Drag Me to Hell

Sam Raimi is back! Well not like hes actually been anywhere as hes been caught in the web of Spiderman since the turn of the millennium, but hes back to doing what he does best. A kick ass horror movie.

'Drag Me to Hell', sees Raimi return to the bonkers horror genre he created with 'The Evil Dead'. Sometimes jump out of your seat scary, often laugh out loud hilarious, its a rollercoaster ride of a picture that has you invested in the action from start to finish. The film centres around pretty young do-good girl Christine (expertly played by Alison Lohman), who while trying to impress her boss commits the fatal faux-pass of crossing a gypsy and falling under a deadly curse. What transpires from then on in is a feast of gross-out action, big scares and all the Raimi signature visual and audio treats; even the classic oldsmobile gets a nice big chunk of screentime.

But what about the sound?

From the moment we meet we meet the gypsy I knew what was in store. Disgusting foley fx accompany the old lady removing her teeth, as she steals sweets and begs for help. Even though she is helpless, this gross out audiology sees us as routing for Christine to break her goody two shoes mold and kick the old lady to the kerb. Big mistake as we're about to get cursed and suffer all the hell the girl goes through!

This film is LOUD. I can't remember the last time I went to the cinema and heard a film crash from the speakers like Drag Me To Hell Does. The surround mix is excellent, unsettling creaks and crashes surround us as our girl is visited by the Demon - silence is also used expertly, pre-cursing the moments before we are thrust out of our seats by wave after wave of horror and increasing cacophonies of noise. All the Raimi sound signatures are there; the highly processed inane laughter a la Evil Dead, the perverted pitch shifted voice of the Larnia and the disgusting audio accompaniments to the frequent projectile vomiting sequences.

So if your film fan who enjoys cinema at its most fun and absorbing, I highly recommend you catch 'Drag Me To Hell', especially while its still in the theatre. And before I go..........

Want to hear some of the sounds? Head here.