I can't tell you how disappointed I am to have to write a rant about this film. I was excited to see this movie. The approval rating on 'Rotten Tomatoes' is really high (93%). You hardly ever see such a thing for horror movies. I was psyched! I got ready to take the plunge and prepared myself for being scared shitless. Even though horror movies aren't my favourite genre of film, I can really enjoy the thrill of jumping in my seat and laughing nervously beside my fellow movie lovers. So I curled up in my chair, wrapped my jacket around me, sat in the dark and waited...
"Drag Me To Hell" revolves around a loan officer named Christine, played by Alison Lohman. She refuses to help an elderly gypsy woman extend her mortgage loan in the hopes that making this 'tough decision' will help her get a job promotion. After being rejected by the bank and 'shamed' by Christine, the 'one dead eye' gypsy places a curse on her -making Christine's life a living hell. Haunted now by an evil spirit that wants her soul, Christine enlists the help of a seer, played by Dileep Rao, in order to stop the haunting and improve her fate.
I hate to say this but I didn't find the movie scary at all. I always knew when the next thing was going to jump out at her and I felt like I was seeing a movie I've seen a hundred times before. Lohman's acting was painful to watch and I wasn't too impressed with the supporting cast either. Justin Long ( the 'mac' guy) played the 'devoted boyfriend' role but I wasn't convinced he actually cared about what was going on with his tormented girlfriend. Instead, he waited in the wings while she sorted her 'crazy shit out'.
Another disappointment for me was the movie didn't make me laugh. You expect the cheesy one-liners from horror movies to give you some comedic relief between scares. Okay, there might have been a couple ("that's the last of my hair you're getting!") but not enough to keep me invested in the film and by that time, I'd had enough and just wanted it to be over.
In my opinion, Sam Raimi's film was filled with bad Halloween costumes, gimmicks that didn't work (the evil handkerchief) and the same horror film formula we've seen time and time again. The only original thing about the movie is perhaps Lohman now holds the record for having the most gross stuff spewed on an actress' face.
I don't know what other reviewers have seen in this film. Maybe they're all "Spiderman" fans and want to give Sam Raimi a break. Maybe they think this movie is campy enough to become some kind of cult classic. But I didn't get it. I guess my expectations were too high. I was hoping for another "The Ring" and instead I got another "The Ring 2".
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