Ed. note: this review appeared previously on this site in a post about the older Blu-ray edition.
Sam Raimi took a long break from directing anything horror-related; basically, after Army of Darkness in 1992, he moved on to bigger budget projects including The Gift and the Spider-Man trilogy of the ’00s. Eventually, though, Raimi returned to the genre that started his career with 2009’s Drag Me to Hell, a curse film about a woman who shames an old lady and subsequently finds herself trying to rid herself of demonic forces bent on, well, dragging her to Hell. For all intents and purposes, the film is a return to form – mostly practical effects, comedic and gag-related humor – for Raimi after over a decade of more serious, dramatic fare. And fans mostly rejoiced.
The film stars Alison Lohman as Christine, a loan officer looking to further her career at her bank by battling for a new assistant manager position. Immediately, Raimi and his brother Ivan set up some interesting character development for Christine; it’s pretty clear that she’s fighting the boys club at the bank, constantly set up for secretarial work as a new co-worker (Reggie Lee) moves in to steal the position despite still learning the job. It gives Christine little choice besides making a tough decision when Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver), an elderly woman getting evicted from her house after missing two loan payment extensions, begs for yet another chance.
Interestingly, though, Drag Me to Hell installs a number of misunderstandings; for one, it’s not really clear to the audience who is in the wrong in this scenario. Mrs. Ganush has missed two extensions, and she’s had a number of chances to make her payments; but Christine is also put in a situation where she has to make Mrs. Ganush an example. The Raimis almost delight in this confusion after Christine, accidentally shaming Mrs. Ganush, receives her curse; in true Sam Raimi fashion, Christine as a character (and by extension Lohman as an actress) is in for a terrible time at the expense of the audience’s fun.
The rest of the film becomes the Alison Lohman Comedy Hour as Christine proceeds to be tormented by devilish devices; she’s covered in maggots, her chin is slobbered on by Mrs. Ganush, she receives a vomit bath of formaldehyde, she experiences the world’s worst nosebleed resulting in public humiliation. Drag Me to Hell is unforgiving and creepy, but it’s also extremely fun; there’s a bit of Schadenfreude here as Christine gets what’s coming to her, even if she might not deserve this measure of karma. Drag Me to Hell delights in the nature of life: it’s not fair, and any attempt to measure it in shades of black and white and good and evil will be met with chaos.
The one thing that sticks out upon this new viewing is the amount of CGI utilized; it’s a bit much, especially when compared to the film’s great practical effects elsewhere. Those flaws are easily overlooked, however, when the viewer accepts Raimi’s vision of a horror film that often slides easily into comedic territory; going with the flow akin to Army of Darkness is a lot easier than criticizing slight computer effect flaws. The film’s score from Christopher Young also helps lessen the impact; it’s a tense soundtrack, with swelling violins at every turn, keeping the viewer firmly planted in the horror realm even when Drag Me to Hell swings over to humor.
The movie opens and closes on a grim note. The beginning sees a young boy unnecessarily lost to the demons; the end finds Alison, feeling victorious, dragged down to the depths despite doing nearly everything possible to avoid her fate. While Drag Me to Hell is often funny, its dark conclusion is also a telling metaphor: actions have consequences, and sometimes they can’t be avoided. The debt has to be paid. In this case, the audience is presented with a cautionary tale inspired by 15th century morality plays like Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus; we can laugh at another’s bad fortune, but learn a lesson from it and escape our own fate. Viewing the film in this context makes Drag Me to Hell seem even more important than just Raimi’s return to horror.
4K UHD
Scream Factory has released Drag Me to Hell on 4K UHD with a new transfer from the 4K digital intermediate approved by Sam Raimi and Bob Murawski, presented with Dolby Vision/HDR10. Scream Factory previously released the film on Blu-ray in 2018 with a transfer from the 2K DI, which already looked quite great; here, there’s not a huge increase in visual clarity from that previous release, but for those that have access to the best technology for presentation, Drag Me to Hell looks about as pristine as one can get for home video. Details are excellent, especially facial textures in closeup; background items and clothing textures are also well-displayed. One noticeable improvement is a bit of added sharpness and grain resolve on the UHD, as well as a slight tweak to framing. The HDR is actually the more pronounced improvement, with a bit better contrast and more dynamic colors, with more pronounced blue hues and better black management. The 4K transfer is used for both the theatrical and unrated cuts, which are branched on the UHD and offered separately on the Blu-rays. Unfortunately, the new transfer does nothing to enhance the CGI work. All told, Drag Me to Hell looks fantastic in 4K, though buyers should be aware that it’s not a viscerally different experience from the past Blu-ray edition.
Audio is presented with both DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 stereo tracks for both cuts. Both sound good, with the 5.1 version porting many of the audio effects and ambient sound to the satellite speaker. There’s appropriate dialogue volume and no real issues to speak of with the presentation, though a bit more low-end bass would have been preferable. English subtitles are also included.
For extras, Scream Factory collects all of the previously included featurettes from their past release on the Blu-ray theatrical version disc, including interviews with Alison Lohman, Lorna Raver, Christopher Young, and vintage interviews with cast and crew. New for this release, though, is the extensive feature-length (longer? it’s nearly 2 hours) documentary called “Pardon My Curse: Making Drag Me to Hell” from Ballyhoo. This features new and archival interviews with cast and crew, assembled into a nicely-edited package that takes viewers through the entirety of the film’s production – from initial ideas, to filming, to special effects, to the creation of the soundtrack. In terms of a comprehensive look at Drag Me to Hell, one can’t ask for more.
Extra Features
DISC ONE (4K UHD) – Unrated And Theatrical Version
- NEW 4K Scan From The Original DI Film Negative Approved By Director Sam Raimi And Editor Bob Murawski
- NEW Presented In Dolby Vision
DISC TWO (Blu-ray) – Unrated Version
- NEW 4K Scan From The Original DI Film Negative Approved By Director Sam Raimi And Editor Bob Murawski
- NEW “Pardon My Curse: Making Drag Me To Hell” — Two-Hour Behind-The-Scenes Documentary Featuring New And Archival Interviews With Co-Writer/Producer Ivan Raimi, Actors Alison Lohman, Dileep Rao And Lorna Raver, Director Of Photography Peter Deming, Production Designer Steve Saklad, Artist Christian Cordella, Make-Up Effects Designer Greg Nicotero, Editor Bob Murawski, Composer Christopher Young, And More (1080p; 1:54:26)
DISC THREE (Blu-ray) – Theatrical Version
- NEW 4K Scan From The Original DI Film Negative Approved By Director Sam Raimi And Editor Bob Murawski
- “To Hell And Back” – Interview With Actress Alison Lohman (1080p; 12:36)
- “Curses” – Interview With Actress Lorna Raver (1080p; 15:58)
- “Hitting All The Right Notes” – Interview With Composer Christopher Young (1080p; 17:09)
- Production Video Diaries Featuring Behind-The-Scenes Footage And Interviews With Sam Raimi, Actors Alison Lohman And Justin Long, And More (1080p; 35:09)
- Vintage Interviews (1080i; 33:37)
- Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:21)
- TV Spots (1080i; 0:49)
- Image Gallery (no chapter breaks; 2:11)
Verdict
Scream Factory’s release of Drag Me to Hell may be the best we’ll ever get in terms of both video and comprehensive extras. This packed edition sports an excellent 4K scan and a lofty feature-length documentary, along with all of the other strong featurettes from the 2018 release. Recommended.
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