2009 Review #42: Drag Me to Hell

Drag Me to Hell

Rated PG-13
(sequences of horror violence, terror, disturbing images and language)
1 hour 39 minutes

Storyline:
A loan officer ordered to evict an old woman from her home finds herself the recipient of a supernatural curse, which turns her life into a living hell. Desperate, she turns to a seer to try and save her soul, while evil forces work to push her to a breaking point.

Starring:
Alison Lohman
Justin Long
Lorna Raver

Critics Grade:
A

My Grade:
A-

When I first saw the trailer for Drag Me to Hell...I laughed. I thought this movie looked insanely stupid and corny as hell. I thought this was just another one of those dumb horror movies we see over and over again with really bad special effects, awful acting, a pathetic storyline, etc. I didn't see this movie in theaters, even though it opened to extremely rave reviews. I finally saw this movie yesterday via Netflix. I'm so bummed I did not see this movie in theaters.

This is easily the most ridiculous horror movie in years. It's about a woman who is cursed by a gypsy type old lady, because she would not give her an extension on her loan...and then chaos ensues. This isn't your typical chaos either. This is one MESSED UP curse!! The woman is haunted by the old gypsy lady, she has various bugs crawling in and out of her body, she has shadow demon things punching her in the face and throwing her around like a rag doll, she has a weird ghostly handkerchief with a face on it following her around...yeah...freaking weird I know!

But this is the kinda weird that's good...real good. Shockingly good! I was so surprised by how much I like this movie. Drag Me To Hell is a total 100% throwback to 70's and 80's horr

or films. It was directed by Sam Rami who did not only Spiderman, but also the Evil Dead series way back when. Evil Dead was a "freaky" movie but it was also really funny. Just like Drag Me to Hell. It isn't really all that scary (at least to me it wasn't, but I know it will scare many other people), but it's kinda freaky in a weird way, but also funny. Intentionally funny I will have you know! That is what Rami does, and he does it well. There were so many over the top sequences that had you laughing, but had you completely and utterly entertained. I loved every minute of it.

That's what this movie comes down to: entertaining. It's not going to rack up any awards, but that can't stop you from enjoying it. Hell it has a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes...that's insane for a horror movie! It's because it grabs your attention from the get go and never lets up. It never gets boring, it never drags (pun intended) it's just damn good fun! Everything about it was good. The acting was good, which was nice to see. Alison Lohman (White Oleander, Matchstic k Men) was perfect for this movie. She doesn't have a big name in Hollywood, so it worked well for her because she isn't some big star. She was funny and convincing. So great to see Justin Long (Jeepers Creepers, Accepted) in a role like this. He didn't really play the funny guy, more so he played the caring and sweet boyfriend, and I thought he did a great job!

The production of this film was awesome as well. That's where the real 80's throwback came from for me. The effects were really good but in a super cheesy way. Again, I believe this was intentional. They weren't these beautiful and masterful effects shots like what we see in MOST summer blockbusters these days. They were ridiculous and so obviously CGI but they worked so wonderfully for this movie. It captured the essence of the film perfectly. That goes f or the screenplay as well. It was so bizarre but at the same time really well written if that makes any sense. The whole production of the film had this very "classic" feel to it, you know what I mean? It felt and looked like a vintage film and it was so great to look at!

This is by no means a perfect horror film, but you can't really judge this movie to much. It is NOT meant to be taken seriously, it is meant to provide some fun thrills and some great wholesome entertainment and it seriously succeeds in doing that. This is a very good, "bad" film. I know that made no sense to most of you, but whatever, I know I what I mean! It's not a film for everyone for sure, but at the same time it IS only PG-13. This is probably the best PG-13 horror film you are going to find. Not a lot of bad language, no sex or nudity (very unique for a horror movies these days), but quite a bit of gore and violence. So be cautious when showing it to young children...you don't want them to have nightmares...or do you??

But whatever, Drag Me to Hell works as a classy throwback horror film. It's damn good fun, and it's damn entertaining! At least it is in my book...if that means anything to you!