Joe Bartley is a guest writer whose witty commentary has been heard and seen around the campus of New England Institute of Art in Boston, Massachusetts. Follow him at www.twitter.com/redspectrejoe.
This week Sam Raimi’s newest foray into filmmaking, Drag Me to Hell, releases to the jaded audiences of the United States. I entered this movie much like any other viewer thinking that it would be another generic horror movie with pitiful acting, bad storytelling, and overall just a sad excuse for a film. I can happily say that the festering taste of SpiderMan 3 was wiped away from my mouth and a new nectar replaced it that was both rich and delicious.
Drag Me to Hell tells the story of Christine Brown, a loan officer at a bank who shames an old gypsy woman, this causes her to be the victim of the gypsy’s curse which calls a demon known as the Lamia into the world so that it can torment her and after three days drag her to hell (clever). This is all decently standard fair among horror films and if this was all that was in the movie my enjoyment of it would have been nigh unrecognizable. What most people will not tell you is that this movie is hilarious. Comedy gold is found in this film and not because it is so bad it’s funny but because the writing and delivery are impeccably funny. Written by both Sam and Ivan Raimi, the humor is both black and blunt, much like what was found in another film of theirs, Army of Darkness.
The cast in the film does an excellent job of selling the film as well, Alison Lohman does a decent job at playing the tormented heroine and while some scenes she is altogether too stoic, for the most part you believe her performance. It is again however Justin Long who truly convinces you of this world, as both Christine’s boyfriend and logical foil his cynical nature and devotion bring an element of a loving relationship into this film. How this kid is not heralded yet is beyond me. He is head’s and above better than Shia (could not bang Megan Fox in real life) LaBeouf.
All in all this film is a better horror movie than any I have seen in the last two years with the one exception of Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (Yes I’m plugging go watch this film damn it.) It is a fun, funny, and truly creepy flick that deserves the attention and hopefully will be a turning point for the horror genre into something we do not have to be ashamed of.
