Cheap thrills

Fans of the Evil Dead series, with its slapstick violence, twitchy demon possessions and angular visual style, will notice quite a few similarities in the new Sam Raimi movie Drag Me To Hell. In fact, they may think they are watching a cheap knock-off.

There’s the same witchy old woman, the clanking home decorations and the physical punishment of the protagonist. Hell, even the monster goop looks the same.

In a world where we already have three Evil Deads, one question lingers after watching Drag Me To Hell: What’s the point? Actually, even in a world where Evil Dead did not exist, Drag Me To Hell would still be mediocre at best.

Why would the innovative director/writer Raimi not use the massive industry cache he has surely built up after making the hugely successful Spider-Man series to give us this regurgitation?

Maybe it’s a mid-life crisis, or some attempt to relive his glory days. Sorry super fans, but except for the brilliantly crafted A Simple Plan in 1998 and Spider-Man 2, Raimi has never hit the creative high of Evil Dead II, even after more than two decades of near nonstop work. Remember The Gift, Darkman or The Quick and the Dead? Exactly.

And this is all coming from a proud Raimi fan. I’ll keep watching what he makes, because I know he has the ability to be great in him. But as far as the horror genre goes, he should finally leave the gore behind. There’s no longer has that special, indefinable “it” in his work.

But that’s a feeling and not an absolute. Many horror fans will likely find Drag Me To Hell suitably enjoyable. It’s much better than most recent horror films, though we all know that’s not saying much.

Alison Lohman (Matchstick Men) plays Christine, a too-nice-for-her-job loan officer who, in an attempt to win a big promotion, turns down a loan to a creepy-eyed old gypsy woman looking to save herself from eviction. If you’ve seen Thinner, or basically any movie featuring creepy-eyed gypsy women, you can guess how that goes over.

Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver, who chews up the scenery and Lohman’s face in every scene she is in), curses Christine who only has three days before she is dragged into … you guessed it … Hell.

Justin Long plays her loving college professor boyfriend who, despite his skepticism on all things supernatural, supports her as she starts coughing up blood and screaming at shadow monsters that only she can see. If there is any reason to end a courtship, seeing shadow monsters is a pretty good one.

The curse really puts Christine through the ringer. She is unrelentingly tormented by a goat demon, which destroys her house, slaps her down and gives her vivid waking nightmares.

The fright-jumps in the movie work at first. Quick flashes of demons are effective, but Raimi overdoes it. By the 20th cheap scare—or 15th time someone vomits into Christine’s mouth—we really get the point.

If Raimi didn’t repeat himself so much in this film, it could have been a strong Tales From the Crypt-like 30 minute short film. Instead it feels like we are in Groundhog Day. The same 15 minutes played out ad nauseam.

The scares aren’t as effective as planned, but that patented horror-slapstick that Raimi is so good at does.

Raimi is a master at physically abusing his characters and, like Bruce Campbell before her, Lohman puts her whole body on the line for our enjoyment. She bangs against walls, is submerged in a muddy grave and gets her hair ripped numerous times. But oddly enough, the pain never feels painful. It’s done in such a way that we are able to laugh the physical torment off. The Three Stooges got their eyes gouged in every film, but managed to bounce back like cartoon characters. Same here.

There are plenty of laughs (and a few jumps) in Drag Me To Hell and while the story didn’t intrigue me, I did want to see how it ended. That’s usually enough for a cheapy horror flick, but Raimi is capable of so much more.