Director: Sam Raimi
Cast: Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Lorna Raver, Dileep Rao
Have I Seen it Before: Never. Odd side note, this has been another one of those DVDs that have been sitting on my shelf for years, and no kidding, until a few days ago it had still been shrink-wrapped with Hastings wrapping. Remember Hastings? Well there hasn’t been one around in over four years, and I’m almost positive I purchased this particular volume while I still lived relatively close to such a store, and that’s been eight years. I’m even willing to venture a guess that I bought it closer to 2010. So, I’ve just had this DVD sitting on various shelves through no less than four homes.
The things we can all find time for this year... At least the disc worked. There’d be no way to return it anymore.
Did I Like It: So, for reasons that would take the interested only a few moments to find, I’ve had a bit of a complicated relationship with horror these last few years. For a while there, the mere act of watching a horror movie had become a mind-numbing chore. Said chore had gone on for so long that I was beginning to get a very jaded view of the genre. I’ll still have undying affection for Halloween (1978) and even recent fare like Us (2019). So many people have desperately wanted to elevate horror to something high-minded and lofty, when at it’s best, it is nothing more or less than a carnival attraction. It works best when analyzed least, and instead felt viscerally.
But I’m pleased to report that this film is a brilliant roller coaster. Raimi—having shaken off the obvious burden his Spider-Man films had become—is working at the top of his game. He’s not afraid of camp. He’s not afraid of camp when its needed. He’s not afraid of a good jump scare here and there. He’s not afraid to let us enjoy ourselves.
And it works. For 99 minutes I forgot I had become a horror grump. That’s more than enough to recommend.