Directed by Sam Raimi. Starring Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Lorna Raver, David Paymer, Chelcie Ross. Horror/Gore. Synopsis: A loan officer denies a third extension on a mortgage to a mysterious, elderly woman who then takes her anger out by cursing the loan officer and unleashing a demon who will drag her into hell after 3 days.
O.k., this one is different. That is hard to do in this genre, which is maybe more formulaic than any other genre with the possible exception of romance with the boy-meets-girl/boy-loses-girl thing. Its definitely timely, with our heroine/protagonist Christine Brown (Alison Lohman Where The Truth Lies) playing the role of the ambitious loan officer, denying one last extension to the enigmatic, if not slightly crude, elderly Ms. Ganush (Lorna Raver) who is literally begging to stay in her home. Might ring a bell in principal to a lot of folks in these relatively tough times for many folks trying to stay in their homes. So, even though she is ou hero, we do empathize somewhat with Ms. Ganush...that is, until she starts acting really, really strange.
See, it seems as if Ms. Ganush is taking her rejection at the bank even a little bit harder than you or I might, kind of going over the top with an ancient curse which will follow Christine through a button shr rips off of Christine's sweater during their first fight. Oh, yes, I told you Ms. Ganush was extraordinarily P.O.ed.
Now, one thing you should realize, I'm critiquing with broad stokes here so as not to play the spoiler for those who have not seen the flick, but one thing you should know is that the gore and over the top FX start early and do not stop in Drag Mr To Hell. So, if its disturbing images you're looking for, you won't have to wait too long.
But, it the film just isn't about Christine's ongoing battle with the visiting demon and her potential date in Hades with Lucifer. The story line attempts to give her some depth. She has a caring boyfriend, Clay (Justin Long Idiocracy ) who wants to support her but, its evident to us, thinks she is just a little bit off.
Anyway, the question becomes, what to do when you believe you may have been cursed? Well, you do what anyone would: visit a fortune teller. Our fortune teller is Rham (Dileep Rao) who is wise-as you might expect-and obviously does not think Christine fully appreciates the gravity of her situation. Rao is excellent in his role, which would have been easy to play as a complete caricature.
Now, there are several hurdles, to use a cliche, Christine must clear before her ultimate face off with the demon unleashed on her by Ms. Ganush. These hurdles make for some really entertaing scenes: maggot attacks, seances with talking goats, the site of Christine projectile spraying blood from her nose on her boss (David Paymer Get Shorty) , and a memorable 'Meet The Parents' scene where Christine meets Clay's status conscious parents and a fly joins her. The only other thing I will say is that the button is awfully important to the plot.
To be honest, I'm not entirely sure how I felt about this movie. It delivered its gore quotient, and Lohman brought her 'A' game to the role. The script has plenty of director Raimi's comedy/horror mix and the ending is memorable, if not completely believable.
But,...well, I don't know. This movie isn't particularly scary (shocking in some parts, but not scary), the plot just a little too fantastic to be compelling, and the ending was, to me, unsatisfying if predictable. However, I would highly recommend this one for those of you who love your gore with a healthy does of the grotesque. So, here it is: not a great movie, maybe not even a good one, but worth seeing.
Hope I helped, but I have a feeling i really didn't.
O.k., this one is different. That is hard to do in this genre, which is maybe more formulaic than any other genre with the possible exception of romance with the boy-meets-girl/boy-loses-girl thing. Its definitely timely, with our heroine/protagonist Christine Brown (Alison Lohman Where The Truth Lies) playing the role of the ambitious loan officer, denying one last extension to the enigmatic, if not slightly crude, elderly Ms. Ganush (Lorna Raver) who is literally begging to stay in her home. Might ring a bell in principal to a lot of folks in these relatively tough times for many folks trying to stay in their homes. So, even though she is ou hero, we do empathize somewhat with Ms. Ganush...that is, until she starts acting really, really strange.
See, it seems as if Ms. Ganush is taking her rejection at the bank even a little bit harder than you or I might, kind of going over the top with an ancient curse which will follow Christine through a button shr rips off of Christine's sweater during their first fight. Oh, yes, I told you Ms. Ganush was extraordinarily P.O.ed.
Now, one thing you should realize, I'm critiquing with broad stokes here so as not to play the spoiler for those who have not seen the flick, but one thing you should know is that the gore and over the top FX start early and do not stop in Drag Mr To Hell. So, if its disturbing images you're looking for, you won't have to wait too long.
But, it the film just isn't about Christine's ongoing battle with the visiting demon and her potential date in Hades with Lucifer. The story line attempts to give her some depth. She has a caring boyfriend, Clay (Justin Long Idiocracy ) who wants to support her but, its evident to us, thinks she is just a little bit off.
Anyway, the question becomes, what to do when you believe you may have been cursed? Well, you do what anyone would: visit a fortune teller. Our fortune teller is Rham (Dileep Rao) who is wise-as you might expect-and obviously does not think Christine fully appreciates the gravity of her situation. Rao is excellent in his role, which would have been easy to play as a complete caricature.
Now, there are several hurdles, to use a cliche, Christine must clear before her ultimate face off with the demon unleashed on her by Ms. Ganush. These hurdles make for some really entertaing scenes: maggot attacks, seances with talking goats, the site of Christine projectile spraying blood from her nose on her boss (David Paymer Get Shorty) , and a memorable 'Meet The Parents' scene where Christine meets Clay's status conscious parents and a fly joins her. The only other thing I will say is that the button is awfully important to the plot.
To be honest, I'm not entirely sure how I felt about this movie. It delivered its gore quotient, and Lohman brought her 'A' game to the role. The script has plenty of director Raimi's comedy/horror mix and the ending is memorable, if not completely believable.
But,...well, I don't know. This movie isn't particularly scary (shocking in some parts, but not scary), the plot just a little too fantastic to be compelling, and the ending was, to me, unsatisfying if predictable. However, I would highly recommend this one for those of you who love your gore with a healthy does of the grotesque. So, here it is: not a great movie, maybe not even a good one, but worth seeing.
Hope I helped, but I have a feeling i really didn't.
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