Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Drag Me to Hell’

Written by Scott Edwards

Christine Brown is trying to work her way up to the vacated assistant manager position at her bank. The only problem is that there is a new employee that is fighting for the same job. Trying to gain a leg up on the situation, Christine is met at her desk by an old woman who is looking for another extension on her bank loan. After talking to her manager and knowing that he is looking for someone that can handle the tough situations, Christine informs that old woman that she will receive zero help from the bank and she will be forced to leave her home.

The old woman begs for help, but Christine knocks her to the floor. Being a proud woman and being shamed in front of many, the old gypsy comes after Christine after her shift ends. Not being able to defeat the younger woman, the gypsy places a curse on her, one that will plague the young bank employee and make her life a living hell. Christine takes the threat with a grain of salt, until strange occurrences start to happen around her house.

Not knowing what is really plaguing his girlfriend, Professor Clay Dalton does all he can to figure out a reasonable explanation for what is happening. After taking Christine to a fortune teller, Clay is frustrated with the results as the man sees much evil is about to attack the young woman. The attacks worsen, inside and outside of Christine’s home. Visiting the fortune teller once again, Christine is informed that the Lamia, the black goat, is a common demon used by gypsies to do their dirty work and it is responsible for all of her troubles, and it will not stop until the gypsy that placed the curse upon her, provides her with forgiveness.

Drag Me to Hell follows young Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) as she tries to get promoted at the bank, but she abandons her values, and lies to a gypsy to try to solidify her front running status for the assistant manager position. Her boyfriend, Clay Dalton (Justin Long), is along for the ride, but does not believe enough in what is happening to really help his troubled love. Rham Jas (Dileep Rao), the fortune teller, tries with all of his power to help rid the young woman of the Lamia, but his powers are far from strong enough to keep it from doing its worst to Christine. What will happen to Christine, will she be able to rid herself of the Lamia before being killed, or will she be dragged down to the fiery depths with the powerful specter?

Sam Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell takes you back to an eighties style of scares. Being based more on the scares, camera movements and storyline, Raimi also gets to play a lot more with special effects that were not available or affordable during his Evil Dead days. This is just a great and fun horror flick as you wonder what is really trying to attack young Christine and whether or not she will survive. It is always a good lesson to treat others the way you would like to be treated, especially old gypsy women that could make you regret it for the rest of your days.   

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