Normally not fans of horror films, we still decided to go see Drag Me To Hell on Friday.
Grand total of 6 people in the afternoon screening.
The film is of course over-the-top, and there are plot holes you can drive a truck through; still it was kind of fun to watch and there were many laugh out loud moments that were a combination of gross/sick/perverted but still funny. Cat lovers might not really like this film much, but all goat lovers here on the board will get a good chuckle.
I wouldn’t say to run out and plunk down top dollar to see the film, but when it comes out on DVD or cable, gather a few friends together and get a few jump out of your seat jolts, quite a few laughs and be surprisingly entertained for 90 minutes. This film will be far more fun to sit around with friends and kibitz while watching!
I’m not into horror, but I loved this film. So many of the shocks and frights in this film are very “old school”, and wouldn’t have been out of place in some of the classic horror films from the 50s and 60s. I hope this results in a renaissance of horror as a path away from “torture porn”. Please, go see this if you want to see more horror that you won’t make you feel like you’re Ed Gein as you’re watching it.
By the way, my favorite bits, that I realized after the film:
The movie teaches the important lesson that if you ever deal with an old creepy gypsy lady, just give her whatever the hell she wants. The curse she’ll put on you if you don’t just isn’t worth it.
I haven’t seen the movie, but Sam Raimi was on NPR yesterday and he said that the woman was being punished for the sin of greed. But the clips that they played didn’t seem to support that. Do the viewers agree?
[spoiler]Yes, basically. She really could have appeased the old lady, but chose not to in an attempt to get a promotion by showing her boss she could make “tough decisions” that result in a “huge amount of fees” received by the bank.
Although…the lady had been delinquent twice, surely she can’t live there forever without paying the bills, so…I don’t know how more chances she’s supposed to get before kicking her out isn’t greed. But I think the point is that she normally would have given the lady an extension, but didn’t, specifically for a “greedy” purpose.[/spoiler]
I don’t agree with that at all. The old woman had already been given two extentions. Chances are she’d just be in there asking for another one when that one was up too. And her “you shamed me” bit was a little much. No, she shamed herself when she got on the floor and begged.
It’s stupid to argue with the guy who wrote the movie, but I thought Christine’s “sin” wasn’t greed so much as it was going against her own generous, caring, sympathetic nature. The lesson for me was be true to yourself.
My daughter turned to me at one point in the movie and said “How did they train that fly to do that?” She was kidding. I hope.
I agree with you about the sin–Like I said, she normally would’ve been inclined to give her the extension, but chose not to just to try to impress her asshole boss for the promotion. The fact that she went against her own nature was what made it “greed,” not the act itself (which may have technically been justified).
My girlfriend tends to give me dirty looks when I use the verb “to gyp”; I suppose that’s been beaten into my skull so much that I couldn’t help but find the film a little offensive. Heh. I didn’t even get the feeling that we were supposed to feel sorry for the gypsy woman at all, given that she’d already received two extensions. (Note that she was made out to be a petty thief even before the decision was made, stealing all the candy off of Christine’s desk.)
Even if there was a little greed behind the decision, the intended punishment didn’t at all fit the crime. Perhaps the trie lesson of the film is that ethnic persons have mystical powers?
Did anyone else expect the ending to go a slightly different way?
I saw the switch coming—who couldn’t have?—but I expected her to give the button to Justin Long at the last minute.
troub, that’s true. Raimi did a good job nudging Christine toward that decision and keeping her sympathetic. Wanting to impress Mac’s mother was part of it too. I think she “toughened up” not so much out of greed but because she wanted to be “good enough” for her boyfriend.
I didn’t remember until the movie was over and my daughter reminded me that the boyfriend was the brother in the first Jeepers Creepers movie. He hasn’t aged much.
If the world is treating you like crap, and no one is giving you any respect, DON’T do anything that might improve your situation/standing. Instead, just continue to take crap from everyone, because being proactive is selfish and dangerous. Be meek, dammit!
At the end, at the train station, she confesses to her boyfriend that she really could’ve given the old lady the extension but she wanted to get the promotion. This happens seconds before her fate is revealed, so it’s clearly intended to be a comeuppance of sorts.
Of course it doesn’t feel that way to the audience because the girl didn’t really do anything wrong - she could’ve been a little nicer (and even then, maybe not - what are they going to do, extend the lady indefinitely?), but she certainly didn’t deserve what happened.
Yea I liked this film because it’s the first horror movie in ages to actually make me think enough to want to participate in an internet discussion about the message and the ethics involved. So it’s got that working for it.
I don’t have much else to add since you all have covered all the basics I would have mentioned, but it seriously would have been cooler if
She had given the button to her boyfriend at the last second in an immediate reaction to the fear of the realization (most of us would). Whether or not an eternity in hell is worse than a lifetime of knowing you sent your even more innocent loved one to that fate would be up to the viewer. But it sure would be compelling!