Loan officer Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) is having a mega-shit time lately; her chances of getting promoted are looking slim now that there’s a hotshot upstart gunning for the same position, and her boyfriend, Clay (Justin Long), is in a battle to prove her worth to his mother.
Things definitely get worse in a hurry however, as Christine’s failure to assist elderly Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver in an over-the-top spooky performance) in keeping her home from foreclosure has resulted in her becoming cursed.
It’s definitely an ever-escalating type of affair as well, as what begins with clanking pans and a frisky fly checking out our heroine’s head holes, soon leads to fountains of blood erupting from Christine on a moments notice and shadow monsters running amok hellbent for Christine’s sanity!
Will Christine be able to beat the outré odds along with an assist from fortune teller Rham Jas (Dileep Rao), or will her life be a never ending parade of flowin’ fluids and diabolical demons?!
The biggest compliment I can give Drag Me to Hell is that you can tell Sam Raimi (Evil Dead and it’s sequels, just in case one of you doesn’t know) was right back in his element when he co-wrote (with his brother Ivan Raimi) and directed this fright flick fracas!
The energetic camera movement, crazy cranked-up sound effects, plenty of yucky-ass fluids flying about with wild abandon, and more (much more) than a hint of humor make Drag Me to Hell the kind of putrid picture to slap a smile 13 miles wide on the face of any Evil Dead fanatic (and yes, the ’73 Olds Delta 88 makes a notable appearance)!
That’s not even mentioning the demonic power behind the curse that is definitely kissing cousins to the force in the aforementioned fearsome franchise, because anyone infected by it becomes as close to a Deadite as one can get!
More than up for the gore and guffaws at hand is Lohman who gives an incredibly game and (often… the character does some questionable things in the “save ass” department) sympathetic performance in a role that requires her to be relatable while being put through the ringer… which leads to additional kudos for the often glop-covered physical side of her performance!
As for the special effects utilized by the legendary KNB FX (who also worked on the second and third entries in the Evil Dead series) to bring the above madness to screaming life, thankfully they often show off some wet n’ wild practical gore, but expect some dodgy CG material as well.
Speaking of “material” this 4K disc contains absolutely nothing in the way of bonus material, minus the ability to chose between theatrical and unrated cuts of the film… but thankfully there are 2 additional Blu-ray versions of the film included which feature a bevy of special features!
Disc Two features the unrated cut of the film accompanied by a nearly two hour long documentary that covers the production of the film in detail while featuring plenty of interviews with cast and crew… and the interviews continue on the third disc (featuring the theatrical cut) with conversations from Lohman, Raver, and composer Christopher Young (Hellraiser)… followed by a collection of video production diaries, archival interviews with Raimi, Lohman, and Long, the film’s theatrical trailer, TV spots, and an image gallery.
Filled with laughs, lacerations, and gallons of spraying fluids, Drag Me to Hell is an over-the-top fright flick that shouldn’t be missed!