The Review Revue
Issue date: 6/9/09 Section: Arts & Entertainment
Film Review
Drag Me to Hell
When I was a kid, my grandpa had the vastest of movie collections.
Almost 1,200 VHS tapes with (usually) three movies per cassette, of every genre of film imaginable.
I remember falling in love with horror films. By the time I was 10, I had seen terribly recorded versions of every freakin' Halloween and almost every version of Friday the 13th. I don't remember much of them now, but at the time, I was obsessed.
That same year, when I was 10, my dad and I rented Scream while my mom was at work one night.
Now, I don't recall my thoughts exactly, but I do remember being legitimately impressed, particularly by its self-referential aspects (obviously, since I was 10, I didn't think of it in those terms). A horror film about horror films - it seemed like a modern interpretation of the genre and I was terrified. I bought into every aspect of it. The first 20 minutes of that film had me so hooked that I sought out every new horror film until I could stand them no more.
Not to say that Scream was the first to do that; in fact, I can think of countless movies in the '80s that did, but here's the thing - damn near every horror movie I saw after that utilized the exact same techniques. Suddenly, It seemed like the thrill of the horror genre had died in me.
Apparently, Sam Raimi feels similar.
Or at least that's what I thought. Turns out, Drag Me to Hell was written in 1992, but Raimi decided to pursue other projects; perhaps that's why it has such a particular feel.
For those of you who don't know, Raimi is the genius behind such classics as Army of Darkness and the Evil Dead series. So go rent them immediately.
With Drag Me to Hell, Raimi returns some of the classic elements of horror cinema that made the genre so amazing in the first place. There's tension, scream-worthy frights and, most importantly, a fair bit of campiness.
Typically, horror films try to scare viewers by making them feel like this is a realistic idea and it could happen to you; that, or with out-of-nowhere scare tactics. And while Raimi utilizes the latter to fantastic effect in Drag Me to Hell, he completely ditches the former, and it works perfectly.
Drag Me to Hell
When I was a kid, my grandpa had the vastest of movie collections.
Almost 1,200 VHS tapes with (usually) three movies per cassette, of every genre of film imaginable.
I remember falling in love with horror films. By the time I was 10, I had seen terribly recorded versions of every freakin' Halloween and almost every version of Friday the 13th. I don't remember much of them now, but at the time, I was obsessed.
That same year, when I was 10, my dad and I rented Scream while my mom was at work one night.
Now, I don't recall my thoughts exactly, but I do remember being legitimately impressed, particularly by its self-referential aspects (obviously, since I was 10, I didn't think of it in those terms). A horror film about horror films - it seemed like a modern interpretation of the genre and I was terrified. I bought into every aspect of it. The first 20 minutes of that film had me so hooked that I sought out every new horror film until I could stand them no more.
Not to say that Scream was the first to do that; in fact, I can think of countless movies in the '80s that did, but here's the thing - damn near every horror movie I saw after that utilized the exact same techniques. Suddenly, It seemed like the thrill of the horror genre had died in me.
Apparently, Sam Raimi feels similar.
Or at least that's what I thought. Turns out, Drag Me to Hell was written in 1992, but Raimi decided to pursue other projects; perhaps that's why it has such a particular feel.
For those of you who don't know, Raimi is the genius behind such classics as Army of Darkness and the Evil Dead series. So go rent them immediately.
With Drag Me to Hell, Raimi returns some of the classic elements of horror cinema that made the genre so amazing in the first place. There's tension, scream-worthy frights and, most importantly, a fair bit of campiness.
Typically, horror films try to scare viewers by making them feel like this is a realistic idea and it could happen to you; that, or with out-of-nowhere scare tactics. And while Raimi utilizes the latter to fantastic effect in Drag Me to Hell, he completely ditches the former, and it works perfectly.
Be the first to comment on this story