Year: 2009
Running Time: 99 Minutes
Rated: PG-13 Theatrical/Unrated Director’s Cut
SRP: $39.98
Studio(s): Universal Studios

Film/Feature: B+
Remember when filmmaker Sam Raimi didn’t have Spider-Man attached to his name? It was a long time ago, and for those who don’t know or remember or don’t know your film history, Raimi was the mastermind behind the Evil Dead Trilogy (Evil Dead I & II, Army of Darkness) and in this world where geeks have taken over the entertainment world, Raimi is as American as baseball and apple pie. Surely stuck in big studio and corporate character suffocation, Raimi cleanses his palette with something new. After ten years with Peter Parker, we get a sample of our old Sam back, sans Bruce Campbell, in Drag Me to Hell, a simple and casual trip back down memory lane for his most ardent of fans.

Allison Lohman (Matchstick Men, Where the Truth Lies) plays Christine Brown, a loan officer in Los Angeles, from small town roots, is only a few hard-earned hours away from earning a promotion at the bank she works at. She’s got a great boyfriend, Clay played by Justin Long (Apple guy from Apple vs. PC commercials), who is a doctor and comes from a well-to-do family. Before she ties the knot on a big account, she has to do one small, but difficult task in the eyes of her boss. She has to deny a gypsy woman, named Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver) the chance to keep her house. With a firm upper lip, determined to get everything that she’s been denied in life to have, she sends the gypsy packing. Boy, did she fuck with the wrong person.

The gypsy curses Christine on the way out who now has only a few days to shake a terrifying spirit called the Lamia from her life before a door opens up from hell and grabs her for eternal unrest. This isn’t torture porn horror films like Saw and Hostel, but rather a more finessed, campy horror flick that still tortures the protagonist but in a much more classic way. Christine is a classic do-nothing-right character who can conquer one thing in her life whether it’s her job, her love life, or even shaking a gypsy curse. Lohman was a champ though and took everything Raimi throws at her, or projects at her. Raver, too was legendary as the repugnant Mrs. Ganush.

I can’t recommend this film across the board because truthfully, it’s not a great film for everyone across the board, when you take a very close look at it. I know things were supposed to be scary, but I found myself laughing more than anything else, which Raimi allows room for, but believe me, sometimes the absurdity of horror films is lost on me. It was much too easy to forecast what was coming next. The conventions were as fundamental to the genre, as it was disappointing in terms of hoping for something a little more original.

It is, however, a solid horror flick for the fans of shlock, and despite my own apprehensions on this genre, I can appreciate what people do like about these films. There is a bit of sophistication in what Raimi does by building a rather complex web of circumstances with a very simple premise and then just tugs the main character through the mud the entire film. Never at anytime do you want things to get better for Christine, or want them to stop; even though she probably didn’t deserve any of it. Okay maybe just a little bit. By the end you’ll find yourself whooping at your screen. There is a lot of skill involved in manipulating a crowd like that and because of that I do recommend Drag Me to Hell.

Video: A +
Get a load of high definition fun on Drag Me to Hell’s 1080p VC-1 encoded transfer in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio. It’s a high quality relay where I could start with the enveloping deep blacks, then go to the extraordinary detail of skin and the surrounding objects, and end off with eruption of color of the flames of hell in an otherwise natural-looking, mute set design. The image is stable throughout the story, even during the classic Raimi speedy closeups. Everything that’s gross in the film, including Mrs. Ganush is doubly-gross in this blu-ray. I’ve rarely ever had a problem with Universal’s post image enhancements, noise reduction, black crush, contrast or lack of shadow delineation, and you won’t hear me complaining about anything with Drag Me to Hell.

Audio: A+
Once again, Universal spares no expense with a 5.1 English DTS-HD audio track that is one of the most active tracks I’ve listened to in months. After watching lots of dramas lately, I jumped out of my seat a few times because my subwoofer had been awoken, and every time the hole to hell opened up, I thought the bottom of my floor boards busted out. All of the spoken dialogue is tight and clearly understood, and the dynamic range is full and powerful. The directional sound is the most notable part of the audio experience, whether it’s a hair-pulling, scream-filled fight in a car, or when all chaos breaks during the séance. Other audio selections include: 5.1 French DTS, 2.0 Spanishdolby Digital, Portuguese, German, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean 5.1 Dolby TrueHD DTS Digital tracks and subtitles are available in English SDH, French, and Spanish.

Extras: C-
The first “extra” would be the unrated version versus the theatrical cut and as usual when it comes to horror films, the difference we’re talking about is a few scenes that show more gore and guts than what was shown in the theatrical cut. As far as running time, we’re talking about 14 extra seconds. I think I would have been more satisfied if they had they just put the unrated version only, and gotten Raimi to do an audio commentary.

Production Video Diaries HD (35:00) is a nice compact behind-the-scenes look behind some of the memorable scenes of Drag Me to Hell. For those of you who want to hurl again watching the maggot scene can watch Lohman nearly lose her lunch actually performing it. For those who were hardcore fans will recognize this from what was available on the official Drag Me to Hell website so we’re not talking about anything new here, it is a nice special but the greedy person in me wanted much more.

There’s a Digital Copy Disc for those who just gotta have Drag Me To Hell on the go.

BD Live is enabled for those want to peruse through Universal’s library of trailers, online content, and share your favorite clips with your friends.

D-Box motion code is available to those who have it.

Overall Shock Value: B+
I wasn’t blown away by Drag Me to Hell as much as Sam Raimi loyalists, especially those are calling it “the best horror films they’ve ever seen,” but as I’ve stated before, horror is the one genre where I can honestly say I’m not particularly warm to or am extremely hard to please. I do think that fans of the Evil Dead Trilogy will love this film to no end, and I do think it satisfies that gross urge one needs during the Halloween splurge and beyond. Really though, we’ve reached a point where horror, in all of its different sub-genres is enjoyed throughout the year and not just in October. It was awesome to see Raimi kick up dirt in the old playground where he grew his initial following and those who have been there from the beginning or who discovered those early indie gems will be pleased. Extras could have been much meatier but there’s not much to complain about the blu-ray on a technical level. Drag Yourself into viewing this Sam Raimi joint on blu-ray with a bunch of friends, turn it up, and let the popcorn fly into the air.