Drag Me to Hell (2009)

Directed by Sam Raimi. Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Dileep Rao, David Paymer, Reggie Lee, Lorna Raver, Adriana Barraza, Molly Cheek, Chelcie Ross, Bojana Novakovic. [PG-13]

Young bank loan officer Lohman crosses the wrong applicant when she denies the plea for an additional mortgage extension from an old gypsy woman (Raver)…who promptly puts a curse on her. Raimi gleefully returns to his schlocky splatstick (splatter slapstick) roots with this outrageous horror comedy—although the PG-13 rating ensures that there’s very little gore to go along with the gross—which involves expelled bodily fluids, gummy face-sucking, possessed goats, stapled eyelids, and an impressive triumph on Lohman’s part over the gag reflex. The higher level of polish negates much of its outlandish verve, however, and the protagonist isn’t zany or sympathetic enough to leave much of an impression. Hardly any of the jolts land, but the giddiness behind them makes the whole thing kind of endearing…in a disgusting sort of way. The tone of the concluding segment, however, feels strangely off, as if a joke or twist was missing, because it can’t possibly work as a “serious” drumbeat of doom after everything that came before it. Try to spot Octavia Spencer as a bank employee in the background; sadly, Bruce Campbell doesn’t make one of his requisite appearances for good pal Raimi.

69/100