Many years ago, a Director named Sam Raimi made a film called Evil Dead. Graphic, funny, over the top and scary for it’s time. But over the years Sam moved away from the horror genre and directed films like Darkman, The Gift and the Spider Man trilogy, in between adding his name as ‘Executive Producer’ to truly awful films like ‘Boogyman’, ‘30 Days of Night’ & ‘The Grudge’. So imagine my surprise when I heard that he was actually directing a horror movie again. Now I quite like horror movies, but it seems these days it’s all about who can churn out the most gore and still get an R18+ rating. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of brilliant horror movies that up the ante when it comes to gore, but gore and violence doesn’t necessarily make a great movie.

The last movie I watched that I can say creeped me out was Ringu, and I saw that on VHS when it first came out in 1999, before America decided to remake/ruin it. Over the last few years the only genuinely enjoyable horror movies to me seem to be coming out of Asia, in particular Japan & Thailand. Directors that have an idea as to what makes up a movie as a whole, rather than go for over the top violence and old cliche of long, drawn out silences, then a loud noise to make you jump.

Drag Me To Hell is a breath of fresh air for the horror genre. In the opening sequence the plot is introduced in a chilling manner, Gypsy curses, yep, the Lamia. A demonic force that tortures you for 3 days before coming to take your soul. It opens the film perfectly, and the goose bumps go all the way through the opening credits, which any Evil Dead fan will recognise as vintage Raimi. Christine has a fairly nice life until she denies an elderly woman an extension on her mortgage, this old woman is quite possibly the most hideous looking woman since Liza Minnelli. What shortly follows is some genuinely scary moments, as well as tongue in cheek humor (classic Rami) and from here on in, it’s scares piled upon scares.

Raimi doesn’t rely on gore at all in this flick, in fact its not even violent. He builds suspense with a tight musical score, and in your face absurdity, that will make you laugh and scared at the same time. High pitched violins carry your nerves then throw them in the air, this is another thing I loved. The sound effects are fantastic, and in cinema quality surround sound, truly adds to the suspense. Tension building and atmospheric strings and music are put to amazing use. The two guys next to me I spied covering their ears quite frequently. The story is solid. It is an original film with an original story. It isn’t plagiarized or a cheap money making remake from Asia. As I said before, the film is classic Raimi and there are lots of references to other films by him. It’s good to know that super massive Hollywood blockbusters haven’t diluted his great direction and how he used to make films all those years ago. He keeps a good balance of humor and serious scenes by using humor when necessary and never ruining the atmosphere. Alison Lohman also puts in a great performance as the poor recipient of the Lamia. Throw all this in with a neat shock ending you have the best horror film I’ve seen at the cinema in a long time! Bring on The Evil Dead in 2010!

Written by ‘Los Skullptor’ © Copyright 2009 Fright Sniper Entertainment, All Rights Reserved.