CHICAGO – Excelsior! Comic book legend Stan Lee’s famous exclamation puts a fine point on the third and final play of Mark Pracht’s FOUR COLOR TRILOGY, “The House of Ideas,” presented by and staged at City Lit Theater in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood. For tickets/details, click HOUSE OF IDEAS.
Sam Raimi Returns to Horror Genre With Thrilling ‘Drag Me to Hell’
Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The gleefully gory Sam Raimi who made “Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn” and “Darkman” is back in close to prime form with this week’s thoroughly enjoyable “Drag Me To Hell,” a horror thrill ride almost certain to satisfy any audience member willing to choose a movie with “Hell” in the title over the latest Pixar offering.
“Drag Me To Hell” delivers on expectations even if it doesn’t quiet exceed them to become a true horror classic. With tighter editing, a stronger lead, and a few more surprising twists in the screenplay, “Drag Me To Hell” could have been something truly remarkable, although with the state of the horror genre, just being as good as it is will be more than enough for most fans.
Read Brian Tallerico’s full review of “Drag Me To Hell” in our reviews section. |
Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) is about to learn that life often has more than a glass ceiling. Sometimes it has a blazing floor. Playing off the themes of misogyny so rampant in all horror, “Drag Me To Hell” presents a heroine just trying to get ahead at work, put her dark past behind her, and impress her new boyfriend’s parents.
With a promotion looming, Christine is instructed by her boss (David Paymer) that she needs to prove that she can make the tough decisions required of management. An eldlery woman named Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver) comes to her looking for one more loan extension on her mortgage and Christine sees the opportunity to impress her boss. She refuses the wrong client and ends up on the wrong end of a Lamia curse.
Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) is attacked while in the wet grave of her enemy.
Photo credit: Universal/Melissa Moseley