drag me to hell

Sam Raimi is possibly best known for two things - the Spiderman trilogy and the Evil Dead films. Of course he's done a whole load of other stuff too - Raimi wrote and directed Darkman, for example and was also producer on the western adaptation of the Japanese horror The Grudge.

But probably most important here are Spiderman and the Evil Dead films - the first because it's what shot Raimi into a position where the bigger studios would be willing to fund a film like this (afaik, the Spiderman films have generated something like $2.5billion in revenue). The second because it represents a kind of spiritual predecessor to this film.

Anyway, the basic point is if you've seen the Evil Dead movies then this is very much in their vein - it's basically a horror film, but with strong comedic elements. I don't think it's really right to say it's a black comedy - black comedy is more similar to satire, where the humour here is of a more slapstick nature - specifically the three stooges.

So what's different about drag me to hell?

Well, for starters there's a heavier focus on the horror aspects. This isn't really a bad thing as it means the humour tends to come out of left field and therefore has a bigger impact. It also tends to build into it - so the scary stuff will be building and building, and then it will reach a point of absurdity and you'll find yourself laughing. Or you'll be expecting an even bigger fright and instead something silly will happen.

There's also a fine line at times between gross out and comic - in anyone else but Raimi's hands I think some bits would simply have been stomach churning, but the way he handles it you end up giggling instead.

Overall, I therefore enjoyed it. I think the story works particularly well - I mean, it's not a masterpiece, but it hangs together in a coherent fashion and makes sense.

I would level a few criticism at it, though. Firstly, the horror is slightly dampened by the reliance on 'shock' moments. By these I mean the old bogey-man jumps out of the closet and the soundtrack is filled with loud, shrieking violins.

These are fine, but it could have done with a few false shocks - ones that turn out not to happen or to actually be benign things.

It also wimps out a bit with the blood sacrifice - not so much because it doesn't show it, but that the main character doesn't really feel any remorse or regret about it.

And the shock ending was a little odd - firstly the key element was so telegraphed it kinda rendered the scenes before it oddly redundant. But also, and not wanting to spoiler, but the nature of the shock kinda left an odd feeling.

But those don't spoil what is a thoroughly enjoyable, entertaining film that's well worth checking out.

(I love it when I end these mini reviews like that - it's like I'm pretending t be a proper critic :P)