If you’ve seen the trailer, you get the plot.  Pretty blonde girl with a good life gets cursed by an evil gypsy woman with two different colored eyes (she’s supposed to be a gypsy, but she’s Russian).  Pretty girl spends three days tortured by a demon that’s preparing to drag her to Hell.  Literally.

What I wasn’t expecting was the campiness of the film.  There were more laugh-out-loud moments then there were made-you-jump moments.  The comedic timing of Raimi and his actors far outweighs their ability to make you scared.  In fact, there wasn’t much about the film that was scary at all.  Sure, there were a whole lot of those moments where something jumps onto screen accompanied by a really loud noise, but if you’re older than twelve, this doesn’t do much.

Alison Lohman plays pretty blonde girl.  Her near-perfect boyfriend is played by Justin Long who, along with several Mac computers and iPhones, seems to be put there as part of Apple product placement.  Not-so-scary Russian/Gypsy lady is played by Lorna Raver.  All the acting is decent.  Lohman seemed to catch perfectly the tone Raimi intended and was actually quite hilarious.  Although she spends most of her screen time having her mouth filled up with disgusting things, including: eyeballs, Gypsy dentures, maggots, used embalming fluid (the list goes on and on).  The graphics are alternately terrific, and horrible.  Raimi wrote the script with older broth Ivan Raimi.

I’ve been told that if you enjoy the tone of earlier Raimi horror movies, you’ll enjoy this as well.  And I’ll admit that Drag Me To Hell is light years ahead of films like The Grudge, Prom Night, or The Ring, but the scariest thing about this movie is how forgettable it is.

2 out of 4 stars

Directed by Sam Raimi (The Grudge 2, The Messengers), this film is uncharacteristically good, coming from someone with his precedence.  The story follows Hank (Bill ‘pick up the paycheck’ Paxton), his semi-retarded brother Jacob (Billy Bob Thorton), and Hank’s wife Sarah (Bridget Fonda).  By happenstance, Hank and Jacob come across a downed airplane in the forest.  Inside the aircraft is a duffel bag, full of millions of dollars.  Accompanied by Jacob’s semi-retarded friend Lou, the three decide to keep the money provisionally, until they’re sure no one is looking for it, at which point, they’ll split the booty and get the hell out of Dodge.  While the three argue the morality of keeping what could possibly be dirty, stolen, or drug money, they decide that it’s most likely a victimless crime.  Hank runs the situation by his wife in hypothetical terms.  To which she answers that under no circumstances would taking the money be appropriate.  She holds firm in her stance until Hank dumps thousands of one hundred dollar bills on to her coffee table.  It’s then that greed, poverty, and an unattainable desire for happiness start shaking things up.

This seems like a recitation of the the Adam and Eve story.  Hank is skeptical, unflinchingly aware of the dire consequences, should they be caught.  But once Sarah has her eye on the prize, Hank becomes her puppet, doing whatever she asks, no matter the consequences, tricking himself, and Jacob into thinking the money will bring them happiness–no matter the cost, and believe me, it costs them dearly.

The best part of this film was the fact that I had no idea what was going to happen.  Three minutes before the credits started rolling, I still didn’t know how it was going to end.  A rare feet indeed coming from the man who brought us Boogeyman 2.  The direction was remarkable, keeping the suspense at an even build up, right to the very end.  Billy Bob Thorton was remarkable (I don’t care about the stereotypes of playing a mentally ill person, he was bitchin’).  Paxton was flat, but what do you expect?  Fonda was terrifying in her performance of the cold-blooded, seemingly normal housewife.  Even Gary Cole was entertaining in his small role.  It was also fascinating in that you can see yourself in each of the characters.  Each commits heinous acts that, with under the right circumstances, we can see ourselves committing.  What would each of us do to provide better for our families, our children, our siblings?  It’s a film that forces the viewer to take a good long look at himself, and see the good, and the evil, brimming just below the surface.

4 out of 4 stars

Rottentomatoes: 91% – Cream of the Crop: 86%

The Gift was released in 2001 and was directed by Sam Raimi.  Since then, Raimi has disappointed us with films like Xena: Warrior Princess – A Friend in Need (Director’s Cut), The Messengers, and Boogeyman 2.  That being said, the plot really wasn’t that horrible, nor was the acting or directing.

The story follows Annie Wilson (Cate Blanchett), the local tarot card reader and psychic in a southern town, as she’s asked to help the police investigate the disappearance of a local girl (Katie Holmes).  The town is full of seeming psychopaths, played by terrific actors: Giovanni Ribisi, Greg Kinnear, Hilary Swank.  And not-so-terrific actors: Holmes, Keanu Reeves (it turns out he can play a wife-beating redneck really well!) and Gary Cole.

While the film has a supernatural aspect to it, it is mostly a ‘whodunnit,’ that actually leaves you guessing until the very end.  The Gift affords a few good scares, and more than just a little good acting. Check it out when you’re in the mood for something light.

2 out of 4 stars

Rottentomatoes: 57% - Cream of the Crop: 62%