Drag Me to Hell (2009) dir. Sam Raimi
Starring: Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Lorna Raver, Dileep Rao

****

The best film I’ve seen so far this year undoubtedly is Sam Raimi’s magnificent return to the horror genre. It’s been 14 years since the third Evil Dead movie, “Army of Darkness”, which doesn’t really count as a horror film anyway, so really it’s been 22 years since “Evil Dead 2”. With “Drag Me to Hell”, Raimi exercises these latent muscles and hasn’t missed a beat, trumping our high expectations.

We know we’re in for a return of something magical when we see the old 1980’s Universal logo at the head of the picture. Much like the first two Evil Dead pictures, Raimi films essentially a series of precisely crafted set pieces loosely strung together by a plot. Alison Lohman plays Christine Brown, an underachieving loan officer who desperately wants the vacant assistant manager’s job at the bank. When Mrs. Ganish (Lorna Raver), a ghoulish old spinster with a false eye and rotten dentures requests an extension on her missed mortgage payments, to impress her cutthroat boss Christine breaks her personal ethics and rejects the poor lady. Ganish goes bonkers and puts a curse on Christine.

Gradually Christine starts to go crazy seeing Ganish’s haunting image everywhere she goes. Desperate to break the spell she goes to see a fortune teller, much to objections of her doubting Thomas boyfriend Clay (Justin Long). We learn of an ancient demon which looks to claim her body to hell. Christine tries exorcisms, animal sacrifices, but the secret lies in a simple cursed button which must be given away in order to break the curse.

Raimi is on fire with his trademark mixture of physical low brow comedy and spine-chilling suspense. Raimi and his screenwriter brother Ted execute what seems like 22 years of cool ideas saved up for this specific movie. The first major confrontation with the raving mad woman in the underground parking lot is inspired stuff. Raimi wrings out every drop of suspense leading up to Ganish’s frightening reveal in the car, which leads to a riotous slapstick fight scene.

Many other scenes exist solely to stand alone. The clever fight between Christine and Ganish’s animated veil which invades her car, the dinner table conversation with Clay’s parents when the curse invades Christine’s homemade harvest cake, and a number of dream sequences exists unabashedly as technical exercises satisfying Raimi’s urges to please us.

Alison Lohman makes a delightful and warm lead character. She gallantly gives herself up to Raimi’s torture, as he embellishes every opportunity to drench Christine with blood, drool, embalming fluid, mud and any nasty liquid substance he can think of. She’s the receptacle for Raimi’s underlying message about what happens when you sell yourself out to God.

“Drag Me to Hell” is a perfect genre picture which is why I confidently grant it four stars. Raimi never goes easy on his characters nor the audience. Even up until the last scene Raimi is in absolute control of the genre and though it might take a few more viewings to make this determination, I’m might be bold enough to say “Hell” trumps “Evil Dead”.

Spider-Man 2 (2004) dir. Sam Raimi
Starring Tobey Maguire, Kirstin Dunst, James Franco, Alfred Molina

****

“Spider-Man 2” is one of the rare feats of a sequel that is better than the original – in fact much better than the original. The first Spider-Man seemed to suffer from a budget too small for Raimi’s creative vision. Most of the effects suffered from B-movie-style tricks – including overreaching poorly rendered CGI. Even the mechanics of the story were sloppy, cumbersome, and rudimentary and only slightly more interesting than “Daredevil”. Comic book adaptations nowadays have to be written for adults before kids and therefore they require more sophistication and polish. “Spider-Man 2” is not in the realm of the “Batman Begins” reboot, but it's still one of the best superhero films out there.

“Spider-Man 2” picks up right where the first installment left off; in fact Raimi cleverly summarizes the first film as graphic frames in the credit sequence. Peter Parker and Mary Jane are still in love, but cannot be together because of his burden of power and the responsibility that comes with it. With Parker’s alter-ego taking up too much of his time he finds himself late with his job, his classes and his relationship with MJ. To repair the damage in his life Parker decides to abandon Spiderman in favour of a civilian life. Raimi expresses Parker’s new found freedom in a montage using Burt Bacharach’s song “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head”. It’s a lengthy sequence which could have been cut out, but it certainly helps retain the light, humourous tone of the film.

The dark side of the story involves the new baddie, Dr. Octopus (Alfred Molina) who has developed a form of ‘controllable fusion’ which would supply everyone with infinite renewable energy(no, there’s no activist subtext here). As usual his experiment goes awry and Ock is fused permanently with his mechanical arms which are attached to his back. His malevolent mechanical arms now control him - damn that flimsy machine intelligence inhibitor chip!

Meanwhile, Harry Osborn still harbours hatred for Spiderman for killing his father (the Green Goblin from numero 1). He employs Doc Ock to find Spiderman so he can kill him and exact his revenge. After a magnificent Spidey/Dr. Ock battle which moves from the Chrysler Building to the above-ground subway line, Spidey is captured. Spider-Man is forced to reveal his true identity to Harry Osborn, which somehow shocks him. Harry saves the battle for later and lets Parker/Spidey go to save MJ who has been kidnapped by Dr. Ock. Spider-Man saves the day and rescues Mary Jane, but not before he is forced to reveal his true identity to her as well.

“Spider-Man 2” sets up high expectations for number 3 by taking away Parker’s veil of anonymity. This is the plot device that all comic books of its kind use to make its human alter-ego 'complex'. The fact is it’s a tired device and lazy storytelling. I’m interested to see if the filmmakers have the skills to pull it off as a final act to the trilogy, or will it sag and wilt like “Matrix Revolutions” or “X-Men 3”.

“Spider-Man 2” is infinitely more interesting than the first because of the presence of Alfred Molina who is more interesting baddie. Wlliem Dafoe’s flying circus act was childish and more like the Krantz cartoon than new millennium filmmaking. Unfortunately we’ll have to endure more of him in part 3 as, apparently, Harry Osborn will continue his father’s legacy of villainy.

I sure hope Raimi and the bunch will be done with “Spider-Man”. I was reminded the other day of “A Simple Plan” – the movie, not the band - and forgot how great that film was. Sam, put down the toys and go back to making real movies – 3 Spider-Man movies is not a challenge for you.

Buy it here: Spider-Man 2.1

The Evil Dead (1981) dir. Sam Raimi
Starring: Bruce Campbell

****

Guest review by Pasukaru

The story is legend: a group of college buddies raise money from local dentists, get a camera and some pot, find an abandoned cabin in the woods, and go on to make one of the most influential and revered independent films of all time. Hail to “The Evil Dead”.

Plot: College friends go for a holiday in an isolated cabin where, through a cursed book aptly named ‘The Book of the Dead’, they let loose vengeful demonic spirits that possess the students one by one until Ash, our hero, must battle the evil forces solo to the gory end lest they “swallow his soul”.

Ticket please.

Beginning in the fall of 1979, filmmaker Sam Raimi (now known for his mega successful Spiderman franchise) and his actor-friend Bruce Campbell set off to make a feature length version of their short film “Within the Woods” (worth a look to see how the concept evolved, if you can find it). After screening at Cannes, it found a distributor. The VHS era had begun, and this is where “The Evil Dead” would gain its reputation as a college dorm favorite and cult film phenomenon. The Ash character has since become one of horrordom’s most beloved and quotable heroes. Either given 85 thousand or 200 million dollars, Mr. Raimi sure knows how to put on a show. Call it shlock if you will, but this is shlock done the right way.

Unleashing a relentless audio-visual blast of invention, creativity, and shocks, Sam Raimi (then barely 21) has strung together a tour-de-force on a shoestring budget through the sheer vigor of his unfettered imagination. Sam and co. use bold lighting and dynamic camera stunts, having used improvised gear such a plank of wood in place of a Steadicam. When these boys needed to get something done, they did whatever it took. That’s inspiring. Endlessly mimicked thereafter (how many cabin-in-the-woods horror movies have you seen?), “The Evil Dead” sets an example for what you can accomplish when your love for the medium and craft bursts out like a first orgasm; it is a pure, exhilarating, unapologetic, and life-altering experience we want to revisit again and again. Despite what the big kids at the coffee shop might tell you, this is what they should be showing in film schools.

A tad risqué for its time, the movie showcases a woman being raped by a tree (?), which was the reason it was banned in many countries. The sequence is more surreal than pure horror, but at the same time joyfully naughty. This is where “The Evil Dead” is endearing and misunderstood: horror and comedy are two sides of the same coin. Scream or laugh as you may, the film veers so far off into the surreal that anything can happen, really. The mix of humor and gore blend for some unexpected yet unsettling results, and this is where it rests its laurels. Logic has no place here, and that rebellious spirit endears it to audiences worldwide. I had the opportunity to see a screening of “The Evil Dead” in Tokyo to a packed theatre, some twenty-five years after its creation, and it had the audience enthralled (and I’m sure, like me, they had all seen it many times before).

The film spawned two sequels; “Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn”, being the best of the three, is funnier, gorier, and more polished (they did have 10 times the budget). Some call it a remake, but the tone and story are different enough so that it set itself apart. Nonetheless, “The Evil Dead” is where it all started. If you love movies and appreciate the love of making them, then I suggest you watch it… again, before the remake. Check it out.