Drag Me To Hell

May 29 2009 by The Journal

AFTER record-breaking box-office success with Spider-Man and its sequels, director Sam Raimi returns to horror – the genre which made his name – with this tongue-in-cheek battle for a young woman’s soul.

It recalls his seminal Evil Dead series with its queasy conflation of gore and dark humour, and reappearance of flying eyeballs.

You’re more likely to cackle or recoil in disgust than scream.

Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) works in Los Angeles as a loans officer and is keen to impress her boss and beat a sycophantic co-worker to the vacant assistant manager’s position.

So when the enigmatic Mrs Ganush (Lorna Raver) comes into the bank to beg for a third extension to her home loan, she’s torn between giving the old lady more time and denying the request.

She opts for ruthless ambition but Mrs Ganush retaliates by attacking her, stealing a button from her coat and cursing it with the Lamia, a demon that will claim her soul in three days.

Supported by professor boyfriend Clay (Justin Long), Christine seeks spiritual guidance from a psychic, who suggests animal sacrifice to appease the Lamia. Perhaps a seer will have another solution.

The film is a hoot, opening with the old Universal Pictures logo and a suitably overblown 1960s prologue.

Violence is exaggerated and cartoonish, with Mrs Ganush’s eyes popping out of her skull; and a moment when she tries to bite chunks out of Christine’s face, only to realise she has lost her dentures.

Lohman opens her mouth beautifully to scream, while Raver is stomach-churningly repulsive, and the supporting cast fit snugly into their roles.

Raimi directs with brio and an impish grin. In an age when horror films have become an exercise in sadism, this is a welcome throwback to more playful times.