← Back to Reviews
in
MovieMeditation presents...
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
233 .......................... 254
__________________________
July 29th
—— 2009 ——
DRAG ME TO HELL
—— horror ——
REWATCH
Even nice people
can go to hell
After being dragged into a commentary session and cursed with the company of Swan, I wasn't too sure what to expect with this revisit to hell on earth... I had very torn feelings about this film last time I saw it, but it has been ages since then, and I guess you could say I have been aging into a proper cinephile within that time frame. I don't know if this is the right movie to clarify my love and understanding for cinema, but I was sure ready to be dragged to hell and back, hopefully having one hell of a time on my way there...
This film is a good bit of fearsome fun in my opinion; exploding with a huge hellfire of awesome directorial attitude and fantastic flair for creepy atmosphere. I may not like this film as much as I appreciate and admire it, but even if you don’t flow with the flames and dance to the Devil’s pipe on this one, you will definitely still surrender to the evil amusements no matter what. Sam Raimi is the uncrowned King of unconventional chaos; always delivering said chaos with a crooked smile and a side of gruesome gags to go with it. Because of this, ‘Drag Me to Hell’ is a swell time within the horror genre and the film never really drags either, since Raimi keeps things hot, exciting and alive throughout.
One of the most memorable scenes in my opinion, is without a doubt the small scale struggle in the car, between the main character and an unhappy costumer, so to speak, which ultimately leaves her cursed. This makes for an intense and very amusing adrenaline-fueled ride in a car that almost never moves – and when it does, it only gets better and even funnier. Everything build around the story is beautifully haunting, with intriguing set designs and absorbing atmospheric cinematography – which is then combined with Raimi’s roaring sense of presence – creating the offspring of the Devil himself in movie form. The soundtrack shoots through the cracks under your feet and flames up with what can only be called the Devil’s personal house orchestra. I want to call it Godlike, but that doesn’t really make sense does it? I guess you could call it the melody of evil clashing with the good and ultimately overruling the earth and creating the Devil’s playground right in our backyard. The tunes crawl under your skin and the sounds creep through your mind like a possessed piece of classical music.
As fun as this film can be, I’m not a blazing fan of it when it goes too far and becomes overly silly. As I said earlier, I do admire when Raimi takes the Devil by the horns and makes the movie he wants to make. I don’t mind when horror films want to be comedies either, but if only Raimi had reached for the high humor opposed to underground entertainment I would have accepted it more. But instead everything comes across as a tad too serious, for something that wants to be so obviously hilarious as well. There are times where the film walks a fine line between heaven and hell for me, but when it falls too low for my liking I rarely follow it through; especially not when it dives all the way into stupidity and ridiculous ramblings.
I must admit I mostly admire the attempts at being funny more than I truly love them, and though Raimi usually knows his balance he stumbles a bit with this one. I prefer the film as a horror rather than a comedy, but some of the smaller and more cleverly conceived humor honors the movie with some nice tasteful flamboyance. ‘Drag Me to Hell’ is both a fun time and a dumb time, though thankfully, never a dull time. But for me I do think it has a lot more potential than what it seems to fulfill by the end of it. It is also one of those movies I really wish I loved more, but I just can’t seem to embrace it entirely…
__________________________
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
233 .......................... 254
__________________________
July 29th
—— 2009 ——
DRAG ME TO HELL
—— horror ——
REWATCH
Even nice people
can go to hell
After being dragged into a commentary session and cursed with the company of Swan, I wasn't too sure what to expect with this revisit to hell on earth... I had very torn feelings about this film last time I saw it, but it has been ages since then, and I guess you could say I have been aging into a proper cinephile within that time frame. I don't know if this is the right movie to clarify my love and understanding for cinema, but I was sure ready to be dragged to hell and back, hopefully having one hell of a time on my way there...
This film is a good bit of fearsome fun in my opinion; exploding with a huge hellfire of awesome directorial attitude and fantastic flair for creepy atmosphere. I may not like this film as much as I appreciate and admire it, but even if you don’t flow with the flames and dance to the Devil’s pipe on this one, you will definitely still surrender to the evil amusements no matter what. Sam Raimi is the uncrowned King of unconventional chaos; always delivering said chaos with a crooked smile and a side of gruesome gags to go with it. Because of this, ‘Drag Me to Hell’ is a swell time within the horror genre and the film never really drags either, since Raimi keeps things hot, exciting and alive throughout.
One of the most memorable scenes in my opinion, is without a doubt the small scale struggle in the car, between the main character and an unhappy costumer, so to speak, which ultimately leaves her cursed. This makes for an intense and very amusing adrenaline-fueled ride in a car that almost never moves – and when it does, it only gets better and even funnier. Everything build around the story is beautifully haunting, with intriguing set designs and absorbing atmospheric cinematography – which is then combined with Raimi’s roaring sense of presence – creating the offspring of the Devil himself in movie form. The soundtrack shoots through the cracks under your feet and flames up with what can only be called the Devil’s personal house orchestra. I want to call it Godlike, but that doesn’t really make sense does it? I guess you could call it the melody of evil clashing with the good and ultimately overruling the earth and creating the Devil’s playground right in our backyard. The tunes crawl under your skin and the sounds creep through your mind like a possessed piece of classical music.
As fun as this film can be, I’m not a blazing fan of it when it goes too far and becomes overly silly. As I said earlier, I do admire when Raimi takes the Devil by the horns and makes the movie he wants to make. I don’t mind when horror films want to be comedies either, but if only Raimi had reached for the high humor opposed to underground entertainment I would have accepted it more. But instead everything comes across as a tad too serious, for something that wants to be so obviously hilarious as well. There are times where the film walks a fine line between heaven and hell for me, but when it falls too low for my liking I rarely follow it through; especially not when it dives all the way into stupidity and ridiculous ramblings.
I must admit I mostly admire the attempts at being funny more than I truly love them, and though Raimi usually knows his balance he stumbles a bit with this one. I prefer the film as a horror rather than a comedy, but some of the smaller and more cleverly conceived humor honors the movie with some nice tasteful flamboyance. ‘Drag Me to Hell’ is both a fun time and a dumb time, though thankfully, never a dull time. But for me I do think it has a lot more potential than what it seems to fulfill by the end of it. It is also one of those movies I really wish I loved more, but I just can’t seem to embrace it entirely…
__________________________