Revenge of the Evil Dead

natebell — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 22:38:38 -0700

Drag Me to Hell is, to borrow from Roger Ebert, a “bruised forearm movie” and a return for Sam Raimi to his wild roots, specifically the Evil Dead movies, exuberant splatter-fests still guaranteed to push the buttons and tighten the stomachs of all but the most jaded of horror aficionados. Although the PG-13 rating ensures that no limbs are dismembered, the steady flow of spittle, maggots, and blood seems specifically calculated to push that rating to its limit. A loose remake of a Jacques Tourneur masterpiece called Curse of the Demon (in design if not in execution), it finds Alison Lohman’s insecure loan officer under a gypsy curse that if left undone will send her straight to You Know Where. Her morals are tested in the most rudimentary ways, culminating in a telegraphed twist that’s more jokey than judgmental.

Several tightly executed scenes notwithstanding (Raimi has developed a little as an action director since the ‘80s), the film is both a gross out and a throwback (check out the old school Universal Studios logos at the beginning and end), gauged not so much to explore the tension between good and evil as to appease fans of outrageous, in-your-face horror. On those grounds it’s an immodest success, and not much more.