychic Rham Jas (Dileep Rao) confirms that demonic forces are conspiring to take her soul after three "hellish" days.
"Drag Me to Hell" is living, breathing proof that Raimi has not lost his touch to deliver spine-tingling chills and over-the-top dark humor. He gives us some pretty good scares in this one, constantly changing up the pace to keep us on the edge of our seats. When we think that the latest demonic attack has finally ceased, when everything has gotten quiet, he lets us have it again with another good fright. He even takes time out from the horror to remind us of some real-life horrors, which is our current mortgage crisis (could dear old Mrs. Ganush be our in-theater vocalizing of our pain and suffering in these hard economic times?).
Most of Christine's demonic attacks occur in both total darkness and broad daylight. Everyday items come to scare the living daylights out of us as well: cell phones, handkerchiefs, and a fly (yes, a fly!) provides us with one of the film's most unsettling frights. There's also lots of undead goop, spit, and bile that reminds us that "PG-13" ratings for horror films still mean something; watch out for that nose bleed!!! And late in the film, Raimi makes a deliberate, jump-for-joy reference to any of the numerous scenes of demonic possession from any of his "Evil Dead" movies. Lastly, true to Raimi's style as a director here, just when we think the frights are over and everyone is about to live happily ever after, he sucker-punches us in the gut with a rather bleak ending that truly proves he hasn't lost his touch in delivering the goods.
"Drag Me to Hell" is the most fun I've had at the movies this year. Jacked-up ticket prices have caused me to miss out on a lot of good fun at the movies so far this year. But "Drag Me to Hell" is the first movie I've seen this year that I've really felt deserved my $8.25. Even though Halloween is not yet upon us, "Drag Me to Hell" has instantly become one of my most cherished horror flicks, from one of the genre's premiere talents - Sam Raimi, who has successfully returned to the genre that brought him to fame (or infamy).
He has truly scared the hell out of us this time, which few filmmakers in recent years have succeeded in doing.
10/10