It’s Day’s night, and no one is going to spoil her story
A Sentimental Journey
Film
This is a shocking, replenishing film, not to be missed
Green Zone
Restaurants
It is great that Bruno Loubet is back — and at prices that are eminently fair
Bistro Bruno Loubet
The action and direction are superb and the acting good, but the plot is so pathetic it defies belief
Wonderful - beautifully acted and gloriously funny, particularly Simon Russell Beale and Fiona Shaw
Probably the most important photography exhibition london has ever seen
London,
Charlotte O'Sullivan's rating
Reader rating
Dir: Sam Raimi.
Cast: Justin Long, Alison Lohman, Fernanda Romero, Chelcie Ross, David Paymer, Reggie Lee
Description: Christine Brown works in Los Angeles as a loans officer, and is keen to impress her boss Mr Jacks and perhaps gain promotion and a hefty pay rise. So when the enigmatic Mrs Ganush comes into the bank to beg for an extension to her home loan, Christine is torn: between being compassionate and giving the old lady more time and denying her request. Christine opts for ruthless ambition and Mrs Ganush retaliates by placing a curse on the young woman and all around her, including handsome, professor boyfriend, Clay Dalton. As the evil spirit slowly drives Christine to the brink of insanity, she seeks spiritual guidance from mystical seer Rham Jas but how far is she willing to go to reclaim her old life?
Country: US. 2009. 98mins
Bank crisis: Christine (Alison Lohman) is attacked by Mrs Ganush (Lorna Raver)
Sam Raimi’s latest is a recession-era comedy, everything the recent Jim Carrey-vehicle Yes Man aspired to be, but wasn’t. Oh sure, it’s also a horror movie, but what it basically offers is a wry take on the greedy, competitive and dishonest world of banking.
Pretty loan officer Christine (Alison Lohman) refuses to grant a mortgage extension to a repulsively decrepit gypsy, Mrs Ganush (Lorna Raver). In the hope of gaining a promotion, Christine has decided not to be a bleeding heart. Are we glad or sad that, as a result, she and her smug professor boyfriend (Justin Long) endure a week from hell?
Based on a script Raimi co-wrote while taking time off from the Spiderman franchise, Drag Me to Hell is simultaneously gritty and goofy, brightly coloured and down-to-earth. Mrs Ganush’s hex — unleashed when she tears a button from Christine’s coat — is a brillant one.
Christine is tortured as much by her conscience as the goat-demon the gypsy conjures up — as in the 1957 B-movie classic, Night of the Demon. Fairly simple chills (banging doors, shadows) are terrifying.
Christine makes an impressively well-rounded heroine. A vegetarian animal lover, she proves, under pressure, to be far from gentle. A trip to her future parents-in-law’s fancy home is especially exposing (panicked one moment, elated the next, she really does seem unhinged). That Christine’s own mother is a drunk makes perfect sense. Noxious fluids play a huge part in the movie — that we can’t always control what goes in and out of our mouths is a major theme.
As Christine, the under-rated Lohman (who only got the part when Ellen Page pulled out), is just right. A sexy mix of Kirsten Dunst and Kerry Katona, the 30-year-old actress has the kind of baby face that, within an instant, can look blearily haggard.
She and the aptly named Raver enjoy a fine chemistry. There may be one fight too many, the word bitch crops up rather too often, and Christine’s wet T-shirt moment is unnecessary. (Raimi has a thing about wet T-shirts. But nobody’s perfect.)
What a shame the title will probably put off non-horror fans. Drag Me to Hell deserves to be seen. The economy may be headed south yet, as Raimi reminds us, if we go down together we might just enjoy the ride.
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I'm glad to see it doing well. I particularly liked the dark cinematography.
- Ira, Westington
Saw this the other night, very scary and very, very funny. Sam Raimi is on fine form.
- Neil, London
looks like a promising up to date horror film
- Allan Ramsey, london
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