Before I begin this “movie thoughts” post, I must say a few things:

1.  I ❤ the Raimi boys.  I’ve been a fan of the Evil Dead films since I was in high school.  My brother and I watched them a LOT.  We loved that weird, twisted sense of humor mixed with wacky horror.

2. I’m a wuss.  I don’t really like scary movies.  I don’t like to watch people get murdered horribly.  Not my thing.  When I do attempt to watch movies like that, I end up up all night, listening to the “axe murderer” I hear sneaking around my apartment. 

Okay, now that we got that out of the way:

“Drag Me To Hell” is the most hilarious horror movie I’ve seen since “Evil Dead 2”.  As my friend Damian described it, you spend most of the film going “AAAH! *blink blink* HAHAHAHA!”.  Sam & Ivan Raimi didn’t set out to change the face of horror movies.  Instead, they stuck with what they new – spooky mixed with silly – and “Drag Me To Hell” is a great 90 minute gasp/guffaw fest.

Christine Brown just wants to get some respect.  She wants to get the promotion at her job.  She wants to impress her long-term boyfriend (played by Justin “I’m a Mac!” Long) and his parents.  She wants to leave behind her farm roots and be something more.  So when an old woman comes into the bank begging for a third extension on her mortgage, Christine decides that she will show how tough she can be and denies the woman the loan.  Unfortunately, this woman turns out to be a gypsy.  She curses Christine – in 3 days, she will be DRAGGED INTO HELL!

There are just as many “gotcha” moments in this movie as there are Looney Tunes moments.  If you have a friend (like me) who is a wuss and doesn’t like realistic gore/realistic violence/slasher flicks but you want to watch something a little creepy, this is a good one to try. 

It’s actually really “clean” too.  I mean, there is very little swearing, no big sex scene – it’s just ridiculous scare gag after gag. 

The great thing about this movie is how much it reminds me of the low-budget horror that was evil dead. Before studio started pumping money into this genre and realistic CGI effects took over, a bunch of rattling windows and eerie shadows were enough to give you goosebumps.  When I finished the film, I felt entertained, but not so upset I couldn’t go to bed. 

Yeah it’s cheesy.  But I’ve decided that I like my horror with a helping of cheese.  I’m sure the hardcore horror fans are laughing at me, but that’s fine.  Hardcore horror is not my thing.  Give me a goofy Raimi Bros. flick any day!

My only complaint was the lack of Bruce Campbell cameo – but I guess he was shooting Burn Notice. 

3.5 out of 5 stars