Eye Candy #52 - "Drag Me to Hell"

Drag Me to Hell: This is the horror film that Sam Raimi fans have been waiting for since he moved into “Spider-man” land. Much more “Evil Dead” than big budget Hollywood, it’s a nice return to Raimi’s horror form with some of his ol’ standbys - back is the evil camera monster, back is the accelerated comic violence, all we’re missing is Bruce Campbell. Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) is a young bank loan officer who offends an old gypsy Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver) by denying an extension on her mortgage (oh, how the plot devices have changed in the 21st century…now being denied a loan is cause to cast a fatal curse on someone else). Mrs. Ganush puts a curse on Christine so that her soul will be taken to hell by a lamia. Christine has only 3 days to figure out how to dodge the curse and save herself, all while the lamia moves in closer and closer. Co-starring Justin Long in a fairly pedestrian role, Dileep Rao, and David Paymer, this is fun. It’s got an acceptable amount of spooky moments and some outrageous gross-out bits played for laughs (think “blood fountain through the nose“). There is also a great physical fight between Christine and Ganush that really has to be seen to be believed, and I‘ll just say it involved a stapler, a car, and a pair of dentures. This is an old-fashioned morality tale about people dealing with the (sometimes fatal) consequences of their actions when done for the wrong reason, but it’s done with verve and style. And thank goodness it’s not some Asian movie knockoff. Woodchuck sez, “Check it out.”