Sam Raimi returns to horror with style, thrills, and a familiar sense of humor.
Story: Christine ( Allison Lohman ) is a young, hot loan officer of sorts stuck in an office controlled by her sexist boss who tends to favor her fellow asian work colleague. Her boss makes it apparent that he doesn't think that she is capable of making tough choices. There is a promotion that she has been striving to get, when a sickly old woman (Lorna Raver) named Mrs. Ganush comes in asking for a third extension on her house loan. Christine thinks about what her boss said about making tough decisions, she turns down the request for a third extension. Mrs. Ganush proceeds to beg Christine, even going as far as getting on her hands and knees, but Christine sticks to her decision - which prompts Mrs. Ganush to get gypsy on the bitch and curses her. Christines skeptic boyfriend, Clay ( Justin Long )- who represents the voice of reason and logic stands by his woman as her life begins to be dragged.......to hell.
What I thought: If a one-eyed Gypsy woman with no dental insurance ever asks me for something, you better be damn sure I'm gonna get it done for her. There are so many memorable sequences in this very refreshing horror thriller, most notably the scene in the parking garage - you will know what I'm talking about after you see it, that stand out in this movie. It's been a while since Raimi has helmed a horror project and it's easy to see that he hasn't lost his grasp on the genre. He has the uncanny ability to mix over the top thrills with humor that make lousy attempts such as the Grudge and Saw series look even worse than they already do, if thats even remotely possible. This movie runs in at about 90 minutes and to me that is the ideal length of a movie and it doesn't wear out its welcome. Allison Lohman shines - she does an amazing job playing the helpless yet strong heroine, and you can't help but feel sorry for the poor girl the entire movie - especially when Long's character brings her to his "you can do better than this white trash" type of parents house for dinner, (in another very memorable scene.) The PG-13 rating didn't hurt this film one bit. There was no sense of it feeling watered down. This is classic Raimi. The writing is excellent. The script feels very much alive and the dialogue flows well. Coupled with an amazing score, however if you are expecting an Evil Dead remake here you are going to be a little disappointed because even though there is a great deal of fun to be had here, the story takes itself seriously for the most part. I recommend this movie to anybody that has a pulse.
Verdict: Sam Raimi proves that he is today's master of thrills and laughter.
Rating - 9.1/10
3 comments:
The most thoroughly enjoyable, fun new horror movie I've seen in years. Both effectively scary and funny. Raimi really knocked it out of the park...
had a lot of fun watching this one in the theater and I always loved Raimi. I did a review on this a few weeks back on my blog about it if you are interested.
Geof, I'd like to read it if you can provide me a link.
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