BOTTOM
LINE:
Director Sam Raimi
leaves the relative safe world of Spiderman to return to his roots
in this cleverly crafted, old-fashioned style horror film that manages
to really scare, surprise and make you laugh all at the same time.
THE
GOOD: Horror films
have degenerated in to torture and blood-lust of late (see the Saw
films as an example). The pleasure of watching Director Sam Raimi’s
return to the world of horror is that it is very entertaining and
fun. This film will scare you, make you laugh and entertain right
up until the final scare. The idea is simplicity itself: a young
woman crosses an old gypsy woman who curses her with a demonic spirit,
who proceeds to torment the girl for three days until the spirit
comes to drag her to hell. Raimi’s special touch for delivering
the scares and laughs is ultimately what makes this journey so worth
while. The fight sequence between Christine (Alison Lohman) and
Mrs Ganush (Lorna Raver) in a desolate car park has to rate as one
of the creepiest and funniest for a long time, and goes well beyond
anything you might expect, complete with detaching eye balls. The
show-stopping scene of the film however is the séance mid-way
through where Christine seeks the help of a powerful seer to summon
the evil demon and plead for her life. The sequence begins in a
very creepy and scary place with the demon possessing the body of
the seer, but then manages to multiple that creepiness, with scares
and laughs as the demon jumps gleefully between bodies, including
that of a poor goat offered as a sacrifice. Lohman is effective
in the lead role of Christine, generating a lot of sympathy and
sincerity for her character which make her plight believable and
ultimately tragic. Justin Long manages well in the supporting role
of boyfriend, taking some otherwise clichéd material and
making it believable. Lorna Raver is downright spooky as the old
gypsy Mrs Ganush. Although appearing several times to scare the
hell out of Christine (and us), her most effective scene is in the
bank; the moment where she stops begging Christine to help her,
with the soundtrack dialling down to silence, the look on her face
is extremely creepy, foretelling what is to come. Perhaps the big
star here though is Raimi himself, showcasing his commanding ability
to tell a good old-fashioned horror yarn that is well timed, scary
and funny, all at the same time.
