DRAG ME TO HELL (no spoilers)
moviePig
I hate to think that Roger Ebert is becoming my guide to the fantasy/
sci-fi/horror genre, but here's yet another movie where he's swum
against a strong critical tide, and where I find myself in surprising
agreement. I haven't yet read Ebert's objections to DRAG ME TO HELL,
but mine are simply that this mass-market horror flick failed to
engage me on any level. In my long career, I've seen far too many
better efforts (...including many that were 'PG-13' or tamer). On the
upside, this is a fine movie for your date ...or, if she doesn't mind
typical shock joltage, your mom. And it's admittedly a nice
production. But most longtime horror-fans will search futilely for
any wave of originality or cleverness in this sea of familiar
characters and situations (and adoring critics). I could easily have
waited for DVD. Marginally recommended.
--
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YOUR taste at work...
http://www.moviepig.com
moviePig
(Space out. Ebert didn't review DRAG ME TO HELL. I must've seen - or
built - a typo...)
nick
imagining Roger Ebert reviews that don't exist . . . in a few days
you'll be fighting off a Saturday Night Fever suited Gene Siskel
zombie by throwing Pauline Kael books at him.
moviePig
Could be worse. I'm actually fearing that I might've translated
Ebert's non-review (of a movie the entire rest of the world reviewed
and liked more than I, without exception) as a Thumbs-Tunneling-To-
China diss...
jason.cinema
Yeah, I was surprised to see that Ebert hasn't reviewed it. It
screened at Cannes, which he attended, and was screened for critics.
So what gives? I'm interested to hear his thoughts on Raimi's return
to the horror genre.
trotsky
I haven't seen the movie, or read the reviews (although I've seen a lot
of buzz on imdb) but I'm going to predict that this movie will sit
better with you the second viewing than the first. Perhaps an unrated
cut will put you over the top.
Pure speculation, but mark my words.
trotsky
And screaming at him with his Village Voice.
moviePig
Well, it has made me want to rewatch (for the seventh or eighth time)
one of the old movies it rips off. (Can't name it without spoiling.)
But I was and am okay with the 'PG-13' (else I would have waited for
DVD). And I'm doubting there'll be an 'unrated' version... wouldn't
fit the story, afaics. (In fact, the one time someone says "shit",
it's a bit self-conscious... like a sixth-grader trying hard to
swear...)
nick
You can't bet against a PG-13 horror *not* getting the unrated
treatment, even if it's only the addition of a frame or two or an
extra "fuck". But Raimi's still bothered by the tree-rape in The
Evil Dead. He's no Eli Roth or even Michael Bay. So it might be a
calculated thing--going into a horror market increasingly dominated by
torture porn on one end and insipid teen horror on the other by
releasing a PG-13 scareshow. After the success of the Spider-Man
franchise, if Raimi had wanted Drag Me to Hell to get an R, the
studios would've gone along with it. Raimi's like Hitchcock. He
gets what he wants by being a good employee.
moviePig
Let's resume the 'unrated'-speculation after you've seen it ...because
I contend that this film doesn't *feel* like it has repressed urges.
Put it another way... if I ran the world and rating-thresholds were
abolished, I still think this is the movie Raimi would want ...and
rightly so. (And, if any extra "fuck"s or viscera do come with the
DVD, they'll be ones that Bob Guccione went out and filmed afterward.)
trotsky
You're going to have to explain this comment, because previously you
have made it sound like it is impossible to make a satisfying horror
film in the context of PG-13.
Invid Fan
<gms...@email.com> wrote:
And if I read the mass of quotes above correctly MoviePig didn't find
this a satisfying horror film either, but he's adding that it doesn't
seem like it was cut down to get the PG-13. Thus, there won't be an
"uncut" version because nothing was cut.
--
Chris Mack *quote under construction*
'Invid Fan'
moviePig
In general, I think a true horror movie wants us to worry(-hope) that
each new frame might unleash our worst nightmare... but the 'PG'
rating says, "Fat chance".
However, imo DMTH isn't a 'true horror movie'... not much more than
was, say, THE FRIGHTENERS. Still, that's okay with me, as not every
scare-flick has to send us into therapy. My objections lay
elsewhere...
nick
uncompromised. Adding anything (aside from one or two scenes that
appear to be missing--and maybe I blinked and missed but where was Ted
Raimi?). It's not gore or sadism. It's gross-out splat which might
have gotten an R some time back in the day but now it all looks like
William Castle 40 years on.
I liked Drag Me to Hell a lot. Aside from all the Raimi flourishes--
this really is a work in the spirit of the Evil Dead series--the
characterizations were terrific, which you don't expect in a chep
thrills horror flick. Good ol' "Stu Rubin". Justin Long was good
(gunning for some kind of most improved player award for acting after
this and stealing Zack and Miri Make a Porno along with Brandon Routh)
as were his mortifyingly WASP-ish parents. Rahm Jas . . . this was
one of those horror movies where a lot of thought went into the
peripheral characters, Even the back story to Alison Lohman's heroine
didn't come across as contrived.
On a sidenote, the ticket clerk was referring to this movie as "Drag
Me", maybe taking orders from management as to the possibility of
offending by using the full title, but then this was the same Regal
cinema that had homemade felt tip marker posters for "Zack and
Miri".
moviePig
(I think Ted Raimi was one of the strangers Lohman eyed balefully in
the diner.) Later, after everyone here has seen DMTH - probably
enjoying it as much as you did - I'll try to detail my
disappointments. Suffice to acknowledge that its RottenTomatoes score
is still in the mid 90s. (Re sidenote: In a flourish of insider
sophistication, I asked my ticket clerk for "Drag Me To Heck". Not
even a smile...)
Mr. Hole the Magnificent
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Plenety of gore and violence, and other fluids with the PG-13 rating,
no need to add anything more.
AT times I felt Alison Lohman's performance was lacking, I read today
that she was a last minute replacement for the Juno girl so maybe
those scenes were from the begining of the shoot. Still, she's a
trooper for doing some of the stuff she does in this film.
FISTING!!!
Not a perfect film, but a fun one that may get better on repeat
viewings.
The yellow Raimi car gets lots of screen time in this one.
David Paymer's reaction to the blood scene was great, nobody seems to
have any concern for her at all. :~)
When Lohman's in the pawn shop is that Bruce Campbell for a split
second in the Western playing on the tv in the back?
I was glad for the second ending.
Mr. Hole the Magnificent
He was the doctor that made a house call the first night she starts
seeing things at home after being attacked in the garage. He's only
heard, not seen.
> peripheral characters, Even the back story to Alison Lohman's heroine
> didn't come across as contrived.
The Hog/Pig Queen photo was priceless.
nick
every part Ellen Page does, she plays it in the same hipster-slacker
mode as Juno, maybe playing an upwardly mobile loan officer was out of
her range anyway, even in something as aggressively low-rent as Drag
Me to Hell. Lohman was fine, though I kept thinking I was watching
Isla Fisher.
nick
The credits list a gaggle of Raimi's in the diner but Raimi's credited
as the Doctor in the credits, and according to Mr. Hole the
Magnificent here, he's heard but not seen early on.
The diner scene was good. It's not often that a horror movie opens up
to catch a glimpse of a better world where people are living normal
lives. I'm sure in the Saw universe there are families going out
bowling or to the park but we never get to see them.
trotsky
> Yeah, I saw it earlier on in the day and it looks entirely
> uncompromised. Adding anything (aside from one or two scenes that
> appear to be missing--and maybe I blinked and missed but where was Ted
> Raimi?). It's not gore or sadism. It's gross-out splat which might
> have gotten an R some time back in the day but now it all looks like
> William Castle 40 years on.
>
> I liked Drag Me to Hell a lot.
Is it safe to assume it isn't a gay movie?
moviePig
(If we did, that bowling bag on the end wouldn't really contain a
ball...)
moviePig
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So was I... at least in '76, when CARRIE gave us a bonus rather than a
payoff...
nick
Only if you have a thing for Justin Long after seeing him in Zack and
Miri Make a Porno.
moviePig
I dunno... there's a lot of girl-on-girl mouth-on-mouth...
trotsky
Kevin Smith isn't my cup of tea. He falls into the category of "if I
absolutely can't think of anything else to watch I might watch one of
his movies."
nick
You're not missing much by missing Zack and Miro Make a Porno but
Justin Long and Brandon Routh are funny as a gay couple at a high
school reunion. That's the only thing I remember from the film, to be
honest, that and maybe some lame 30 years past expiration date Star
Wars porno humor.
Mr. Hole the Magnificent
> I hate to think that Roger Ebert is becoming my guide to the fantasy/
> sci-fi/horror genre, but here's yet another movie where he's swum
> against a strong critical tide, and where I find myself in surprising
> agreement. I haven't yet read Ebert's objections to DRAG ME TO HELL,
> but mine are simply that this mass-market horror flick failed to
> engage me on any level. In my long career, I've seen far too many
> better efforts (...including many that were 'PG-13' or tamer). On the
> upside, this is a fine movie for your date ...or, if she doesn't mind
> typical shock joltage, your mom. And it's admittedly a nice
> production. But most longtime horror-fans will search futilely for
> any wave of originality or cleverness in this sea of familiar
> characters and situations (and adoring critics). I could easily have
> waited for DVD. Marginally recommended.
I forgot the mention my great appreciation of the goat, he was a good
actor and had great screen presence.
MFalc1
Some of the seance scene reminded me of Roger Corman's Poe adaptations
for AIP.
Mark L. Falconer
http://www.youtube.com/terrymcca
[includes new video I'M AFRAID OF DENNIS MILLER]
http://www.poetry-arts-confidential.blogspot.com
Recent film/DVD releases seen:
UP (3-D) ***1/2
DRAG ME TO HELL **
STAR TREK 2009 **1/2
TERMINATOR SALVATION **1/2
LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (English-dubbed) ***1/2
MFalc1
<Classic.Mr.H...@gmail.com> wrote:
> When Lohman's in the pawn shop is that Bruce Campbell for a split
> second in the Western playing on the tv in the back?
It looked like footage from Universal's 1939 DESTRY RIDES AGAIN with
Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart.
Mark L. Falconer
http://www.poetry-arts-confidential.blogspot.com
http://www.youtube.com/terrymcca
Mr. Hole the Magnificent
> On May 30, 7:52 pm, "Mr. Hole the Magnificent"
>
> <Classic.Mr.H...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > When Lohman's in the pawn shop is that Bruce Campbell for a split
> > second in the Western playing on the tv in the back?
>
> It looked like footage from Universal's 1939 DESTRY RIDES AGAIN with
> Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart.
Okay, but is it possible that Raimi put Bruce's face over Stewart so
he was included in the film?
trotsky
How was Elizabeth Banks? I saw her in "The 40 Year Old Virgin" on TV
recently and she was incredibly sexy.
moviePig
<Classic.Mr.H...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On May 31, 7:57 pm, MFalc1 <mfa...@aol.com> wrote:
>
> > On May 30, 7:52 pm, "Mr. Hole the Magnificent"
>
> > <Classic.Mr.H...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > When Lohman's in the pawn shop is that Bruce Campbell for a split
> > > second in the Western playing on the tv in the back?
>
> > It looked like footage from Universal's 1939 DESTRY RIDES AGAIN with
> > Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart.
>
> Okay, but is it possible that Raimi put Bruce's face over Stewart so
> he was included in the film?
Unlikely (unless of course he did). Raimi and Campbell have that
particular opportunity with the upcoming EVIL DEAD remake.
nick
>
> - Show quoted text -
That's one of the problems with Zack and Miri Make a Porno. It stars
Elizabeth Banks and it's about making porn but Kevin Smith forgot to
make it sexy. Instead he goes for sentimentality and romance and it's
always the same thing with Smith. He always wants to show how sweet
natured he is under all that raunch. It's a routine he's played a few
too many times.
Rich
f6d7b1...@r3g2000vbp.googlegroups.com:
Campbell's a bit old to be doing the acrobatics needed for that role.
Maybe it'll all be computerized?
moviePig
> moviePig <pwall...@moviepig.com> wrote in news:a09069f1-fa10-4228-98d4-
> f6d7b113b...@r3g2000vbp.googlegroups.com:
No, he won't star ... but seems certain of as big a cameo as he wants.