Drag Me To Hell - Review

I can't remember having so much fun during a horror film in a long time, and I personally would like to thank Sam Raimi for being the only man in cinema to be able to turn your stomach in one instant and then having you rolling around in the aisles in the next.

Alison Lohman stars as Christine Brown, a bank clerk, who is competing with a colleague for a prised assistant managers role. In order to show her metal, she refuses a third mortgage extension to a strange, gypsy like woman. The set up is simple, and to a degree rather drab. But it doesn't last long. Like Raimi first foray into horror, The Evil Dead, he quickly gets to the scares and shocks, and what really pulls you in is that our first encounter becomes a drawn, endurance test of shocks, scares and horrors set in a underground parking lot, which contains more invention and horror than most schlock horror pumped out of Hollywood these days.

From this moment Raimi skirts the line between inspired and absurd and even when he crosses it, during an unusual but hugely entertaining seance, somehow he makes it work.

The film itself manages to capture the constant assault of spirits on Christine and the comic relief works as a vent for the tension and fear you feel.

There are so many great comic moments that like Evil Dead its almost more a comedy than a horror, but then every time you feel yourself laughing too much, Raimi drags you back into a terrifying situation and your reminded once more that this is the best horror film to emerge out of America is quite some time. The film comes from Raimi's Ghost House Pictures and this is really the first film from their canon to deserve the title of horror. Despite Raimi's recent forays into comic book adaptations and hollywood blockbusters its a pleasure to know that he has not grown out of some sickeningly funny comedy horror, and more importantly that he is still the greatest exponent of the comedy horror genre.

On one final note, since seeing Alison Lohman blow me away in Matchstick Men and Big Fish I've been waiting with baited breath and anticipation for her to emerge as a genuine leading lady, with Drag Me To Hell she shows that not only can she carry a film, but also that she has a great range and can compete with any heroine in horror illustrious past.

Drag Me To Hell is breath of fresh air, with a stale, vomit inducing rib tickling brilliance that rarely features in cinema these days.