It just struck me that I've never posted a review of this perennial favorite of mine. It took 25 years, until this movie, for Sam Raimi to redeem himself to me for the execrable "Evil Dead", but redeem himself he did.
The story is of a young woman cursed by a gypsy to be, well, dragged to hell.
What works here is the production, the story telling. This is an expertly-made movie: aware of the cheezy conventions of Hollywood horror, and self-aware enough to know it's not "The Exorcist", it knowingly embraces what it is, occasionally using outright fake-looking practical effects... not all that different, I suppose from how David Lynch's fake bird didn't detract too badly from the surreal "Blue Velvet", and in this case even less disturbing since the plot is so fantasy-based already. And then, just to show you that's intentional, Raimi spices it up with enough moments of genuine, very effective horror to demonstrate that he knows exactly what he's doing. He strikes a remarkable balance of quality, engrossing moviemaking and obvious Hollywood artifice that I couldn't have imagined, let alone thought would work, if he hadn't done it. He doesn't try to make a great horror film, so much as horror film that's great fun to watch, and unequivocally succeeds.
I've watched this one a bunch of times at this point and always enjoyed it. It's a testament to the extraordinary strength of movies like Network, Apocalypse Now and Deliverance* that I don't post a movie I enjoy this much in my "favorites" section. (*Jeez, how have I not posted about "Deliverance" in my "Favorites" section**?? I need to do that)(**EDIT: Fixed it)
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