Drag Me To Hell – Go on then, if you insist.

Now I don’t venture to the cinema all that often nowadays, principally because of the myriad pressures on my time; childcare and Phd make Mosca a dull parasite and all that. However, last week, due to a fortunate correlation between my work and Mrs. Mosca’s shift pattern, I was all set to go and watch the bound-to-be-awful Terminator movie. Except it isn’t out yet, which in itself is a clear sign of my out-of-touchness. Therefore, as I can’t just decide to go next week instead, due to the almost astrological combination of factors needed to enable such an expedition, I randomly ended up going to see Drag Me To Hell with a friend who had already seen it earlier in the week. Let me just state here for the record that this turned out to be a good thing (TM) as Raimi’s return to form was certainly far more interesting than the most recent trailer for Salvation. Raimi has (justifiably) received a lot of criticism for the emo-snoozefest that was Spiderman 3 and with 4 and probably 5 lined up, most horror fans thought that we had lost one of the genre’s most interesting directors to the mainstream for good (or bad). But, with Drag Me To Hell, Raimi is back with a bang.

The movie itself seems to me to be a very close re-imagining (if you’ll excuse such a vile term polluting your eyes) of the utterly amazing and essential Night of the Demon. The recurring silhouette of the lamia in Raimi’s film clearly references the 1957 original, as do recurring motifs such as the use of wind to denote demonic powers, and the location of the film’s ending – although there is a clear difference between the moralities and cultural values in evidence here. But what really interested me was Raimi’s obsession with borders and thresholds – bodily and cultural – in the film. Determined as I am to avoid spoilers, particularly with a film that so gloriously delights in good old-fashioned jump and shock tactics, the review to come in my next post will try to avoid revealing what happens, but instead focus on the imagery and subconscious, if you will, of the film.

Suffice it to say, for now, that if you enjoy horror movies (particularly those that do not resort to the gratuitous pornography of recent torture franchises such as Saw and Hostel) then get yourself along to your nearest purveyor of cinematic entertainment (or online download agent if you sail the seas of dirty piracy – although the sound alone demands that this is seen in the cinema) and enjoy horror as it used to be…