Review of Drag Me to Hell (2009) by David P — 17 Oct 2012

I guessed what would happen at the end of the movie. Otherwise the film was spooky and had those 'scare you out of your wits' moments and really loud voices surprising you when the monsters jump at you. It was very easy to guess when that would happen, which was a bit of a letdown. Alison Lohman was great. Maybe it was just my imagination, but she reminded me of Kirsten Dunst. I thought that the storyline was interesting. A lot of the special effects went sort of over the board, exaggerated with all the bodily fluids and gooey stuff like vomit. Some bad taste, which, I suppose, was fully intentional. Not really sick, but bad taste, thats all.

What bothered me a bit was how decay and elderly people with disabilities were made to look like maniacs, or something to dislike, whereas well-dressed 'young urban professionals' were shown as more likeable characters. The special effects weren't awfully great, but they served their purpose. A lot of masks and prosthetics were used, and in my opinion much better than the computer generated effects. Although its not easy to discern what is computer made and what handmade. The sounds in the movie theatre were LOUD. So, it was very effective with its scary jumpy moments, but a bit childish story nonetheless. One could see that the director was enjoying the whole thing, one could feel there was a touch of love at filmmaking somewhere behind all the goat monsters and body fluids. Well made film, but too much 'kitsch' covering it.