Melanie joins Melvin to talk Sam Raimi’s 2009 return-to-horror feature Drag Me to Hell, a film so silly it disorients most viewers, including Melanie! From slapstick violence to cartoon gore, this movie surprised its PG-13 audience from start to finish!
Topics:
- (PATREON EXCLUSIVE) 18-minutes discussing AMC Theater’s new tiered-seating price points, from value-pricing at the front to premium-pricing at the center (PATREON EXCLUSIVE)
- Melanie has specifically told Melvin that Drag Me to Hell was a movie she hated. Has that changed?
- Melvin gives some background to the Sam Raimi style, something that no doubt shocks and stuns the unprepared.
- The hyperbole of Drag Me to Hell helps exemplify the subtle yet damning ways in which people can disregard one another, or put oneself before others, and all of this is made exceedingly evident in the complicating incident.
- Melanie, “It was so funny and I think I was just able to appreciate the more comedic elements of the film. There were still a few jump scares here or there, but you get startled and then you laugh.”
- Sometimes, people are ashamed of things they don’t necessarily have to be ashamed about, while also not being ashamed about things they ought to. Drag Me to Hell displays both of these from opening to closing credits.
- Christine thinks that demanding the old woman to forgive her will somehow fix the curse, but demanding someone to forgive you for your sin isn’t repentance, because repentance is a full-on submission to wrong-doing, which categorically removes the ability for demands. With this in mind, Christine shows she hasn’t learned anything.
- What makes an ending satisfying, and must the hero always succeed?
- Horror movies are interesting because whereas other movies will have some alien or virus or an idea as the villain, horror movies pick obvious things like murderers, demons, or the literal devil. As Christians – and it may sound weird for others to hear – but having hell or the devil as a literary consequence or threat is often more realistic to our daily life, and thus makes horror movies sometimes more intriguing.
Recommendations:
- Cry_Wolf (2005) (Movie)
- Wind River (2017) (Movie)
Drag Me to Hell is Rated PG-13 for sequences of horror violence, terror, disturbing images and language. It features Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Lorna Raver, Dileep Rao, David Paymer, and Reggie Lee. Directed by Sam Raimi. Drag Me to Hell is available here.
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Melvin Benson is the Founder, Editor-In-Chief, and Lead Host of Cinematic Doctrine. He’s written fiction and nonfiction for over a decade with short stories featured on the Creepypasta Wiki and Wattpad. His novelette Ethereal Temptation, a teen drama with a tinge of magical-realism, can be read for free here. His hope is to see King Jesus glorified as far as the east is from the west!
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