Drag me to Hell (2009)

Drag me to Hell (2009) Obviously, there’s the censored and uncensored versions, because this film is pretty filthy. Yes, that’s for sure!

So, to start with, I have immense respect for Sam Raimi, because he really knows how to make diverse films. I’m a huge fan of his Spider-Man trilogy, which makes Evil Dead fans jump. But for me, it’s clear: I don’t like it when Sam does horror and I love it when he does something else. I’m a bit of a reverse fan, if you like!

Well, I haven’t liked all his superhero films either, as Doctor Strange 2 (2022), also known as Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, was a pretty good disappointment. Which reminds me that I absolutely must get into Darkman (1990) one of these days, because I still haven’t seen it!

In any case, I thoroughly enjoyed The Quick and The Dead (1995), A Simple Plan (1998),
The Gift (2000) and Oz the Great and Powerful (2013).

Evil Dead is called Tanz der Teufel in German, which means The Devil’s Dance!
And it remains Raimi’s best film for die-hard fans.

Here’s what one fan had to say: ‘Raimi tries as best he can to revive his predecessors without ever matching them. The story only convinces today’s teenagers. Justin Long was no more useful than he was in the cult classic Jeepers Creepers. All in all, a crap film from the new generation.’

As for Alison Lohman , I’ve never been a huge fan of hers. For me, she’s a sort of Brie Larson, not necessarily very charismatic or with extraordinary acting talent. That hasn’t stopped me from being happy to see her in a film I love, like Big Fish (2003), or in Matchstick Men (2003) alongside Nicolas Cage & Sam Rockwell!

I haven’t seen Gamer (2009), but I hated Urge (2016) in which she starred with Pierce Brosnan and Ashley Greene.

So, given that this is a return to the humour of Evil Dead (the third of which I enjoyed more than the other two), it’s not necessarily my cup of tea. Having said that, I’m beginning to find the humour quite funny, after all this time! Which wasn’t the case when I first discovered these films.

It’s pretty disgusting, you’ll see blood, drool, vomit, blows to the eye, teeth breaking…
But let’s face it, the direction is incredible and Raimi’s madness is inimitable!

It’s incoherent, it makes absolutely no sense and it’s deliberate, of course! It’s not bad, but it’s far from good.

Drag me to Hell is rather disappointing, with a ridiculous ending. Raimi always has a tendency to make a mockery of scenes, he’s known for that. Too bad, I was expecting better, From Dusk Till Dawn offers absolutely better. The days of good horror films are probably over? No, let’s stay optimistic!

I read somewhere ‘Poor effects and acting, a predictable story and flat dialogue. The main characters are annoying from the start. A typical film of our time: little intelligence and young characters.
The absence of the obligatory sex scene is probably due to chance.’

I don’t really agree! The special effects aren’t that bad (unless you take the boy’s descent into hell in the intro scene), nor are the actors. The dialogue isn’t great art, but it passes. Young characters and no sex scenes bother me in the least. It’s far from compulsory these days!

This film just didn’t really convince me, even if the story is decent for a horror film.

Justin Long in the role of the professor doesn’t really work!
As an assistant, he might well be believable, but clearly not as a professor.
So yes, it’s irrelevant to the rest of the film, but it’s simply ‘disturbing’.

We’d have to change quite a few things for this DMTH to be at its best and become an excellent film!

Here’s a review that’s too short, but very clear:

“Horrible! And I don’t mean that in a positive way!!!”

Yes, really disappointing…
I’m a pretty big fan of horror films, but this film is just plain bad. The whole thing is so transparent that you can guess exactly what’s going to happen next. Seeing and buying this film is a waste of time and money. It’s reminiscent of Thinner (1996) apparently. I haven’t seen it and I don’t want to, because I loved Stephen King’s book and I don’t want to change the image in my head.

This film will never become a classic. The supposedly surprising ending is typical of the genre, nothing extraordinary. The film is not interesting from an occult point of view. A lot of things are predictable and could have been solved with a bit of research. I think Case 39 (2009) must be much better. I’ve heard that it follows in the footsteps of The Exorcist (1973) and is especially reminiscent of Esther (2009).

Conclusion: annoying!
I wanted to stop several times, but I kept hoping it would get better and I wanted to see that ‘surprising’ ending, which turned out to be a standard of the genre.