Hellish Thoughts

As Sam Raimi's highly-touted Drag Me To Hell fades from movie theaters after three weeks in release, the question some are asking is why wasn't this wasn't a bigger hit. It's done well, sure, but not the kind of business that some had expected it to. After all, Drag rode into theaters on a near-unanimous wave of praise from both fans who had seen the film in its several showing at film festivals as well as from critics (it's listed at 93% fresh at Rotten Tomatoes). And yet it's done moderate business, at best - far less even than some other recent horror offerings that lack the same kind of pedigree. But while it doesn't seem right that a film as shoddy and graceless as The Unborn should out-perform Drag Me To Hell at the box office, all things considered it really shouldn't have been such a shock.

First of all, the timing of Drag's release was terrible. Even though horror in the summer isn't as iffy a proposition as some make it out to be, it's still not smart to open opposite the new Pixar film. That's a good way to get crushed right there. But the real problem is that when it comes to horror, Raimi's sensibilities are still too quirky for general audiences to roll with. What's seen as hilarious to Raimi fans just plays as corny to most people with the negative comments I heard about Drag being almost exclusively along the lines of "I couldn't tell whether it was supposed to be funny or scary!" Scream-type irony is pretty easy to recognize but Drag's brand of splatstick, veering wildly from gross-out gags to serious character moments, is more problematic. A movie like The Uninvited may be completely bland but it isn't confusing to anyone and some people do appreciate that - they don't have to wonder if they 'got' it.

Of course, you'd think that the people who supposedly "get" Raimi - you know, horror fans - would've been out in full force to support Drag and ensure that Raimi's return to the genre cleaned up at the box office. But if you're waiting for horror fans to make a movie into a blockbuster, good luck with that. Whenever a film comes out that you might think would galvanize horror fans to show their support, it doesn't. Where were the fans at when Land of the Dead came out, or Grindhouse, or The Mist? No matter what you might think of those films, horror fans ought to have been storming the gates to check them out on opening weekend. Apparently, though, horror fans were feeling apathetic about the prospects of a new George Romero zombie film, a double-feature of exploitation films from Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodrigeuz, and the long awaited adaptation of one of Stephen King's most popular novellas. I mean, even the fucking shitty Shutter remake made more than these films - so clearly catering to what horror fans say they want is a losing game.

Thankfully, even if Raimi's return to horror wasn't seen as an event outside of his fanbase, it didn't tank, either. And the fact that Raimi spent some of his Spider-Man clout adding one more cult favorite to his resume is damned cool.

Drag Me To Hell

As the star horror directors of the '70s and '80s have aged, fans have had to adjust their expectations when watching the latest efforts from icons like George Romero, John Carpenter, and Dario Argento. And by "adjust," I mean "drop altogether." I've liked some of the later work of all these gentlemen but as a horror fan, it's hard to accept that these artist's best days are behind them - especially when the genre needs them to be at their peak again. When I see junk like the Prom Night remake and The Unborn perpetrated on audiences, I'd like to believe that the horror masters we grew up on could rediscover their mojo and step in to save the day. Well, that fantasy is playing out right now with Sam Raimi's Drag Me To Hell.

If anyone thinks that Raimi's time spent bringing Marvel Comic's wall-crawling hero to the screen has softened his sensibilities, or that Drag's PG-13 rating is a sign that this isn't a movie for the hardcore fans, they'd be wrong. Drag Me To Hell is Raimi reclaiming the geek crown that got knocked off-kilter with his poorly received Spider-Man 3 (2007). This is a virtuoso performance that will single-handedly keep Raimi's reputation intact for at least another ten years. But don't expect Raimi to be coasting any time soon. Drag Me To Hell is the work of a hungry young director, not a middle-aged success story with nothing left to prove. It's bracing stuff, filled with a wide-eyed enthusiasm for the kind of thrills that until now have belonged to another time.

The story of a bank loan officer (Alison Lohman) who denies a mortgage extension to the wrong gypsy woman and spends the next three days of her life looking for every possible way to escape a sentence to Hell itself, Drag Me To Hell is a simple tale, told with a master's knack for wringing the most out of every scene. It's essentially a Tales from the Crypt episode, with the same strident moralizing as the best of those stories, served up with extra helpings of maggots, blood, and other viscous fluids. It doesn't pave any new ground for the genre but it does confirm that even in a post-torture porn era, there's still a place for Raimi's brand of 'spook-a-blast' entertainment. That said, what I appreciated most about Drag Me To Hell is how mean-spirited a film Raimi has made. Even if Raimi is playing much of this with a grin, the outsized retribution visited upon this eager-to-succeed farm girl and how her ordeal changes her makes for a blisteringly bitter fable.

I'd like to think that it won't be just Raimi that's energized by Drag Me To Hell but everyone out there currently making horror movies. I just hope it won't be so long until Raimi decides to drag himself back to doing what he does best.

Kiss Your Nerves Goodbye!

I'll have to hold off on a longer write-up until later but I just wanted to say what an amazing time at the movies Drag Me To Hell is. Sam Raimi hasn't missed a step in his comeback to horror. It's pure bliss - don't miss it!

The Return of True Horror

I love the trailer for Sam Raimi's upcoming supernatural thriller Drag Me To Hell (click here to see it). Besides the fact that visually it looks like classic Raimi, I like the fable-like vibe its story carries wherein a young bank employee (Alison Lohman) looking to prove to herself to her boss denies a loan extension to a wizened old lady and subsequently finds herself on the receiving end of a gypsy curse - destined to be dragged to hell by "the most feared of all demons."

I suspect, though, that some fans will take umbrage to the trailer's boast that this is "the return of true horror". One, because fans like to take umbrage at everything. And also because of Drag Me To Hell's PG-13 rating, some will believe it can't really be "true" horror. Why anyone would have that perception baffles me - aren't Carnival of Souls, Robert Wise's The Haunting, The Others, or The Sixth Sense much more deserving of being referred to as "true horror" than the likes of Hostel or Saw? But besides the issue of gore, I think what Drag Me To Hell is promising to bring back to the genre is the spirit of supernatural fun and that would be a welcome move to me. This has been described by Raimi and producer Robert Tapert as a "spook-a-blast" and judging by the sight of a scary old gypsy, demonic apparitions, a seance-gone-wrong, and a nighttime trip to a graveyard during a rainstorm, it looks like Drag Me To Hell looks to be stoked with tried and true horror elements.

Advanced word has been extremely positive so I hope that come May 29th, Raimi's return to horror will prove to be cause for celebration.

2009: The Return of 'Fun' Horror?

With early impressions of Sam Raimi's Drag Me To Hell trumpeting it as a victorious return to the genre for Raimi - a film that sports the trademark camera moves and gonzo sensibilities of his earlier horror films - it looks like fans will have a good time to look forward to this May when Drag Me To Hell hits theaters.

But Drag Me To Hell isn't alone in reviving 'fun' horror this year. If 2009 can be characterized as having an overriding trend, its that horror seems to be hearkening back to the crowd-pleasing era of the '80s. My Bloody Valentine 3-D was one of the best times I've had in a theater in awhile - an unabashed, gore-soaked thrill ride that had no illusions about what it's audience wanted to see. And next month sees the return of '80s superstar Jason Voorhees in the Friday the 13th remake and from all indications it looks like the filmmakers have endeavored to make this a fast-paced roller coaster ride that cuts straight to Jason in action, rather than follow in the footsteps of Rob Zombie's reinvention of Halloween where a long ramp-up of a psychoanalytical backstory was provided.

Later in 2009 - besides Drag Me To Hell - there's Final Destination: Death Trip 3-D, which ought to give My Bloody Valentine 3-D a run for its money. Then there's the Wolf Man remake, which should be old-fashioned monster movie fun, Richard Kelly's The Box, which looks to be an oddball horror offering with its kitchy '70s setting, and Wes Craven's still-untitled latest, which might be just as satisfying a return to his roots as Drag Me To Hell is for Raimi. What isn't on the horizon for 2009 - save for the Last House on the Left remake and Saw VI - is anything in the way of torture porn or the kind of deliberately grim offerings that have dominated the genre in the later half of this decade. If this is the trend for the foreseeable future, I'm all for it.

The dreary era of Hostel and Saw hasn't done much for me. There's been good films during the last few years but mostly of the arthouse variety (Let The Right One In, The Orphanage) while the general direction of popular horror hasn't thrilled me much. The few films of recent years that have tried to revive a lighter, '80s style of horror - like Slither and Snakes on a Plane - have failed to draw an audience. But maybe this'll finally be the year that horror finds its gory groove again.