“I wish Sam Raimi would "Drag Me to Hell" more often.” – Movie Review.

By Bob Zerull

4 Stars:

I miss Sam Raimi movies, particularly his horror movies. Yes, he’s done a great job with the “Spiderman” movies, but when he attempts horror, he knocks it out of the park every time. What Raimi brings to the horror genre is fright along with fun. He has you laughing while you’re screaming.



“Drag Me to Hell” starts with a family bringing their child to a gypsy woman to save him. Save him from what? I don’t know (or at least I didn’t at the time). Within no time the ground opens up and the child is dragged to hell. The child had a curse put over them by a gypsy.

Fast forward to present day. Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) is a Loan Officer fighting for the Assistant Manager position with Stu (Reggie Lee), an obnoxious co-worker who will do anything to get that position. Their boss Mr. Jacks (David Paymer) has a tough decision to make. After Christine asks Mr. Jacks about the promotion he informs her that the Assistant Manager needs to be able to make tough decisions. In walks a Gypsy named Mrs. Ganush (Lorna River) who is about to have her home foreclosed. She’s already received two extensions. Christine could in theory give her a third extension, but if she wants that Assistant Manager position she needs to be able to make the tough decisions.



Christine let’s Mrs. Ganush know that there is nothing she can do about it and that the home will be foreclosed. Mrs. Ganush attacks Christine, security is called and Mrs. Ganush is escorted out of the building. In the parking lot, later on at night, Christine gets in her car and Mrs. Ganush is in the back seat. Mrs. Ganush attacks Christine again and rips a button off of Christine’s jacket, curses it and gives it back to Christine. From here all hell breaks loose and hilarity ensues at the same time.

Also in this movie is Justin Long (the Mac guy), who plays Christine’s boyfriend. It seemed like in almost every scene that contained Justin Long there was some Apple product. It was funnier than it was annoying. He is a psychology professor so he does not buy into the whole gypsy thing. He plays his role very straight which makes him funnier.

All in all this movie was a ton of fun. It’s campy, cheesy and scary as hell. It was probably the loudest movie I’ve ever seen, with more jumpy moments in a movie than I’ve ever seen. This movie is best watched in a group much like Sam’s “Evil Dead” movies. The only disappointing part of this movie was no Bruce Campbell.

BYLINE:

Bob Zerull is a frequent movie and concert goer who talks about his ventures to arenas and theaters more than any person should be allowed to do. Now, he puts them down on paper. Email him your thoughts at: bzerull19@gmail.com. Also visit: www.cadaverchristmas.com.