Old-Fashioned Horror Returns

Rating: 7/10 (15 November 2009)

It was a pleasant surprise to see this film go back to some of the earlier methods of scaring an audience: the use of the power of suggestion, imagination over visualization, leads that have acting talent, and a story(though cliché-riddled) offered more than a one punch game plan. Drag Me to Hell is not great but highly enjoyable for those reasons plus it is stylish as well. The opening scene in the film grabs you initially and then we enter into the life of a female banker who makes a mistake with an old gypsy woman who is being thrown out of her house. Events turn far worse as a curse reeks its arsenal of evil on this girl. The acting in this film really is pretty good. Alison Lohman does a fine job as the protagonist. She is able to show a range of emotions believably. Justin Long is also pretty good as her boyfriend. The character actors are all solid with Dillep Rao as an Indian palm reader shining(and adding a subtle dose of humour), Adriana Barazza as a mystic, and in a stellar part of disgusting special effects and over-acting Lorna Raver as Sylvia Ganush the gypsy woman. The tension stays taut throughout. We see little but imagine lots. The film does have some obvious flaws. The end can be seen miles away. i knew how it was going to end and what the "trick" ending was going to be. I thought it might throw out a trickier trick ending - but it did not. The fight scene in the car was also way over-the-top - more so than anything els in the film. That notwithstanding, Drag Me to Hellw was a pleasant diversion and a throwback to a more intelligent type of horror made.