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Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

Drag Me To Hell

Aha! I am Klarion

22:50 / 29.05.09

Judgment: It's damn good vaudeville.

Notes: My main criticism about the film is its xenophobia or causal racism (it seems like one or the other, I can't decide which). Both Asian men and gypsies are at the blunt of the stick in this film. The gypsies seem to be portrayed as litany of cliches (can't pay bills, are drunks, or are creepy old crones). The one asian character is portrayed as untrustworthy and unscrupulous in his pursuit of the capitalist dream.

That aside, the film is fantastic, delightful, and mischievous. It plays like an excellent Tales from the Crypt episode or issue, with a refreshing cruel twist ending.

Animal sacrifices, grave robbery, and child-death are just a few of the subject matter played successfully for laughs.

Sell: If you liked "the Burbs," the "Evil Dead" films, Creepshow, and "Nothing But Trouble," this film is going to hit your sweet spot for that Danny Elfman-steeped era of 80/90s pictures.

10:26 / 30.05.09

I'm a bit surprised by all the 4 star reviews. I'm a deadite through and through and was thrilled to see Raimi back in the genre. There were some wonderful set pieces - the first crone fight, with all the staples and the ruler and, well, all the very silly and fun sloppy bits. Never seen an audience crigne so much. Still, Sam lost me with the talking goat. The silly / scary balance slipped and I think I wasn't alone in guessing the final twist 20 minutes before it hit. Ha hum.

Solitaire Rose as Tom Servo

04:49 / 02.06.09

I'll be honest, when they announced it was PG-13, I wondered if I should even bother. Now that I've seen it, I'm a bit shocked it GOT the PG-13, and came out during "blockbuster season." It was a blast of a movie that mixed horror and comedy just as well as the Evil Dead movies, without being a rehash of the Evil Dead movies.

"I don't want your cat!" made me laugh out loud, which is pretty rare for me.

14:17 / 04.06.09

Excellent shock-fest :] Also there was some comedy gold in there, expecially the anchor scene in the shed haha!

11:17 / 22.06.09

Drag Me to Hell....

Sam Raimi's movie scared me this time round. I couldn't sleep after seeing this. Sam Raimi is back to the horror genre and it takes a lot of guts to make a low budget horror film rather than a high budget blockbuster at this point and conjecture of his career.

I've been a fan after seeing Evil Dead 2 on video a long time ago and have been following his work like Darkman and Spiderman and it seems he is back with the amazing visuals and camera work that he is known for and it makes this movie really jump out. He seems more restrained but has more great visual and audio elements that make this a bit more of a mature work than his earlier horror masterpiece Evil Dead 2 and the Army of Darkness. The witchcraft and curse with the Lamia scared me in the theaters and at home alone.... and the atypical horror ending is priceless.

I wish there were more great movies this year like this. Have to wait and see...

Drag Me to Hell 2nd trailer

Aha! I am Klarion

01:16 / 03.07.09

Not to be dickish, but are you being sarcastic, Yichihyon?

How is that ending at all atypical?

04:18 / 03.07.09

Normally the heroines get out of these predictaments in horror movies, Halloween, Hellraiser, Nightmare on Elmstreet, but Christine like the title is dragged to Hell and it ends not in a typical Hollywood movie fashion...She just gets pulled to hell and the end title credits roll. It's funny somewhat. Did you see it?

Aha! I am Klarion

17:48 / 03.07.09

Yeah, well I was thinking more along the lines of Friday the Thirteenth, Carrie, Candyman, the Descent (not to mention Mulholland Dr.) and countless slasher films which feature very similar visual iconography in their endings. So I don't think that the ending is particularly atypical. Plus, just about every Gold Key, tales from the crypt comic...ever.

Personally, I always thought that the first Hellraiser should have ended with the female lead getting taken by Pinhead and co., her dumb as rocks boyfriend finding and opening the box, and her appearing before him as a cenobite and smiling before the film cuts to the credits and David Bowie's "Lady Grinning Soul" plays as soundtrack...

Anyway, what actually interests me most about Raimi's work is the way that he films and edits around the more quotidian aspects of the film: the stuff in the bank and Christine's apartment. It seems oddly Midwestern and autobiographical in its class consciousness, if that makes sense.

Actually, the only bright spots of the otherwise awful Spider-Man 3 were the scenes shot in Sandman's family's horrible apartment. It is just so rare that a major hollywood picture features any sort of narrative stream about people struggling or the working poor in a way that makes them seem sympathetic.

nyarlathotep's shoe horn

20:17 / 16.07.09

I was pretty excited to see Raimi out of the confines of the Spiderman franchise, but alas, this was a disappointing outing for me.

Raimi was more or less revisiting well-trod territory, instead of working it into something distinctly his (Evil Dead II, Darkman & Army of Darkness). He even managed to infiltrate the operating room in Spiderman 2 - which was one episode of signature Sam.

He didn't manage to blend the horrific with the hilarious as in previous works. Maybe we're past that era, as an audience, and require a new twist to these tales.

the ultimate message in this film is about a resistance to aging, and taking on adult responsibilities. In the end, the heroine seeks a remedy to allow her to escape without acknowledging her responsibility.

the capitalist message is a smaller theme, as is the racist message.

22:17 / 19.10.09

my first reaction:

hot damn! american made horror movies don't have to suck!

yeah, it's solid. not the best horror movie i've ever seen, but it's well constructed, and it did a pretty great job playing with tension. i liked the not entirely likeable protagonist, and i liked how it seemed like raimi wasn't really pulling any punches.

also, wouldn't you bolt down every small flingable object in your summoning room?

18:01 / 15.12.09

So, forgive me, but where was the horror in this, exactly?

21:44 / 15.12.09

It's all in the gumming.

09:45 / 26.12.09

Did you watch it on dvd rather than the theater?