  
Drag Me to Hella.k.a. “Jusqu'en enfer”MPAA Rating:
 for sequences of horror violence, terror, disturbing images and language.Reviewed by: Eric Hernandez Very Offensive
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience:
Adults, Teens
Genre:
Supernatural, Thriller, Suspense, Horror
Length:
1 hr. 39 min.
Year of Release:
2009
USA Release:
May 29, 2009 (wide—2,400 theaters)
DVD: October 13, 2009 (Unrated version)  
Relevant Issues
Curses in the Bible SATAN—Is Satan a real person that influences our world today? Is he affecting you? Answer Is there an actual place called “Hell”? Answer Why was Hell made? Answer Is there anyone in Hell today? Answer Will there literally be a burning fire in Hell? Answer What should you be willing to do to stay out of Hell? Answer How can a God of love send anybody to Hell? Answer What if I don't believe in Hell? Answer THE GOOD NEWS—How to be saved from Hell. Answer How can I be sure of my salvation? Answer What is “the unpardonable sin”? How does sin become “unforgivable”? Answer How can I be and feel forgiven? Answer If God forgives me every time I ask, why do I still feel so guilty? Answer Burial in the Bible DEMON POSSESSSION and Influence—Can Christians be demon possessed? In what ways can Satan and his demons influence believers? Answer
“Christine Brown has a good job, a great boyfriend, and a bright future. But in three days, she's going to hell.” “Drag Me to Hell” marks director Sam Raimi’s return to the horror genre; before helming the three blockbuster SPIDER-MAN movies, he was most famous for his EVIL DEAD series of horror films, which had a far-reaching influence on the horror movie genre. Those films were also notoriously gruesome; when it was released in 1980, the first EVIL DEAD picture was given an X rating for its graphic, bloody violence. Now, DRAG ME TO HELL arrives in theaters with a PG-13 rating. Has Raimi gone soft? First, let’s take a look at the plot. Christine Brown (played by Alison Lohman) is an ambitious young loan officer, who lives with her college professor boyfriend Clay Dalton (played by Justin Long). Christine is successful at her job, but is unsatisfied, constantly begging her boss Mr. Jacks (played by David Paymer) for a promotion. One day, an elderly gypsy woman named Mrs. Ganush (played by Lorna Raver) arrives at Christine’s office, begging her for an extension on her home loan. Christine sees this as a way to prove to her boss that she is capable of making tough decisions, and denies Mrs. Ganush her home loan. Angered and vengeful, Mrs. Ganush places an ancient curse on Christine: for three days, a demon called the Lamia will torment Christine, and on the third day, the Lamia will drag Christine to Hell. While Raimi may have toned things down from his EVIL DEAD days, the violence in DRAG ME TO HELL is still intense, disturbing and grotesque. The PG-13 rating seems almost too mild at times. Mrs. Ganush and Christine tangle many times; first, in Christine’s car, where Mrs. Ganush attacks Christine from the back seat, choking her and attempting to yank her earring out. Christine fights back by stapling the old woman’s eye shut and crashing the car, slamming Mrs. Ganush’s head against the dashboard so hard that her dentures fly out. Later on, when Mrs. Ganush “dies” of natural causes, she returns as a ghost, allowing the filmmakers even more freedom to batter her and Christine around. The un-dead Mrs. Ganush sticks her arm up to the elbow down Christine’s throat, rips out clumps of Christine’s hair and vomits embalming fluid onto Christine’s face in a truly disgusting scene. Christine once again fights back by dropping an enormous anvil on the ghost’s head, causing eyeballs and goo to fly from Mrs. Ganush’s eye sockets. Other scenes, while not technically violent, include gross-out content intended to make the viewers queasy. The Lamia induces a fountain-like nosebleed in Christine, who ends up spraying blood all over her boss. Christine, also, finds an eyeball in a piece of cake she is eating. Mrs. Ganush, while still living, is a disgusting character, with filthy saliva-covered dentures which we see many times. She is no more pleasant when dead: her ghost coughs up maggots that find their way into Christine’s mouth. Sexual content is minimal: Christine and Clay are unmarried but live together, and are once seen lying together (fully clothed) in bed. One scene has Christine in a wet T-shirt. Language includes a few s-words and one G*D, along with a few utterances of “God” and “Jesus”. This brings us to the spiritual content. The movie’s storyline should give any Christian hesitation; dark spiritual forces are nothing to be taken lightly. Knowing this, I was still a little shocked at some of the spiritual content. Christine, once cursed, consults a medium named Rham Jas (played by Dileep Rao), who advises Christine to sacrifice an animal. Christine follows his advice: she sacrifices her pet cat off-screen, and is later seen burying it in the garden. When that doesn’t work, she attends a séance, and things get even darker: a goat intended for sacrifice is possessed by the Lamia, and speaks to them. Meanwhile, objects fly around, people are possessed and speak in demonic voices, and the body of Christine’s dead cat is vomited up by a person. It is interesting to note that the movie treats all these demonic occurrences with the levity they deserve. Christine is a good-hearted person, who, after being cursed, honestly tries to do the right thing. The animal sacrifice and séance help nothing, and the movie makes sure we realize that. However, the gospel of Jesus Christ (as one could expect) is never once mentioned as a path to salvation. ***SPOILER WARNING**** Christine ends up never finding deliverance from the curse, and the final scene shows her being “dragged” to Hell by demonic hands. ***END SPOILER**** So, while séances and animal sacrifices are portrayed as being the wrong way to go, because God’s message of salvation is never once presented, whatever moral the movie may contain will only serve to confuse non-believers. Philippians 4:8 says, “… whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things”. DRAG ME TO HELL, while perhaps not the worst movie currently in theaters, fits none of these criteria. Skip it. See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.   Comments below:
Positive
Positive - As far as content goes, there is one GD, one instance of “Christ” uttered as a blasphemy, and implied sex between two unmarried persons. There is a seance. Lastly, as suggested by the title of the movie, there are numerous accounts of startling or otherwise disturbing imagery (to include a cat being murdered offscreen). Do NOT take kids to this movie. I wanted to wring the woman behind me for taking her four year old boy to this film. When the credits rolled, she had the audacity to ask the little tyke if he was okay. When he failed to respond, she reassured him “it's all make believe.” That little guy's gonna have some harrowing dreams for a while—night and day. Positive - DRAG ME TO HELL grabs us from the very beginning of a terrified boy who had stole a necklace from some gypsy. Needless to say, not even the channeler can protect him from the curse that had been cast upon him. This sets up the premise for our innocent Christine Browne (Allison Lohman) who vied for the Assistant Manager position at her bank, and by making the tough decision, her action puts into motion with a curse from the shamed gypsy home owner. From here on, it's scary-gross-out-fun-thrill-ride-a-minute by Sam Raimi at the helm. While his EVIL DEAD series look dated for me, this was a refreshing at the moment jolt of scare. Positive - Ok…I know that the editors of Christian Spotlight gave this movie a bad review, however I disagree. One thing I will say about this movie is it is not something that anyone should take children to. There is some profanity, but not as much as some movies (I am sure they will hear more than this if they walk out in public), there is couple living together and it is implied that they had sex, but there is no nudity or sexual activity in this movie other than them kissing for about 2 seconds (and that wasn't really that bad) and then they wake up in the morning. The major problem I see in this movie for children is that it has some very disturbing and shocking scenes. So, if you are a christian and cannot tolerate these type of movies, I would suggest not seeing it. Part of this review process is to determine how this movie will affect our relationship with Christ. I believe every christian should see this film because there are many things in this movie that are real and christians should know about. Positive - I think that some of my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ have taken this film too literally. The film is obviously not meant to provoke intelligent film discussions. It's camp. It was meant to be camp. Nothing that you see in the film is meant to be taken seriously. Personally, I found it to be one of the funniest films of the year. Yes, most of the film relies on gross out humor, but anyone who has seen EVIL DEAD or any other of the early Sam Raimi films knows that this is to be expected. Neutral - I think christians should watch this movie because… Neutral
Neutral - As much as I like a good horror movie and this was a decent one, I can understand why watching movies such as this can be frustrating for Christians. I sat and watched this young woman in the film go through all of these changes to prevent herself from going to Hell, while I and other Christians knew the solution all along. Of course, if the main character would have tried Christ instead all of the occultist mumbo-jumbo, the movie would have been over in 20 minutes….and 20 minute movies don’t make good box office! Some observations: Neutral - “Drag Me to Hell” is a terrific thriller that has real terrors and some amusing(although dark) comic moments. The old gypsy woman is a terrifying presence and a very formidable opponent whether in human, ghost, or corpse form I wouldn't want to run into her. The film is scary because it is also believable. Alison Lohman is perfectly cast(as much as I like Ellen Page of “Juno” who originally was supposed to play this part I don't think she would've been effective). She radiates goodness, sweetness, is very pretty, and yet is able to project a sharp edge as in a scene where she tells a rude waitress to back off or “she'll give her a tip she'll never forget.” We like this character and fear for her when evil forces come for her. Since we care about what will happen to her the evil forces are all the more frightening. The humor comes from some aspects such as the fact that the medium wants to help he is still a businessman who reminds Lohman that help like this is not guaranteed and will cost financially. Negative
Negative - In my opinion, this movie is more of a comedy than a horror flick. Although there are some jumpy scenes. As a Christian, I found the movie not to be appropriate for Christian families to watch. Negative - A good friend and I were excited about seeing this movie. I can only attest to the first 10-15 minutes as we decided to leave after viewing the opening scene. I enjoy a good scary movie and am very thick skinned when it comes to being scared, but this movie wasn't, it was demonic. Movie makers did an incredible job of creating a horrifying experience—that of a child being dragged to hell. The screams and music were far beyond eerie—it was demonic. The witch commented that she'd see them again??? As if a human has the power or authority to challenge any demon or satan. For non believers, esp. teens who like to dabble in the occult, this is very dangerous. Movie Critics
…an over-the-top, disappointing horror movie about a young woman being harassed by a demonic gypsy curse. It’s hard to take it seriously, but the movie has a very strong occult worldview that gives way too much power to demons.… …I’m uncomfortable with satanic themes used as entertainment.… …Maggots, old-Gypsy-lady drool, embalming fluid gushing out of a corpse’s mouth—Christine’s always getting hit with something in this picture. Lohman can be good, and she can be bad (terrible, in fact, in “Where the Truth Lies”), but in “Drag Me to Hell” she’s just right.… …an all-out queasefest from beginning to end.… all-you-can-eat buffet of gross-out violence.… …various types and echelons of humour can be found throughout “Drag Me to Hell,” although the most prevalent are slapstick and gross bodily functions like projectile nose bleeds. Then again, there's also plenty of quirk, as in the séance near the end where a softspoken Mexican boy is seen dragging a goat to the table before dimming the lights and attending to other demon-summoning prerequisites.… …an unabashedly schlocky, expertly executed blend of jack-in-the-box jolts and humour. More polished but similar in its over-the-top spirit to the Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez “Grindhouse” diptych… Comments from non-viewers
I have not seen this movie and do not plan to. The entire focus on this movie seems to make light of the reality of demons and going to hell. It's an extremely serious thing that people die and they go to hell for eternity. I agree that Christians have to live in the world. Even Jesus went and lived and ate among the worst of the sinners. I believe, however, that movies like this do not help our walk with our Savior. I would suggest not to spend your time and money on this movie, but if you do, remember to keep a strong, Christian foundation and do not waver. If we are walking in the Spirit of God thinking on those things which are spelled out in Galatians then I would assume this movie is not included. I have not nor will not see it. I have to ask myself do I leave the Holy Spirit inside the church building or does He go with me where ever I go? If I choose to live a life that includes Jesus in everything I do then I cannot be in places where His spirit is offended. Make no mistake He will not coexsist with Satan. Part of the ongoing morale decay in society has alot to do with Christians compromising the gospel and calling “sin” ok. God has clearly stated that sin whether entertaining or not is grotesque to Him. Stop for a minute and ask God would He like for you to be there. See what He says. |
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