As the most interesting man in the world would say: "I don't always watch scary movies. But when I do, I prefer well-written, character-driven stories." You probably haven't seen it, but the best scary movie released in the past few years is a Sam Raimi joint called "Drag Me to Hell" (2009). You might know Raimi from his other blockbusters like the "Spider-Man" trilogy (2002, 2004, 2007) and the lesser-known, but more loved, "Evil Dead" movies (1981, 1987, 1992). He's got a knack for storytelling with a quirky premise (but please excuse "Spider-Man 3." It's like my other little brother, the one we keep locked in the tool shed — we don't talk about him and feed him irregularly).
"Drag Me to Hell" stars a youthful and innocent Alison Lohman as Christine Brown, who works for a corporate mid-sized bank as a loan officer in your normal suburbia. She's struggling to meet the professional expectations that she sets for herself, as well as for her boyfriend Clay's (Justin Long) family. They come from money and want their son to have a girlfriend who can help him socially and professionally … and Christine grew up on a farm.
She might be up for a promotion, but Stu (Reggie Lee), her douche of a co-worker, is both competing for the position and sabotaging her efforts. Basically speaking, she's a nice girl who is trying to awkwardly find her place in the world — we meet her while she is reviewing diction tapes to get rid of her Midwestern twang. She's got an earnest nature about her, and you find yourself cheering for her to sucker punch that grundlebag Stu. And then the movie really begins.
See, the problem with most horror movies these days is that it's basically a competition to see who can make the grossest deaths, the tensest scenes or the most disturbing premise. See "The Human Centipede (First Sequence)" (2009), "The Hills Have Eyes" (2006) or "Paranormal Activity" (2007). Once the short exposition starts, the character development essentially stops — sure, the protagonist is doing braver stuff than he or she usually would, but if that weren't the case then the movie would stop. I guess it's sort of like a porno: They set up the scene, make an effort at acting, then they get right into the action and 90 minutes later you forget their names and get bored once you finish screaming. Audiences are left with the juicy bits, but nothing else.
If you've noticed, I haven't said a damn thing about why "Drag Me to Hell" is a scary movie. It's because the scenes are tightly directed, the script feels real and it will always have you howling in fear and laughter at the same time. Christine, while reviewing loans, crosses a Gypsy woman (who still makes that mistake these days, anyway?) who places a curse on her. The rest of the movie is Christine's attempt to rid herself of that curse. There's an amazing blend of humor and fear that makes this movie incredibly fun to watch, and the fear works because you care about Christine as a person. Watch the scene where she has dinner with her boyfriend's family and tell me you don't feel her pain of desperately trying to get some semblance of approval.
I have been saying this since my column began — movies can transcend the barrier from something to simply throw on the TV to true entertainment and drama if we care about the characters and their plights. "Jaws" (1975) was a fantastic film because it spent a lot of deliberate time developing Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) and the people around him. Thrillers and horror movies are no exception to this rule. Let's just hope the adult film industry catches on, too.
