Drag me to Hell

From the outset I have to declare I’m not a horror fan, probably the result of seeing THE EXORCIST far too young. As our regular horror reviewer was away at the gates of hell (or is it the Kitchen?), or New York as it is sometimes called, so I had to go off to the early morning screening. Watching horror at ten in the morning is especially incongruous to me, but Sam Raimi has a great reputation in the genre I thought, what the hell. Besides this is more of a tale of the supernatural than the recent spate of torture films.

The film’s premise is fairly simple, as are most stories of the genre. Pretty young woman Christine (Alison Lohman) works in a bank and want s to get a promotion. In order to please her boss, instead of going with her natural instincts, she refuses an old woman an extension on her home loan, so the old woman curses her with an evil spirit that will take her eternal damnation. Christine seeks the aid of an Indian psychic, despite protests from her sceptical boyfriend, to try and undo the curse.

Raimi manages to get plenty of scares into film that give a whole new meaning to the term jump cuts. The gore is not excessive, although there are some moments that more gross than gruesome, but it is all tempered with a few comedic touches and fan boy moments tucked away in the background. Of course I missed them, but some of my better informed (geeky) colleagues were fervently discussing them after the screening.

The film moves along at a good pace that keeps you engrossed, and easy prey for surprises, although the ending does come as a surprise, it is cleverly set up early on in the film.

For fans of vicarious thrills this film will more than satisfy, and it’s entertaining and well written, which makes it more accessible to non-fans of the genre, without subjecting them to the excessive brutality that horror has rather unimaginatively fallen into.

DRAG ME TO HELL is released on May 27 from Lionsgate

Watch clip here

Watch clip here