Plot: Christine Brown is a loan officer at a bank trying to get promoted to the open assistant manager position. She tries to impress her boss by denying a third mortgage extension to Mrs. Ganush. That was the wrong move. Mrs. Ganush unleashes an ancient curse on Christine. The curse takes three days to manifest, tormenting you for the first two and dragging you to hell by the end of the third. So Christine has some things to figure out.
Thank you, thank you, thank you Sam Raimi. Thank you for being as fed up with all of the torture porn being released upon us. Thank you for bringing horror back. Drag Me To Hell is perfect material for film classes as a prime and modern example of how horror should be executed. It pretty much does everything right. Oh, and guess what? It's PG13 and scary as hell. People are scared by the unseen, the shadows, and the unknown. We're scared by what's around the corner, by mysterious noises and by things we don't understand. Drag Me to Hell has all of these and plenty more. That's not to say that this film isn't gory. It is plenty gory, but striking a balance is what Raimi does so well. The gore is over the top, funny and oozy and makes you cringe in your seat with laughter. The gore in Drag Me to Hell is what cuts the tension and brings us back down from very well executed scares.
Everything is vintage Raimi. From the score, to the fonts, the quick zooms, booming soundtrack, jump out at you scares and classic story; these are all aspects of film that have become subject to the term cliche, but when re-applied by a master become refreshing and welcome. The soundtrack is phenomenal and if the Academy knows anything this will be nominated for best sound editing come award time. The opening scene is also one I will remember for quite some time. It acts a great device to get you gasping for air immediately. It is two minutes of pure adrenaline and horror followed by the title screen and the welcoming soundtrack. He had me hooked from the start.
In fact, the closing scenes are ones I will remember for some time as well. Just when you think it's about to wrap up, Sam Raimi unleashes another classic and beautifully shot horror scene upon us. Alison Lohman as Christine is perfect. She transforms from a sweet girl next door, to a bad-ass woman trying everything to fight off a curse. She's believable at every turn. Justin Long as her boyfriend, and the straight man in the film is just right as well. Lorna Raver as the terrifying Mrs. Ganush is, well, pretty scary. You know you've executed a successful horror flick when you've scared your audience and they still leave the theater grinning from ear to ear. Also, you've hit the mark when the viewer is alone in the facilities afterwards constantly looking over both shoulders. Do yourself a favor and go get scared by Drag Me To Hell.
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