Please go see Drag Me to Hell…

Updated on June 1, 2009 By Ken Begg 18 Comments

I myself haven’t seen it yet, but have plans made to see it next weekend with two other people. More to the point, it’s depressing to see well-made horror get the cold shoulder like this. The reviews are extremely good–Rottentomatoes gives it a god-smacking 94% good review ratio. It also marks the return of Sam Raimi to horror. If you ever want to see even the chance of him making a fourth Evil Dead film, you’d best get out and buy a ticket for this one. And bring some friends.

The film grossed 16.6 million this weekend, which doesn’t make it a disaster. But as Box Office Guru pointed out, “Fellow PG-13 spookfests The Unborn and The Haunting of Connecticut opened to $21.1M and $23M respectively this year. Universal even generated a $21M bow for its horror pic The Strangers a year ago this very weekend. Drag’s 11% Friday-to-Saturday drop should mean a shaky road ahead.”

I don’t know why we nerds (and obviously I’m speaking in much broader terms than the tiny, if elite, readership base this site boasts) don’t support films seemingly made just for us–Snakes on a Plane, Slither, Grindhouse, Drag Me to Hell–but we just don’t. Meanwhile, many of our ilk constantly bitch about how we don’t get respected by the mainstream. It’s like conservatives attacking The Goode Family (something I’ve already several examples) because it’s not as close-minded and downright nasty and ugly to liberals as Family Guy is to conservatives.

I implore people to put their money where their mouths are, and go see what sounds like a simply terrific movie. Want less remakes of old slasher movies? Always complaining about how Hollywood doesn’t make ‘new’ movies anymore? Well, there’s one right there. If you want less Prom Nights and more stuff like this, go support stuff like this when it’s out there.

I hope I don’t sound like I’m accusing anybody who visits this site of anything. But after all, you’re the people I myself can bitch too, and frankly I find this whole thing a bit depressing.

That said, I saw Star Trek this weekend (first movie this summer), and it was pretty damn fine.

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  • I think part of the answer is when we saw the movie. I’d love to see “Drag Me To Hell,” but my wife isn’t a horror movie buff and it would be impossible to take her to see it. Plus the circle of friends I have right now aren’t either. So I’ll have to wait until it’s on DVD to watch in the comfort of my own home.

    In a way, that seems more appropriate. I watched all three Evil Dead movies on the small screen rather than the big screen, so it’s, by default, the appropriate way for me to see a Sam Raimi horror movie.

    That said, I’ve heard very good things about Drag Me to Hell, too. The trailers on TV aren’t making it look appealing, though. Plus, I think that PG-13 rating is scaring off a lot of horror buffs.

  • “Plus, I think that PG-13 rating is scaring off a lot of horror buffs.”

    Well, as noted, the films BOG mentions that outperformed Drag Me to Hell were all PG-13, too. And a pretty lame-looking bunch they are, too.

  • R. Dittmar

    I actually did see Drag Me to Hell this weekend and I hate to say it but it is a little disappointing. The decision to make it PG-13 was a mistake I think because you could sense that Raimi wanted to go over the top with his usual splatstick but wasn’t able to given the rating. And since everyone involved plays things completely straight, the toned-down nature of the effects makes it very hard to tell whether or not they’re trying to make you laugh or frighten you. The ending is really downbeat too with a lot of poke-in-the-eye liberal hand-wringing that also makes you wonder exactly how serious they were trying to be.

    If you want to see it then by all means do so. I’m not sorry I went. But don’t expect too much and see it more for Alison Lohman. You can tell she was totally game for a Campbell-esque ordeal, but the screenplay neutered her performance to get the PG-13 rating. I hope to see her in much better movies in the future.

  • Christian

    Now THIS is a cause i can get behind! Dunno if it’ll open in Aus but we’ve got a decently large horror community so if/when it does we will be out in force

  • Plissken79

    I have to completely disagree with R.Dittmar, Drag Me to Hell was a near-perfectly done horror film, with great performances and Raimi’s trademark sense of humor. Let’s hope the film is a minor hit, as the horror market is hopelessly cluttered with terrible films, even “success stories” like The Strangers, which was an illogical mess, even for a horror film.

    It was great to see Raimi back in his element, and frankly I cannot see how anyone can consider the film as politically liberal.

  • GalaxyJane

    I am dying to see this, yet completey chicken about seeing big screen scary movies alone. Singledom blows!

  • R. Dittmar

    It was great to see Raimi back in his element, and frankly I cannot see how anyone can consider the film as politically liberal.

    Just so you don’t think me the John Bircher, I’d say that I don’t think the movie is meant to be in-your-face liberal. I brought up the politics because the movie has a serious problem with tone. Is it meant to be silly splatstick like the Evil Dead movies or is it a serious attempt to scare like more recent PG horror flicks – The Univited for example? The ending shows the confusion of purpose in a nutshell. It’s downbeat enough to fit into an expressly scary movie but they clearly felt the need to plaster over the nastiness with liberal pieties so that we don’t take it too seriously.

  • Pip

    GalaxyJane,

    C’mon! I saw a much scarier horror flick (Freddy Got Fingered) alone in the theatre back in school! And this from a person who is always accused of doing everything short of going to the restroom with the same three people or my fiance. You can do it! Then you can write about it on the Reader Reviews board!

  • JoshG

    I deffiately plan to the weekend. I have a friend that I’m pretty sure would want to go see it and I might be able to drag one of my sisters to it.

  • Zandor Vorkov

    I may see it at the two-dollar theater. The previews don’t have me very interested at all. Raimi’s name doesn’t sell it for me, either. The only movie of his I really like is Darkman. Army of Darkness and The Quick and the Dead are good, too.

  • Solid Jake

    I don’t care much for horror, but it was actually pretty great. Jump scares are the cheapest scare, but I’ll be damned if Raimi isn’t great at them.

    I didn’t like the ending though, but that might be more of a personal preference.

  • MatthewF

    I liked it a lot but I didn’t love it. There were some sequences which were pure evil dead (I mean why else does she have an anvil hanging from the roof of her shed except to drop it on people?).

    I agree that the tone was a bit uneven, but overall it’s clear that Raimi isn’t taking it seriously.

    I didn’t see it as having any liberal edge at all, in fact with it’s old fashioned use of gypsies as being strange and dirty and eeeeevil you could make an argument that it’s a little reactionary. Mind you, I think it’s just a story device. It sure isn’t kind to animals though.

  • David Fullam

    Saw it opening day and totally loved it. I simply don’t get it. Horror fans ask for quality Horror films, then fail to support them. I also think it should have been a fall or winter release. Regardless, everyone who bitches about remakes, sequels and the like need to put their money where there mouths are and see this film.

  • BeckoningChasm

    See, I did see Slither and I didn’t like it at all. It was stuffed to the brim with in-jokes–to the point of being seriously distracting. Also, it seemed completely mean-spirited if not downright nasty. Obviously, a horror movie shouldn’t be sweetness and light but if you’re going to be nasty then be intense nasty, like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, not funny nasty like Slither. (I had high hopes for it, too.)

  • I saw it this past weekend. This movie is just plain fun! It definitely reminded me a lot of the Evil Dead series (the anvil scene, the big battle between the lead and a scarf, etc.). I highly recommend seeing this.

  • Untitled

    I’m not a horror movie buff, but I really liked this movie. If you go in expecting something funny or scary you’re going to leave disappointed. The movie isn’t any one thing, its just a good well-rounded, fun summer movie.

    Also, the whole thing about whether the main character “deserved” the curse (which I guess is sparking a lot of the accusations of liberalism) is neither here nor there. I found the mortgage extension was just a timely catalyst for the events of the movie and not Raimi soapboxing in any way.

  • Blackadder

    I was too busy last weekend, but it’s already on the agenda for Friday.

  • Blackadder

    I liked it. Some of the Evil Dead homage was a bit on the nose, but I guess there’s nothing wrong with Raimi ripping off his own movie. It was definitely much better than the last few horror movies my wife and I saw in the theater.

    And at least it wasn’t a prequel, sequel, remake, reboot, or what’s ludicrously called a “reimagining.” Imagination is the last thing involved with most of these films.