Day 11 of 31
Director: Sam Raimi
Starring: Alison Lohman Justin Long Lorna Raver Dileep Rao David Paymer Adriana Barraza. USA. 1h 39m
This playful full horror film turns a tragedy until waking nightmare, And coming from the king of comedy horror, Sam Raimi this film is almost faultless. Anything that digs its way out of the twisted minds that unleash the Evil Dead (1981) onto an unsuspecting cinematic audience this weirdtastic thriller centres around and ambitious loan clark at the bank who attempts to impress her boss by being unnecessarily firm with a an old gypsy woman who was literally begging for an extension on a home loan Christie believes that she successful made the “tough call” that was so very important and is now front of the line for the illustrious promotion but little does this small town country girl know how much truth is in the curse that has been laid upon her by the old Gypsy Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver). Once strange things start to occur Christine seeks help help my local psychic Rham Jas (Dileep Rao) but with the skeptical long suffering boyfriend Clay (Justin Long) who rubbishes any notion of a curse down to coincidence Christine has to soldier on facing her personal demons along with the Lamia that might actually be trying to drag her to hell.
There is so much to laugh at while watching a young girl literally being tormented and every effort so life on her slow descent to hell. And yet we can’t really take a side as every good intention it was a selfish action which lead her on the path of destruction. It’s tragic but it’s hilarious, from slobbering corpses to epic fountain nosebleeds, Raimi spares Alison Lohman no modesty, she’s put in every awkward situation and everything goes, wrong, but this is Raimi film so there are tons of real jump scares and gruesome awesomeness along with great demonic possession scenes, watch out for the goat scene it fucks with my psyche every time I see it, literally making me squirm, and there’s something that will make most people feel a bit queasy.
Lohman really holds her own in this role, in fact it’s easy to say this is a up to date Evil Dead with REAL actors and it does make a difference, not only had Raimi matured but using more seasoned actors does give this film a plausible foundation. I almost felt sorry for the cast, but they knew what grossouts they were going to be exposed to.
Once the Lamia has been released and is freaking it’s victim out before her scheduled trip to hell, the nightmare that her life turns into is quite embarrassing and problematic, like a surreal dinner party with her rich boyfriend’s patronising parents where she’s being tormented by a persistent demonic fly.
After all of the years of delivering gross comedic horror, Sam Raimi effortlessly conjures cinematic magic from beginning to end and majestically maintains a certain tone throughout the movie, the only downside is the constant use of CGI but it’s subtle and I’ll forgive him as the implementation of detailed, traditional special effects are a true testament of how great the artistic skills really are and that there is a place of silicone rubber and paint in modern horror cinema, I just wish more people would take note. So even though this movie isn’t in the quiet category as Evil Dead it’s a brilliant leap forwards with a more mature approach to filmmaking and is easily appreciated by new and old fans.
Rating 7/10
L– Possession Film, Demon Flicks,
A – CGI vs Old Skool special effects
R – Into the mirror (2003), Evil Dead (1981), The Possession (2012),
5s – Sam Raimi, Justin Long
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