[miketardis]

Old school Sam Raimi fans, get ready to be happy. I've seen the flick in question and (moderate use of CGI aside) he is firmly in his 80s-early 90s mode. DRAG ME TO HELL may be PG-13, but it is the nastiest and most goo and glop-filled PG-13 ever allowed. Much like one could surmise from the ad campaign, the plot is a cross between THINNER and Tourneur's NIGHT OF THE DEMON (a couple of knowing nods to the latter film pop up). But the style of delivery is so uniquely Raimi in EVIL DEAD-style (again, spot the EVIL DEAD references, kids!) with his Tex Avery action esthetic in full low-budget mania. In a lot of ways, it's like the perfect sequel to either EVIL DEAD II or CREEPSHOW with its simply-plotted and hyper-charged take on the usual EC Comics morality fable.

If I had any real problem, it wasn't CGI or any of the other pre-release suspicions I've heard voiced online. Sad to say, but Raimi loves to scare via the volume knob. Over and over again, he likes getting things really quiet... until he... BLASTS you with noise. And he keeps trying to top himself with this, resulting in quite possibly the loudest movie ever made. I guess he did the same thing back in the EVIL DEAD days, but it seemed far too intense in these 21st century DTS digital surround sound chambers we trap ourselves in. Anyway, my little pet peeve, as I think volume-blasting pop scares are a lazy tool of hack Hollywood horror crap, something of which Raimi is far too good a filmmaker to need.

But hey, Raimi's not out to make any doomy or deep horror masterpiece. The whole point of the flick is to make you scream a lot. And you will. Shout and scream your fool head off. And then you'll be pushed so far by some of the sick craziness on display that you'll be both groaning with disgust and laughing constantly. Which is why I really recommend seeing in the cinema, as it surely must play better with an excited crowd. I was with an audience fully and vocally engaged, yelling back at the actors onscreen, freaking out, having a great time.

Take a bunch of friends this weekend, get properly uh... merry... in any way that seems best, and see the first take-no-prisoners Sam Raimi horror flick in over 20 years. Maybe, if it's a hit, he won't wait as long for the next one.