Sam Raimi returns to his roots with one of the best horror movies in years. A perfect balance of gore, scares, laughs, and story create an experience that any horror movie lover can’t miss.
The first “real” horror movie I ever saw was Evil Dead. I was right around 10 years old…my brother talked it up and told me I should watch it, so I did. I have had a healthy obsession with horror movies ever since I saw Evil Dead, and to this day it remains my all-time favourite. So, as you can imagine, I was ecstatic when I heard that Sam Raimi was finally returning to the horror genre.
Drag Me to Hell is an instant classic. This movie is going to be talked about in horror circles for decades to come. The camera angles, the use of sound, the casting choices, the overall “feel” of the movie…everything is absolutely perfect. I never thought I would say this, but DMTH is a horror movie that would not gain anything if it was rated R instead of PG-13; absolutely everything that should have been shown to the audience is shown, and with the proper amount of brutality. To be fair, this is definitely a hard PG-13, and was likely only a couple of gore shots away from getting an R rating.
A young woman who works for an insurance company denies an old woman an extension on her loan, resulting in the foreclosure of her home. The old witch-like woman decides this is unacceptable, and curses the young girl. All hell breaks loose, and…well, that’s more or less it. The storyline itself could have easily been made into a “Masters of Horror” style 50 minute experience…but the movie never seems to slow down, so the simplistic storyline is well hidden. Even though the story doesn’t have much meat to it, what little exists is fully explored. By the end of the movie, the loose ends are all tied up, and all your questions are answered.
Nearly every second of screen time is used effectively, with nary a wasteful shot to be found. You will find many similarities with Evil Dead, including (but not limited to) camera angles, comedy, as well as the overall look of ::insert bad things here::. DMTH is unmistakably Raimi, in every possible way. There is even a homage to the first real scare scene in Evil Dead, where Cheryl guesses all the cards right and begins floating in front of the window. The situation is completely different, and the camera angle isn’t even the same…but big Evil Dead fans will notice it the second it starts to happen 
The scares (of which there are many) aren’t really all that scary…yet they still somehow are. Certain scenes will get under your skin and creep you out more than others, but they are all effective; timing on sound and appearances of ::insert other bad things here:: are all spot on. I could easily see this being a gorefest in an Unrated edition, but in a way I hope that doesn’t happen. The length of time that passes between gore shots and the way the gore shots are presented when they do appear prevent you from becoming unaffected by them. No Japanese-style quick editing during encounters here; the camera lingers on everything during the scare scenes, and somehow manage to allow your imagination to fill in gaps which don’t exist. It’s a fantastic accomplishment.
If you like horror movies, or if you appreciate well put together films, you absolutely must see Drag Me to Hell. It’s a legendary piece of cinema that will live on for a very, very long time.
