Drag Me to Hell (2009)

Really save yourself a couple of hours. The main character is so unlikable I was rooting for the demon. So stupid.

Veteran filmmaker Sam Raimi made his much-ballyhooed return to the horror genre with this crazed picture, after years of working on mainstream titles such as "A Simple Plan", "For Love of the Game", and the first three "Spider-Man" feature films. Alison Lohman stars as Christine Brown, loan officer at a bank. She covets a possible promotion a little too much, and her boss (David Paymer) likes people who are able to make tough decisions. Therefore, she denies an extension to the loan to elderly Gypsy Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver). This, of course, is a fatal mistake. The old lady becomes livid and curses Christine. Now a demon dubbed the Lamia will be on its way to drag Christine to Hell in three days time. Christine, who suffers one garish episode after another, works every angle she can think of to avoid the inevitable.Many reviews here at IMDb tend to go to one extreme or the other: people either love it or loathe it. There aren't that many middle-of-the-road assessments. That said, this viewer did have some genuine fun with this over the top story and film, although it's not without its flaws. Raimi goes for "GOTCHA!" jump scares a little too often, there's an onslaught of utterly cheesy digital effects, and there are moments that are much more laughable than shocking. It is commendable that Raimi and his cast & crew give the proceedings a lot of energy, and fans of the first two "Evil Dead" features may take *some* delight in the way that Raimi goes for the gross-out so often. He never seems to run out of things to stick in Lohmans' mouth. One unqualified highlight is the grandiose music score by Christopher Young, giving the whole thing an operatic feel.All of this would be rather meaningless if the lead character weren't at least somewhat sympathetic, and Lohman makes Christine an appealing character. Justin Long is similarly engaging as her loving, faithful boyfriend, and the top supporting cast also showcases talents such as Raver (who's memorably creepy and disgusting), Dileep Rao (as a fortune teller), Adriana Barraza (as a medium who'd encountered the Lamia 40 years ago), the always solid Paymer, and Chelcie Ross as Longs' father. Raimis' actor brother Ted can be heard briefly as a doctor making a house call; Octavia Spencer has a small role as a bank employee.This comes complete with a "twist" near the end that isn't too hard to predict.Overall, decent entertainment. It may be silly at times, but at least it isn't boring.Seven out of 10.

When a young woman denies help to an old woman at her bank, her angered actions force a curse of demonic intensity that soon forces her into grave and dangerous acts in order to save herself and her loved ones from the series of demonic attacks that have been thrust against her.This one here was an enjoyable if somewhat flawed effort. One of the better aspects of this one is the rather enjoyable sense of suspense that comes about from the infliction of the curse. The atmosphere is great because of that, as the introduction of the curse offers up plenty to like here starting from the initial meeting in the office that sets it in motion to the backstory that gives us more information on the events that are offered here really giving this one some dark tones to be had. That also leads into the other big plus here in that there's plenty of action since it doesn't really slow down all that much, driving forward nicely with a fantastic pace about it that has numerous great supernatural action scenes. The opening seance at the mansion that depicts the original encounter with the spirit offers plenty of strong work including a strong jump-scare, while the scenes of the woman trying to inflict the curse upon her give this one a strong series of scenes that manage to come off rather nicely. Even better are the scenes later one when she's already cursed, from the freakout in the house to the different encounters with the ghostly woman coming after her in the various locations around her including the barn sequence or the dinner party encounter. There's also the sequences in the final half that really make this one fun, from the big encounters with the supernatural beings attacking her to the graveyard confrontation that has a lot to like about it. As well as one of the better twist endings that's not only logical but works well, this has plenty to like although there are certainly parts here that need fixing. One of the biggest issues is the fact that there's way too much familiarity in the film to really stand out here. Basing your entire collection of scares and jump scenes around the exact same ploy, having the music stinger accompany it turned up incredibly loud on the sound, grows tiring and shows a discernible lack of imagination through and through. From the ghastly-looking woman screaming loudly appear suddenly out of the darkness to grab her or seeing the flash visions of the ghostly demons floating around ready to grab a loose appendage just keeps getting used here and that really doesn't make the film standout all that much. The other issue is the fact that this one makes it very clear that there's no real danger to the girl as she has a few days to wait until the curse finally takes hold which keeps her relatively safe throughout the film. No matter how tortured she gets, it has no interest in harming her until then and it makes this one feel a little tame during that section. Otherwise, there's not so much wrong here.Rated PG-13: Violence and Language.

This movie is predictable and full of cliches and is somewhat repetitive of other horror (spooky) films. It is watchable, however. Many scenes are simply jump scares, and others are just gross to get an effect (bugs, vomit). This is sort of like a Twilight Zone plot with an overlay of demons and flies. The glowing reviews here are real suspicious. Funny how many of them note the director's prior works -- does not seem like a typical review.