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Drag Me to Hell (2009)

Director: Sam Raimi

Time Out rating

Average user rating

37 reviews

Synopsis

An ambitious loans officer divests an elderly lady of her property and ends up cursed by the now homeless old sorceress. A seer is contacted to help reverse the spell, but things spiral out of control.

Movie review

From Time Out London

A gross-out fright movie that is, in the director’s own words, ‘more like a funhouse ride than a bloodbath’, ‘Drag Me to Hell’ takes Sam Raimi back to his B-movie roots, fusing the scary intensity of ‘The Evil Dead’ with the cartoonish, slapstick humour of ‘Evil Dead II’. Originally conceived as a short story way back in 1990, ‘Drag Me to Hell’ has had a long and strange gestation, which might explain its repeated references to ‘There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly’.

Inside a mock-gothic pile, all hell breaks loose as female medium Shaun San Dena (Adriana Barraza) struggles to save a young boy from the malevolent force unleashed by a gypsy’s curse. This brilliantly staged prologue seems to herald the Second Coming of Sam Raimi, but the film as a whole never quite lives up to its throat-grabbing opening.

With one eye on the vacant assistant manager’s job, ambitious loans officer Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) refuses to extend the mortgage of an old gypsy lady, Mrs Ganush (Lorna Raver). Christine blames her boss (David Paymer), but the gimlet-eyed crazy lady sees all. Shamed by having to beg on bended knee, Mrs Ganush fixes Christine with her beady peeper and warns: ‘Soon it will be you who comes begging to me.’ The slighted woman’s campaign of terror involves the projectile vomiting of blood, maggots and green slime, a slice of cake with a swivelling eyeball implanted in it and the summoning of a black goat.

A late replacement for ‘Juno’ star Ellen Page, the sparky Lohman seizes the lead role with both hands and confidently makes it her own. As does the aptly named Raver, whose vengeance starts with cackling laughter, then spirals upwards into imaginative spitefulness. The flashy pyrotechnics make up for a plot that is riddled with holes, and there is a wickedly funny gag about the possibility of ameliorative kitten-sacrifice. But the crude ‘eye for an eye’ morality recalls an average EC Comics story, and you don’t need a crystal ball to predict the wicked twist in the tale.

Author: Nigel Floyd 2009-05-26 10:42:14

Time Out London Issue 2023, May 28 - June 3, 2009

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User reviews of this film

oldbrit said...

Posted on Jun 07 2009 19:00 I don't usually go to horror films - they scare me. This one is certainly full of scary "casting the runes" moments yet funny as well. Worth seeing.

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Lamesee&Jess<3 said...

Posted on Jun 07 2009 12:43 This Film is thee best ever, and for all of you who say the film is crap, just be quiet because its not. This film makes u jump all the time and even adds humurr:) We lovedd it and we are going to see it again <33 xxx

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sam said...

Posted on Jun 06 2009 11:36 absulute quality film, was prob the most jupy film ihave everseen and it's hilarious. as people have said the ending wasn't great but still a good horror to watch.

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Michael H said...

Posted on Jun 04 2009 21:53 I have to say i loved it! It is probably the most jumpy movie i have seen since the grudge it is a generally scary film , but it also has a bit of humour aswell, yeah sure the ending wasn't the best but i think it made for an excellent film. After this film though YOU WILL BE SCARED OF GOATS. 5 Stars

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Danny said...

Posted on Jun 04 2009 14:35 Drag Me To Hell is one of the scariest and funnyest films iv seen in ages!

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ToxieDogg said...

Posted on Jun 04 2009 04:40 A great, rollercoaster ride of a horror comedy. Sure, the ending is predictable from around halfway in, but the movie works so well on every level that you won't really care....the performances are top notch, the tension is high, and there are tons of homages to Evil Dead to keep Raimi fans happy....even the Oldsmobile is in there. Go see.

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Russell said...

Posted on Jun 03 2009 18:02 Good old fashioned shlocky horror with its tongue in its cheek and screenfulls of gore. Its alternately jumpy and comic with some total gross out set pieces. It's a good film although everyone in the cast plays it totally straight which makes em seem a bit wooden but I'd guess that this was intentional. Go watch just don't go expecting to get too scared.

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Bobarus said...

Posted on Jun 03 2009 14:42 Ive been to see this film twice (partly because I have a cineworld card and partly coz it was too warm outside). I found the movie very funny and extremely typical of Raimi. It is very loud throughout which adds to the effect. Not to be taken seriously, (the actors are awful) it has a good few funnies and jumpies

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rogerrabbit said...

Posted on May 30 2009 22:24 Take it for what it is .... yes its loud yes at times sick,yes you can see end coming ,,but boy does it make you jump ...Fantastic move great entertainment This movie deft not a DRAG !

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samlo said...

Posted on May 30 2009 22:20 pretty crap film, yeah its abit gorey and stuff..makes you jump a few times but it was very predictable and a really terrible ending

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ADY said...

Posted on May 30 2009 12:16 WOW FANTASTIC FILM CANT REMEMBER THE LAST ONE LIKE THIS WELL MAYBE EVIL DEAD. I LAUGHED AND I JUMPED A FEW TIMES , NOT MUCH A STORY BUT DOESNT HAVE TO BE , NO REAL BLOOD AND GORE WHICH MOST FILMS HAVE THESE DAYS. I LOVED IT

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UZMAN QUARTERMASS EXP said...

Posted on May 30 2009 08:37 A crass, cheap and scholocky attempt to jolt the audience with revolting images and sharp violin shrieks. A nasty little film for sociopaths.

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usman khawaja said...

Posted on May 30 2009 03:59 casual curse in a crunch crisis
i am an unabashed avid fan of sam Raimi's low budget gore trilogy called Evil Dead and after weaving three mushy spider webs this innovative story teller is back with a rather macabre but provoking tale of a modern day curse .
Christine[lohan ] is a rather callous young loan officer from a Los Angeles bank who evicts a hapless old woman in a tyrannical turn from her house with tragic results and receives a supernatural curse from the dead woman where she has three days to save her soul or be despatched to hell .
Raimi has orchestrated the ensuing mayhem as only he can in an audio-visual feast rendered as a masterwork with vibrant editing and superb angular camera work and sound effects that will leave you mesmerized acoustically .
this is dynamic humorous horror that shocks ,disturbs and entertains and most vitally has a morality imbued in it's message of doom .
the satire on the banks and their lending practices is relevant to the crunch time but it is also given a new leash of life with trivial touches where dancing ghosts turn into fireballs and a common house fly scares the wits out of your consciousness .
he can scare you when you least expect it and old croons emerge in the most unpredictable predicaments possible with shocking effects .
nothing or no one is spared from kittens to elegant dinner table banquets and cars become a metaphor of gloom and destruction in the most tongue in cheek horror in years to hit the screen .
it is not Evil dead but a rather contemporary tale of Immorality embedded in a tale of macabre mortality and it works physically and psychologically too .
a refreshing exorcism performed in a scary seance by a clever and innovative cinematic medium called RAIMI .

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SabriiNa* said...

Posted on May 29 2009 17:12 Hmm Leme Strt Mii Essay Off =) .. Dis Film Is Realy Good ii Fink Frm My Point Of View=) .. Dnt Cre Wat Da Rest Of Yu Fnk Bwt Dis Flm Cus We All Gt Dfrnt Points =) .. It Was Funyy Aswel As Scary ,, ii Fnk Yu Lot Hu Are Goin To Watch It Will Enjoy It =] ,, Au Revoir ;) ..
[x]

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Jay said...

Posted on May 29 2009 09:04 Me and my girlfriend saw this last night it was quite an awsum film but it kinda ruined it with the slapstick jokes it had its jumpy moments which was quite cool its a good film and id reccomend it :)

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