“THE DEMON IN THE MIRROR: A REVIEW OF THE MOVIE ‘DRAG ME TO HELL”

A final requirement for the subject course Art Appreciation

Submitted by:

Etchel Leinne Perez

2POL3

Submitted to:

Mr. Paolo Tenchavez

December 13, 2019

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction ................................................................................................................................3

Review Proper and Analysis...................................................................................................... 4

• Cinematography

• Plot

• Characters

• Symbols

• Theme and Message

Significance ...............................................................................................................................36

Recommendation.......................................................................................................................39

Bibliography Citations.................................................................................................................41

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INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY
Have you ever ridden a roller coaster and realized that you can’t do it after the ride
started? So, you have no choice but to stay and hope that you will be alive after the ride
ends? Because I experienced it, not just in the amusement park but also in my room, after
I chose to review a horror movie for academe. It was Sunday night; I wore my earphones,
and I wrapped my body in a comforter, but my preparation was wasted as I ended up
getting too scared even before the main character was introduced. Thus, I ran to our living
room and begged my family to ditch the show they were watching to watch my movie
instead. They obliged, but after the first jump scare, my 4-year-old sibling cried, making
my mother force me to watch the movie alone. Thus, with a heavy heart, I watch it in my
room with the lights on, praying to God that nothing weird will happen. Thankfully, I
remained strong and decided to stand with my decision instead of changing the movie to
review because the movie is not simply a horror movie but a debatable movie with life
lessons intended for everyone. Indeed, while the idea of hell is scary, the movie made me
wonder if hell can only be found beneath us or is it already inside our society?

The movie that made me feel scared, disgusted, and curious is Drag me to hell, a
film directed by Sam Raimi in 2009. However, although “Drag Me to Hell” was released
in 2009, the two Raimi brothers, Sam Raimi and Ivan Raimi, wrote the screenplay for the
film back in the 1990s under the title of The Curse. The idea was to make the film after
they completed Army of Darkness, but other projects drew their interest away (Dee,
2020). Examples of other famous works of Raimi is the Spiderman trilogy starring Tobey
Maguire. However, after years of exploring, Raimi came back to the genre that made his
name famous, Horror. Of course, the movie will not be possible without the producers. In
this case, three people produced the film namely, Sam Raimi, Grant Curtis, and Robert
Tapert. Besides the producers, the film that lasted 1 hour, 38 minutes, and 51 seconds
was distributed by Universal Pictures and Ghost House Pictures.

The tagline of the film sums up the plot of the movie as it explicitly states “Christine
Brown has a good job, a great boyfriend, and a bright future. But in three days, she’s
going to hell.” Withal, Christine is the main character who has a perfect life but like most
of us, she wanted more but little did she know, her desire to be better will turn her life into
a disaster. Besides the mentioned name, the character that deserves to be in the tagline
is Sylvia Ganush, the main antagonist of the story. Ganush cursed Christine due to a loan
feud which was caused by Christine declining to give Ganush a third extension. With the
curse given comes the Lamia, a demon that torments the soul for three days before
dragging that soul into hell. With that being said, the story focuses on sins, hell, morality,
and balance. Based on these themes, the main message of the story is that hell is truly
present in the society, and most of us are the demons that compromised that hell.
However, being sinners does not mean that we are a lost cause because if we start
understanding each other and formulating solutions instead of arguments, then we can
turn our hell into a paradise worth living in.

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REVIEW PROPER AND ANALYSIS

The components of Drag me to hell are dynamic. In fact, instead of it being

comparable to rollercoaster, the film is like the circus itself. Thus, this review will
individually analyze it by dividing it into five scopes. The first scope will focus on
cinematography, as this part was the longest. In the scope of cinematography, I analyzed
key scenes and the technical aspects used in it. Then, it is followed by the scope focusing
on plot. Besides summarizing the movie, this scope will determine the gaps that exist in
the plot. Next, the review will focus on analyzing the important characters. This scope will
be followed by symbolism to tackle the main symbols presented in the movie. Lastly, the
scope that focuses on the theme and message of the movie will be discussed.

Cinematography
a. Key Scene 1: The story of the little thief

The opening scene used a hymn that sounds magical, however instead of magic,
the scene showcased a family struggling. Inside the house, Juan was in the center of the
frame while terrifying music played. Everything in this scene was perfect because the
child did not only look scared, for his face was also covered in sweat. What’s weird though
is the silhouette of the monsters on the roof. Lamia, the black goat demon, was shown
with plenty of hands. While Raimi may have added additional hands for drama, it just
made the viewers confused on what is the true appearance of the main antagonist.

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 While the parents and Shaun San Dena are praying, there are no subtitles
displayed which makes the scene more mysterious and intriguing. The effects followed
all works except the slap done to the father. It reminds me of a slap scene from a
primetime telenovela in the Philippines, which made the scene silly. From the center the
camera tilted as Juan ran in the railings of the balcony, this camera angle worked as the
viewers felt the panic of Juan more due to the movement of the camera. I also love the
special effects that happen when the ground starts breaking and the light from hell starts
entering from the crush.

Besides the effects, the angles also helped the scene. When Juan was screaming,
San Dena is seen behind him, indicating that San Dena will play a bigger role in the future.
I felt sad that the scene focused on Juan’s shadow instead of the actual body getting
dragged into hell, but I realized that this was intentional, so younger horror fans can enjoy
a gruesome scene. After showing San Dena, the camera focuses back on Juan who is
now unrecognizable as only his hands are shown and only his screams are heard. When
I thought the opening scene was done, the camera shifted again to San Dena, whose
actress successfully transitioned from a weeping woman to an angry medium who desires
to seek vengeance. From the music, angles, and emotion, the opening scene gave the
mystery that viewers yearned for. Besides the mystery that was immediately shown in the
movie, the start of the plot also summarized the story. First, a person will treat a gypsy
unfairly then gypsy will summon a Lamia through a curse then the person will be dragged
to hell. So, at the first few minutes, everything was already given to the viewers but instead
of getting satisfied, as a viewer, I wanted more.

b. Key Scene 2: The paper city and the paper heroine

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 The present time started with an aerial view of Los Angeles, this was a smart angle
choice as it emphasizes the difference between the old house of Shaun San Dena in 1969
and the present-day Los Angeles. From the buildings, the camera starts to focus in a car
while audio is heard in the background. The audio was later revealed to be a track in
which the main character is listening in to adapt an accent. To emphasize the seriousness
of Christine in adapting an accent, the camera focuses on the rearview mirror in which
the character is shown observing her lips while repeating the statements from the audio.
The heroine also passes in front of the bakery, in this scene the camera is inside the
bakery, making it seem like the viewers are one of the pastries Christine is looking at. The
way the actress sigh was evidence that she badly wanted to eat but can’t.

The dialogue spoken by Christine to the couple at the bank is “I think we can make
this work”, I believe that this line was used not just for the couple but for the viewers who
literally saw the summary of the movie from what happened in 1969. So, the statement
sow hope that the ending of the movie will be different from what happened in the past.
The scene that followed proves that Raimi is a genius in conveying messages without
having to use speech. The camera focuses on an unoccupied seat then focuses on the
sticker which indicates the position unoccupied, which is the position for Assistant
manager. The theory formed in my mind was crystallized when the camera refocuses on
Christine whose face and body language screams the emotion of desperation. Sadly, her
desire is often put in the shadows as the dialogue between Christine and Mr. Jacks proved
that Christine, despite being as capable, is treated as a maid. The camera angle perfectly

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captures the attitude of Christine while also showing the two men who abuse her. As seen
in the picture, her face looks mad, but she remains composed.

Next, after eating lunch, Clay Dalton, the boyfriend of Christine, told her that he is
going to buy a new printer because it's broken. But within seconds, the camera shifted to
Christine getting a paper clip stuck in the printer, solving the problem without money
involved. This part gave the viewers a glimpse on the differences between the lovers,
Clay is a rich man who does not know how to solve a simple problem and Christine
despite looking pristine has a simpler background. This scene was followed by Christine
giving Clay an envelope. As this happens, the camera focuses on the envelope, which at
first did not make sense because it's just an envelope! but little did I know, this envelope
has a bigger purpose. After Christine exits, the mother of Clay, Trudy Dalton was heard
referring to Christine as the farm girl. Besides that, Trudy began suggesting for his son to
date another girl. The camera shifts from Christine hearing the call with a sad yet angry
face and the annoyed body movement of Clay. This part is important because like what
happened in the bank, Christine, despite having the right to get mad, remains composed.

c. Key Scene 3: Desperation kills

From Christine sitting in her seat, the camera panned to Stu and Mr. Jacks talking
about basketball. I believe that the topic was chosen to match the worried face of

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Christine. I believe the reason why Christine looks worried is because she knows that Stu
has his gender as an advantage in their fight to become the assistant managers. The
camera focused on Christine’s worried look while another sound resurfaces. The sound
I’m talking about is nails tapping on a wooden table. These nails were later revealed to
be dirty and to belong to Ganush. Throughout their talk, desperation was mainly shown
by Ganush through her body movement and repeated requests. Raimi is smart in the
part where Ganush asked Christine “Won’t you try?” in which before responding, Raimi
uses a few seconds of silence. This simple move implicitly proves that Christine is
doubting on asking her boss about the situation.

After Christine left the table, Ganush removed her veil then started losing the warm
image she had before Christine left. Mr. Jacks did not tell any decision but rather let
Christine decide on her own. On her way back to her table, Christine once glances at the
unoccupied table of the assistant manager then to Stu. Through three camera angles,
one for the table, one for Stu, and one for Christine’s face, Raimi successfully
foreshadowed her decision of not granting another chance. Throughout the confrontation
between Ganush and Christine, Raimi utilized the silence especially before speaking
important lines like Ganush’s “You shame me?!”. After the said fight, when Chrsitine tried
to apologize, the sudden noise shocked me, the angry face of Ganush did not help. The
combination of Ganush’s face, sound effects, and element of surprise made this scene a
jump scare without anyone trying so hard.

The next scene started with Raimi utilizing a wide shot, perhaps wanting to imply
that Christine was the only person in it. Besides the angle, nothing besides the sounds of
Christine’s heel clicking can be heard. By doing this, the viewers expect a jump scare to
happen as silence is usually followed by extreme loudness. However, my expectation did
not immediately happen as silence lasted for several seconds. However, the peak part of
this scene is when Christine locked her car and saw the handkerchief of Ganush flying
towards the door of the back seat. Due to the movement of the handkerchief, Chrstine
moved her head and that’s where she saw Ganush, from a silhouette unlit light finally
showing her features. This slow reveal happened without any background music, but the

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silence was the reason why it's more terrifying. After Ganush resurfaced, the gasps of
Christine were clearly heard due to the lack of music. This gasp was followed by Ganush’s
line, “You shame me.” The line was followed by violence which was mirrored by the
camera angles because besides the actors, the camera was also moving, making the
scene more intense.

The tension and noise only stopped once their car crashed, making Ganush’s head
slammed in the dashboard. From this silence, Ganush growled and bit Christine’s chin
like a beast. The camera shifts its focus from the whole scene to Ganush’s eyes, maybe
implying the importance of the symbolism behind it or maybe Raimi knew how disgusting
the scene is and the change of angles is his way to make it more tolerable for the
audience. The scenes that followed made the movie both terrifying and ridiculous. When
Ganush found her dentures, she put it like how a tekken character would, her
exaggeration is accompanied with a sound effect that emphasized all of her movement.
Then, when I thought the cheesiness stopped, Ganush attacked again but this time,
Christine was able to stab her throat with a ruler. Again, I thought Ganush is finally too
weak to fight but Ganush became like a Plant vs Zombie’s peashooter by aiming and
throwing back the ruler at Christine. Like a ninja, Christine dodges the attack and kicks
Ganush out of the car. The sound effects are not always present, but this is a nice touch
because silence is also a great technique in making the viewers terrified. Thus, alternating
between using a sound effect and silence helps the scene.

Ganush desperately tried to enter the locked car, and I like how Raimi chose to
make Christine confident rather than scared inside the car. Other authors may have
prepared the main character to look relieved yet scared at the same time, but Raimi even
made Christine call Ganush a bitch. I like this because this clearly distinguishes the face
of Christine when she believes she is untouchable due to the mirror between them and
the face of Christine when she realized that Ganush is holding a cinder block. Thus, the
actress went from being a confident fighter to a scared victim being dragged by the
antagonist. After Christine was dragged outside the car, instead of immediately hurting
her, Ganush slowed with a smile on her face, making it seem like she got a better

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punishment than killing Christine. True enough, when Christine was about to cover her
face, Ganush only took a button from her coat.

From upbeat scary sounds, the sound effect turned into a solemn yet terrifying
music which was matched by the wind effect seen on both of the actresses. The
atmosphere was matched by Ganush's dialogue and body language. The old woman was
caressing the button while whispering an unidentified language. I love how the team
behind the movie did not put any subtitles while Ganush was speaking a foreign language
because it makes everything more mysterious. As Ganush finished the curse, the film got
blurred and it only became clear after focusing on the button and Ganush’s eyes. At first,
I thought that the effect was only used for drama, but the camera panned to Christine who
looked like she’s going to faint. Thus, the camera became blurry because Raimi wanted
us to see what Christine was seeing. Before the camera and Christine became completely
black, Ganush finished the sentence “Soon it will be you begging for me”.

What I love about this key scene is the music, silence, props, and the way the
actors act. However, while the actresses were great at acting, the script made them look
like a fool. As I watched their fight scene, I was not sure if I was still watching Drag me to
Hell or another Adam Sandler comedy film or maybe it was both? Maybe what I saw was
not bad writing and choreography, because maybe a Horror Comedy was what Raimi
truly intended to show the viewers.

d. Key Scene 4: The Angry Dead

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 As Clay cleaves and Christine close the door. The camera changed its focus,
instead of Christine, the Camera pans in the floor with rustling dead leaves and back into
the exterior of the house. This shot was coupled with a sound effect that sounds like a
wind but altered for it to be more terrifying. Due to the combination of the sound and the
shot, it gave the viewer an idea that something terrifying is about to happen. The camera
focuses on Christine again, now she is positioned in the center of the frame, behind her
is a window. I love this frame so much because I was so scared that something would
just pop out. I was overthinking by assuming that someone or something is moving behind
her, for that reason, I paused the clip and realized that it’s just leaves!

Next, Christine stands up to get the treat she baked. The whole scene was quiet
even when she saw her childhood picture. The camera zoomed on the picture of a fat girl
with a pig beside her and to Christine’s angry look. Due to the quiet atmosphere, the
sound of Christine crumpling the paper was heard. In addition, after she crumpled the
picture, the terrifying sound began again. I think Raimi wanted to convey in this part that
Lamia finally knew Christine’s secret and that is where the demon will focus on tormenting
her.

The sound in question was a growl that is both terrifying and graceful, then it was
followed by silence and a noise coming from the door. Again, Raimi is really using
shadows and windows in this film! Because as the camera panned back to Christine, the
window was shown and the leaves, despite being natural, looked terrifying due to the
sound effect and the slow motion of the heroine. Raimi greatly utilizes silence, sound
effects, and music in this scene! Everything blended together. However, there was a part
in the scene where multiple camera angles were used for Christine. It seems like Raimi
wanted to go from far to near, but the background music is already amazing, and
Christine, despite being tense, is not moving so much. So, Raimi should have used one
stationary angle to emphasize the emotions because too many shots in a stationary object
made the video seem like it was edited by a high school student who just discovered
video editing.

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 The camera then focused on the swinging gate which is making sound due to
friction. In the said gate, the dead leaves that were shown in the start of this key scene
finally entered her territory. The leaves in question did not enter in a serene fashion
because it scattered in front of Christine with a growling sound. After the growl of the
leaves, as the wind enters the home, so does the Lamia. This was shown by light
flickering, curtain swaying, and pots colliding. Of course, none of this is scary if not paired
with the sound effects used. After the wind blew and the pots calmed down, silence was
utilized again.

With everything calmed down, Christine ran to get a flashlight. Once the flashlight
opens, the terrifying music starts again. Contrary to what happened previously, the shot
is calmer. The camera first focused on Christine, showing her confusion about something.
The “something” was introduced in a slow fashion when the camera panned into a wall
with a shadow. The camera panned back and forth to Christine whose hair was swaying
due to the wind and to the wall in which the monster slowly appeared; this was like how
Ganush was revealed in the car scene. The slow back and forth transition was coupled
with the previous sound used throughout the scene and combined with a chant. As the
monster’s form became clearer, another sound resurfaced which was the growl of the
monster. The said growl made the shadow closer in a rapid manner, and the moment it
got near, Christine was pushed by the wind in the island counter. After bumping her head,
the lights turn on, indicating that the Lamia was gone.

After the incident, Clay decided to stay with Christine. While they were sleeping, a
gloomy music started. Then the camera focuses on a fly that flew directly to the camera.
It is important to note that the said fly is present in 1969, and in the first appearance of
the Lamia in present. So, Raimi may have focused on the fly because it is connected to
Lamia. However, the fly’s purpose escalated in this scene as it did not only show itself but
also entered Christine’s nose and mouth which prompted her to wake up. Throughout the
shining moment of the fly, a buzzing sound was used which made the experience more
disgusting. As Christine woke up, she looked around the room and another creepy music
scarted. I thought that it was just a tease because nothing happened, However, as she

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lay back, Clay suddenly became Ganush. Again, Ganush growled like a dog and
threatened to bite her which is scary when I try to imagine it happening to me in real life
but when watching, it honestly seems silly.

The camera alternately focused on Christine and Ganush who were both
screaming. Then the camera changes angle, from focusing on the face of one character,
it shows the whole action. This is useful especially when Ganush threw up bugs in
Christine’s mouth because the angle shows the intensity of the vomit. Then the camera
refocuses on Christine whose face, especially mouth, is full of bugs and their disgusting
brown juices. This scene showcases Raimi’s innovation, since the movie is marketed to
teenagers, blood and other R-rated effects are out of the question. However, “Drag me to
hell” is proof that you do not need R-rated effects to make viewers feel disgusted and
terrified.

Later that day, Christine still decided to go to work. However, as she sat down, she
heard a buzzing sound in her stomach. She did not think much about it because Stu sat
at her table and began talking about work-related stuff. However, while Stu was talking,
the camera zoomed in on Christine's face while the sound of fingers tapping can be heard.
The camera shifted to the hands; however, it was not Stu’s but Ganush’s. The camera
shifts from Christine’s terrified face and Ganush’s hands with each shot zooming in as the
music gets louder. With all the trauma Christine got from Ganush, she screamed at Stu,
prompting the man to leave.

When I thought the hardships of Christine were over, it resumed right after Stu left.
Christine answered the ringing phone, but the camera is not focused on her face but on
the paper on the table. The white paper starts turning her as red liquid rapidly drops in it.
The camera changed angle, showing the blood in Christine’s nose, proving that she is the
source of the blood. Then the camera turned to Mr. Jacks who pointed out the obvious
and tried to help. However, as Christine rejects the help of her boss, a ridiculous amount
of blood comes out of her mouth. When she tried to cover it, the blood went through her
nose. Thus, like a water gun in the summer heat, Mr. Jacks was drenched with the blood

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of Christine. After focusing on Christine’s awkward situation, the camera panned back to
Mr. Jacks who was literally Red.

Due to all the misfortunes that happened, it is no surprise that Christine would try
to apologize to Ganush. When she entered Ganush’s house, she was welcomed with
upbeat fun music, which was probably the first time this type of music was used in the
film. Besides the music, even the people were having fun. There are people who are
gambling, drinking, and laughing. In short, Raimi created a scene in which it seems like
a festival is happening. Then the camera shifted to a man in a ponytail, speaking a foreign
language, which I believe signifies the different culture of Christine to Ganush’s family.
True enough, the man pointed Ganush’s handkerchief. The moment the handkerchief
was shown, the music changed from an upbeat happy music to a slow terrifying one.

The camera refocused on Christine whose hair is getting swayed again by wind, then
the portrait of Ganush was revealed, the portrait was familiar to Christine because
similarly, America prepares a portrait of the dead in funerals. Due to the same culture
shared, Christine steps back, not wanting to believe that Ganush might be dead.
However, her fear was confirmed as she tripped and fell above the corpse. The weight of
Christine made the table collapse, making her and Ganush roll into the floor with positions
changed. Throughout this scene, the camera was zoomed out, thus the roll and the way
their position changed was clearly shown. From a zoomed-out frame, the camera zoomed
in, just in time to closely show the viewers how the embalming fluids of Ganush was
vomited in Christine’s mouth and face. It was incredibly disgusting but like the previous
effects, the amount is too much. While I may not have a degree in mortuary science, I
feel like the amount of purge is too much especially when we consider how it came out.
Ganush was already dead, so she does not have the motion to vomit the fluid in a hose-
like manner. It would be more possible if the fluid just came out like a waterfall, with little
liquid pressure. However, I am reminded that the movie I’m watching is not science fiction
when Ganush was able to grab a huge portion of Christine’s hair while her family carried
her. Again, besides getting disgusted, I was laughing because of the ridiculousness of the
effects.

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 e. Key Scene 5: Try and try until Lamia die

Hopeless, Christine came to Rham Jas for help. Rham Jas discovered the reason
behind the attacks and narrated the story. Instead of inserting more scary scenes, Raimi
utilized the actor’s deep voice and a book to convey the story. I believe this is a great
decision because the viewers already have their fair share of thrill, thus what the viewers
need is logic which can only be given through explaining the demon. The music in this
scene was terrifying but silence was also used. Besides the story, Rham offered a
solution which is animal sacrifice. The camera angle zoomed out to show not just the
emotions of Christine but also her body movement. Based on her reaction, Christine is
truly against the idea. But her tantrums were silenced by the line “You will be surprised
on what you’ll be willing to do when the Lamia comes for you.” Then the camera focused
on the book given by Rham to Christine entitled “Animal sacrifices in the service of
deities,” the angle of the camera did not change as Christine opened the book, revealing
an illustration of an animal being sacrificed.

After the camera loses its focus on the book to turn back to Christine, it was clear
that the book became the transition from Rham’s place to Chrstine’s house. This was a
smart transition because throughout the past scenes, the movie wasted several minutes
in car scenes just to connect one place from another. Then, from focusing on Christine’s
face, the camera focused on her cat. After this, the terrifying music started playing again,
while the camera that was zoomed out, was slowly zooming in on Christine’s back. So,

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the camera made it seem like it was the perspective of the monster who is getting nearer
to Christine. In fact, the cinematography reminds me of moments in which I shock my
siblings. As the camera got closer, Christine looked behind her. This angle showed how
terrified Christine was. Then after walking to discover where the sound is coming from
more noise emerges, particularly a noise that sounds like someone wants to enter. Like
a normal horror movie heroine, instead of hiding, Christine went closer.

Now, the camera focuses on a window with white curtains swaying. Without the
music, the shot was serene. However, from the very same curtain emerges the shadow
of Lamia. The camera panned from different windows, all showing a shadow. Due to fear,
Christine weirdly crawled in the first few steps of the stairs before running like a normal
person. I guess the movie failed to include a clip in which Christine fell to her knees before
reaching the stairs because it was extremely weird for a person to randomly crawl in
staircases. Throughout these scenes, the music was upbeat, in fact it matches the motion
of Christine as she went to the second floor.

Before Christine entered her room, the upbeat yet terrifying music stopped, making
her look at the stairs. Then after the silence, another terrifying but slow music resurfaces
as the shadow of a monster was seen going up through the stairs. This made Christine
lock her room and call her boyfriend. Besides focusing on Christine, the movie also
showed Clay being busy at work. Then another power of Lamia was shown by Raimi as
the fully charged cell phone of Christine loses its charge, ultimately shutting the phone
down. However, Raimi really loves scaring people because besides the Lamia that lurks
inside the house, he still decided to put a jump scare, right after the phone died. Then,
Christine saw a shadow entering the space under her door. The shadow extends, making
it seem like the shadow wanted to grab her.

Withal, Christine ran to her window, hoping to come out. As I get scared of the
shadow whose powers are like The Incredibles’ Elastigirl. Raimi unexpectedly puts the
growling monster in the very same window, Christine is trying to open. In my opinion,
everything was already perfect! There were jump scare, broken windows, and a

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screaming heroine. However, Raimi ruined it by making Christine fly like a kite. If there’s
something I love about the flying scene is the camera and the sound effects. Besides
Christine getting dizzy, the camera was also spinning, making the viewers feel what
Christine was feeling. The sound effect was similar to how an electric fan sounds and it
stopped as the beast growled, and Christine was thrown into a cabinet.

After the terrifying experience, Christine just wants the curse to end. The camera
focuses on a knife holder. The camera was stationary and all the movement that can be
seen is a knife getting lifted. Then the camera focuses on a while surface in which the
silhouette of Christine reemerges. From being a silhouette, the camera changes its angle
finally showing Christine’s sad but mad emotion as she lifts a knife. Then, the knife struck
a living being, proven by the blood that was shown. While the actual murder was not
shown, the next footage focuses shows Christine’s cat getting buried.

Believing that the curse was lifted, Christine dressed herself in yellow, which is a
happy color due to its connection to the sun, in attending the family dinner of the Dalton.
However, when she arrived in the house, an angry black cat welcomed her. At the dinner,
Christine expected the worst out of Trudy, but they ended up laughing.

However, the fun drained out of Christine as terrifying music played again. After a
short period of the sound, silence was back. Then the camera focuses on the cake in
Christine’s plate. The cake is unlike any other as it starts to move. Besides the cake, the
camera focuses on Christine’s face to capture the confusion. After a few seconds of
moving, the cake revealed the colored eye of Ganush. Instead of being scared, once the
camera refocuses on Christine, Christine got her fork and stabbed the eye. The camera
perfectly captured how the blood and yellow liquid came out of the eye. Of course, the
shots are not complete without the sound effects. After Christine stabbed the eye, a cat
shrieked, making Christine gasp loudly. Besides Raimi impairing the vision of Christine,
he also impaired Christine’s auditory senses. Regardless of the temptation around her,
Chrsitine ate the cake. But she badly did not accept it as she choked. Worse, Raimi did
not only write a story in which the protagonist choke in front of her possible in-laws for a

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fly also came out of Christine’s mouth, making the Daltons’ disgusted. When I thought
everything was finished, the Lamia attacked both the vision and hearing of Christine,
making Christine believe that the monster was at the door. Instead of a close-up shot, the
camera showed Christine losing her sanity together with the Dalton family completely
confused. After everyone was scared, Christine finally realized that none of it was real.

f. Key Scene 6: Shaun’s back at it again

After paying 10,000 dollars, Christine went to Shaun San Dena, the woman who
has a chance in fighting the Lamia. The first scene involves music that is not terrifying but
mysterious. With it, a wide angled shot of Christine’s back and the house where the movie
started was shown. After talking about what happened in 1969, Shaun San Dena’s back
was at center of the film as she opened the place where they will do the Seance. After
they were seated, a sound made Christine shriek out of fear. However, as the camera
panned into the source of the sound, it was revealed that it was only a goat, not a monster.
From a well-lighted room, San Dena signed for her assistant to turn off the light. I do not
know the purpose of this as it was not explained but technicality wise, the transition from
bright to dim made the setting scarier.

Besides the lighting, I also like the camera angles when the four characters start
holding each other’s hand. The placing of the camera made it seem like the viewers are

18
also being asked to hold the hands of the characters. When they began reciting the
prayer, the camera quickly panned the camera from each character, highlighting the
different emotions they were feeling. Shaun San Dena looks unbothered, maybe because
of her experience. While Christine looks like she’d rather be anywhere than that room.
The foreign song San Dena was singing also made the seance more terrific. I like how
the loudness and the speed of their voices changed when San Dena began shouting.
Then as the phrase “I welcome the dead into my soul” was repeated, the camera also
increased its speed. At one point, it did not care whether the footage is recognizable
because the movement was too fast for a figure to be clearly seen. This type of
cinematography made the scene more exciting. Then from the rapid movement, the
camera focuses on San Dena who ordered everyone to stop chanting. Thus, from a
chaotic audio to chaotic scene, everything became calm.

From the silence, the chaos once again was emphasized. However, the chaos that
is now present is not due to humans but supernatural forces. The camera focuses on the
chandelier that began shaking then to the teacup that does the same thing. However, it
was later confirmed that the reason behind the movement of the objects were ghosts.
Nonetheless, a minute later, the Lamia came more dramatically. The noise was so loud
that not only the characters were affected but also me. I lowered my volume because the
noise hurts my ear while the Camera panned into the different characters showing that of
them were affected. Besides sound, the Lamia did not only shake a single object for she
shook the foundations of the house. From an annoying noise, silence was once again
used. However, the silence did not last, a sound similar to car screeching played loudly.
This sound was accompanied by the camera shaking while zooming in on the characters’
faces. It seems like Raimi wanted the camera to be the eyes of Lamia. At first, Lamia tried
to enter Rham then Christine, but she successfully entered the body of Shaun San Dena.

Due to this, San Dena made a struggling sound as if her body was being changed
from human to beast. True enough, the camera showed her eyes which turned black.
Besides her appearance, the voice became deeper. While Lamia was trapped in the body
of San Dena, Rham Jas distracted her by asking her questions. Then the camera focused

19
on San Dena’s hand which Christine grabbed and put into the goat’s head. Due to this,
Lamia’s soul was transferred into the goat, and this is the start of another comedic scene.
The camera focused on the goat as the goat did not only speak but also cursed. While
the goat was busy ranting, Milos aimed at his head. However, he did not hit her, in fact,
he even freed her. The mistake of Milos caused him to get bitten then the camera panned
on Christine trying to help Milos. However, another jump scare happened as Milos was
possessed by the Lamia. When Milos was about to attack her, Rham saved her. Thus,
Milos began strangling Rham. I love the angle of the camera in this scene because
besides the two males, Christine was seen in the background. Then due to no reason at
all, Milos let go of Rham’s Neck and started dancing while he’s flying. This ruins the
terrifying scene because despite the background music being scary, the situation of Milos
made it funny.

Rham tried controlling Milos once again, but Lamia made use of her telekinesis
power to throw a chair to the man. Then Christine becomes the center of the attention
again, both by the camera and Lamia. Chrstine ran to try saving herself, but Lamia put
objects in her way. The said object pushed her to Milos then unexpectedly, Milos was
immediately behind her. The voice of the actor and the background music made this
scene terrifying but again, the effects made it funny especially when a cat exited Milos’s
mouth. In the background, Rham woke Shaun San Dena. Then when the camera panned
back to Christine and Milos, Milos was already opening her mouth making it seem like he
would devour Christine. The camera also briefly shows Christine, covering her body, not
looking at Milos at all.

The camera got nearer into the mouth of Milos, which I believe was done for the
viewer to feel like they were the one getting eaten. However, Milos suddenly stopped as
an off-camera chant was said by Shaun San Dena. After the chant, the camera shakes
like an earthquake are happening. This trick made the viewers feel more tense. Then the
camera showed a wide angle in which all characters are seen. It was followed by a flat-
lay angle in which the camera perfectly captured the fountain of blood that comes out of
Milos’s mouth. The foreign chant and the sound of Milos vomiting made the scene

20
terrifying. However, if I have a problem in this scene, it would be excessive blood. After
the chant, Milos’s body was used in turning off the fire which made the room dark.
However, after a millisecond of darkness, all light turned on again. After realizing she
can’t punish innocent people, she called Stu. However, at the end she realized that even
Stu does not deserve hell.

g. Key Scene 7: The gift

After knowing that the curse was not done, Christine was instructed by Rham to
give it to another human being. Christine decided to do it in a random restaurant, however
as she was about to leave, she realized that she lost the envelope. Then the camera
focuses on numerous pieces of paper on the car’s floor. From the chaotic papers,
Christine found the envelope. The scene transitioned from her standing outside to her
sitting inside. The camera first focuses on Christine tapping her fingers on the table,
indicating that she was nervous. The camera focused on Christine looking at the people
with her. After focusing on several people, the camera panned into an old man who
seemed too sick. The frame lasted there longer then back to Christine who is now walking
towards the man. However, the man was saved by her wife because Christine realized
that she does not want to ruin the perfect love that exists between the old couple.

21
 After realizing that she can’t let anyone suffer, the camera zoomed in on Christine's
sad face. Then it panned into a newspaper, as soon as Christine grabbed it, the Camera
focused on the Obituaries announcement section in which Ganush’s picture is posted.
So, Christine decided to bring back the curse to Ganush. The scene started with a wide
angled shot in which thunder was heard. Then the camera zoomed in to Christine who
was already digging the grave. Raimi spared us of the boring details because Christine
was able to feel the coffin immediately. The sound of rain and thunder make the scene
perfect. After Christine opens the coffin, the camera focuses on the hand of Ganush which
is not opening to receive the envelope. While struggling, Christine caused Ganush to be
awakened. The effect here, unlike the previous special effects work, because the effect
was not too much. After opening the mouth of Ganush, the camera angle was changed
into flat lay which is perfect especially when Christine began stating her speech.

This was already a perfect scene to end it but while Christine tries her best not to
drown, the camera suddenly focuses on the flood where Ganush’s head resurfaces. The
camera becomes blurry due to water droplets which I believe is Raimi’s way of making
the viewers feel that they were either Christine or Ganush. Christine screamed and as the
scream ended, the camera focused on the cross that fell directly into the head of Christine
and Ganush. The frame zoomed in to clearly show how slow the head of both actors
submerged. From a close-up shot, the camera once again offered a flat-lay view of the
scene. Then it slowly went nearer, the movement only stopped once Christine emerged.

h. Key Scene 8: Unhappy Ending

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 After saving herself, the rain washed the dirt of Christine’s face. The rain was also
used as a transition for a shower scene. The transition indicates that from a chaotic life,
the life of Christine is back to normal. The shower scene was followed by the camera
focusing on a telephone. The man speaking is Mr. Jacks who states that Christine has
the position of Assistant manager. The message of Mr. Jacks was played even after the
camera was not focused on the telephone. In fact, it was the audio playing while Christine
was on her way to the train station. The camera shows Christine walking, however, even
if Christine was already gone, the camera did not move. At first, I found it weird but a few
seconds later, Christine came back to the frame. The camera panned to show the viewers
on what made Christine come back and it was a blue coat. The saleslady stated that they
were close, but Christine begged to get it. While Christine was busy negotiating, the
camera focuses on a ring which is held by Clay. Raimi implicitly shows in this scene that
Clay is planning to propose. Besides the ring, the idea of the proposal was strengthened
when the camera showed Clay being nervous.

The nervous face of clay only stopped when Christine came into the picture. The
solemn music and the speech of the actors made it seem like Raimi created a Disney
movie. Then their sweet messages turned into a topic about Christine’s new coat. The
camera focused on Christine feeling carefree while spinning. However, her carefree spirit
stopped when Clay told her that he found something. The solemn music that once existed
was changed to the terrifying music that was heard throughout the film. The camera
focused on Christine-s face who stared in disbelief. Then it zoomed on Clay’s hand getting
the button out of the envelope. Once the button was immediately out, Christin gasped. In
addition to her gasps, the camera zoomed extremely close to her eyes. From then on, the
camera panned back and forth to Christine’s tearful eyes and the button. As Clay
explained that she got the wrong envelope, the camera distorted Clay’s face, making the
viewers relate on how Christine sees the world during that moment.

From extreme close-up, the camera came back to normal to show how Christine’s
disbelief made her step back. Then the camera panned to Clay who can’t do anything but
scream Hey. To show the distance between the couple, Raimi utilized a wide angle. This

23
angle works best because the scene shows how Clay almost got Christine’s hand.
However, almost is truly never enough because Christine fell into the tracks. To showcase
this, the camera was put in a low angle for it to be able to focus on the feet of Christine.
After this, the camera panned into the shocked Christine and hysterical Clay. Then, a
wide angle was used again to show how a train is almost approaching at Christine’s
direction. The loud noise also helped in making this film more surreal. As the train sounds
louder, the camera focuses on Christine’s face who is just stuck staring at the approaching
train. Then the camera showed clay, desperately trying to rich his girlfriend. The wide
angle was used again to show how the crust breaks and how hands enter to grab
Christine to hell. The screams of Christine and the disbelief in Clay’s eyes will forever
haunt me as their happy ending was stopped by a button from a gypsy. The last scene is
focused on Clay who alternately looked at the button and the rail where his girlfriend
disappeared. Then the title of the movie was displayed, making the viewers question why
they expected a different ending.

Plot
The story started in 1969, After robbing a silver necklace from a "gypsy chariot," a
husband and wife seek the help of psychic Shaun San Dena, claiming that their son has
been hearing demonic entities' voices. San Dena helps the family by performing a ritual,
but they are ambushed by an unknown force who drags the child into Inferno. Due to San
Dena’s failure to save the boy and kill the evil spirit, she swore that they will meet again.
The start of the film hooks the audience because of two reasons. First, instead of utilizing
American actors, the plot utilizes Spanish speaking people making the movie more
mysterious. The reason for this is that only few of the dialogues have subtitles, so the
non-Spanish speaking viewers are left to guess on what is happening.

With this, in the present timeline, we meet bank loan employee Christine Brown,
who is competing with her colleague Stu Rubin for the position of assistant manager. To
seek an advancement, her supervisor, Jim Jacks, tells her to show that she can make
tough choices. Throughout the scenes in the office, Christine is shown to be timid and a
follower. She was submissive, not only to her boss who treats her like a servant but also

24
to her male coworker. However, her first personality was changed when Christine is
visited by Sylvia Ganush, an elderly woman who requests a third extension on her home
mortgage. Christine rejects it to prove herself to her boss, despite her knowing that
Ganush is on a fixed salary and has medical issues. Due to desperation, Ganush, who
identifies herself as a proud woman, swallows her pride and kneels in front of Christine
to beg her not to repossess her home. While Christine is saddened, she is also terrified
of the woman's tenacity and contacts security, who take Ganush away while Ganush
blames and even tries to hurt Christine for "shaming" her and promises to take revenge
on Christine. At first, Christine felt bad but when her boss told her that she did the right
thing, all of her worries suddenly faded. This part of the plot shows the duality of the main
protagonist and one of the main antagonists.

After Christine finished her work, she walked and entered her car to return home
but to her surprise, Ganush was waiting in the back seat. The old woman tried her best
to harm Christine, but she fought back making the gypsy suffer from injuries that should
have killed her. However, instead of dying, Ganush was able to pull a button from
Christine's jacket and use it to curse her. At first, Christine did not know that she was
cursed. Thankfully, after the incident, she together with her boyfriend Clay, went to Rham
Jas, a seer. Rham confirmed that Christine is being haunted by a dark spirit, likely the
result of a curse. This curse destroyed the life of Christine. First, it attacks Christine at
work by making her nose excessively bleed and altering her reality. Due to the incidents
that happened in the office, Christine lost her focus making Stu steal the Macpherson
files.

After getting attacked at work, Christine went to Ganush house to apologize and
to lift the curse. Sadly, Ganush cannot lift the curse because she’s already in a casket.
Desperate, Christine went back to Rham, who explains that as long as Christine is the
owner of an accursed object, she will be haunted by a powerful demon called Lamia. The
said demon will torment her for three days before taking her to Hell for eternity. He
suggests a sacrifice to appease the demon. Desperate to stop the attacks, Christine

25
reluctantly sacrifices her pet kitten. While the mystery helped in making Lamia scarier,
this part of the plot was lackluster because the origin of the Lamia was not explored.

According to Britannica (n.d.), Lamia was a female devil in Greek mythology who
consumed youngsters. According to the primitive discourses on Aristophanes' Peace, she
was a Libyan queen who Zeus cherished. However, Hera being a jealous wife robbed all
of Lamia's children. Due to Lamia being robbed of motherhood, she slaughtered every
child she could get into her control. Once she became a monster, her beautiful facade
also changed. Geller (2016) adds that Lamia has the head and breasts of a woman, but
the rest of her body is serpentine. By some accounts, her chimeric form is hideous, but
other writers seem to have been mesmerized by her form, even describing her scales as
precious gems and the coils of her body as graceful. Regardless of what Lamia truly
looks like, it is clear that the movie failed to follow, not just her appearance but also her
attitude because Lamia in Drag me to hell is a demon who looks like a goat, not a snake.

Besides work, the life of Christine revolves around her boyfriend, Clay Dalton.
Thus, it is indeed a big deal to meet the parents of Clay. Satisfied with the sacrifice she
made; Christine decided to go to the family dinner. However, despite the sacrifice, Lamia
ruined the dinner as Christine was plagued with grotesque hallucinations like bugs
appearing in a cake she bought for the night, and auditory illusions which caused her to
scream abruptly and frighten Clay and his parents.

Out of hope, Christine returns to Rham Jas who says that Shaun San Dena will
risk her life to stop the demon for a fee of $10,000. While the said payment is possible, I
doubt that Shaun San Dena was truly the one who asked for it. The reason for this is
since 1969, San Dena has been waiting for the chance to meet and defeat Lamia again.
This is supported by the happenings in 1969, the cars of Juan’s family are old and used
indicating that they were not rich. However, when San Dena exited the gate, she did not
ask for money but rather immediately went to the sick boy. So, since then San Dena does
not care about profit. For this reason, I assume that Rham was just asking for money due
to greed, especially when we consider the fact that he once met Clay, who screams rich

26
boy energy. True enough, when San Dena saw Christine, she stated that she has always
been waiting for the chance to encounter Lamia again. She did not say that she was
waiting for someone to pay her to fight.

Moving on, San Dena prepares a seance to trap the Lamia's spirit in a goat and
kill it, and then allows the Lamia to inhabit her body. Rham Jas tries to persuade it not to
steal Christine's soul, but it vows never to stop until Christine dies. Christine then places
San Dena's hand on the goat, causing the spirit to enter its body. San Dena's assistant,
Milos, attempts to kill the goat, but is bitten by the goat and becomes possessed and
attacks the members of the seance. San Dena banishes the Lamia from the seance but
dies in the process. Christine thinks the medium has overcome the Lamia, but Rham Jas
explains that she only managed to drive the spirit away until the next day. This part of the
plot excites me because after all the gore details and demonic voices, I was shocked to
know that Lamia was not still defeated. In most horror movies, there are two conflicts.
However, drag me to hell is unlike those films because first, Christine killed her cat which
shall defeat Lamia, but it did not. Next, Shaun San Dena, the most powerful seer who
could defeat Lamia died but despite her dramatic death and horrifying seance, the Lamia
was still alive! So as a frequent viewer of horror films, I was astounded.

After explaining, Rham seals the cursed button in an envelope and tells Christine
that she can get rid of the curse by giving the button to someone as a gift, thereby passing
the curse on to that person. To let go of the curse, Christine went to a restaurant. While
it was not explicitly stated, the look that Christine gives each person in the restaurant
implies that she wanted to give the button to a random person. However, she realizes
that she can’t just let innocent people suffer. Thus, she decides to give the envelope to
Stu in revenge for him stealing her work. Again, Christine changes her mind after seeing
how pathetic Stu is when he meets up with her. This part also raises questions specifically
about Stu because this was the last part where Stu was shown but the plot failed to
introduce his motives. Besides that, I view inconsistency on the way Christine handled
Stu. Christine, despite being nice, is an achiever who would do anything to be the
assistant manager. Thus, it makes no sense that Christine just let Stu go because first,

27
Stu treats her like the second sex despite both of them being capable in their jobs.
Second, Stu stole from her! So, if there is anyone who deserves the curse it would be
Stu. Thus, as a viewer, I think I deserve a reason why Stu shall be saved or a reason to
justify his bad behavior.

With guidance from Rham Jas, Christine learns that she can give it back to Ganush
even though the woman is dead. Christine digs up Ganush's grave, and after struggling
momentarily with the corpse, Christine “formally” gives back the button, and callously
jams the envelope in Ganush’s mouth just in time before dawn, apparently ending the
curse. Again, maybe the writers want the story to be longer and more complicated, but it
makes the story silly. The reason for this is why did Rham not immediately tell Christine
that the button can be given to the dead? If this were the case, then the movie would have
extra minutes to focus on a more important storyline.

Christine returns home and prepares to meet Clay at Los Angeles Union Station
for a weekend trip. She gets a message from her boss telling her that she landed her
dream position after Stu confessed to stealing her work and was fired. At the station,
Christine buys a coat that she has been wanting as a sign of a new beginning. Clay,
planning to propose, reveals to Christine that he found the envelope containing the cursed
button in his car; Christine then realizes she mixed up her envelope with another that she
gave to Clay when she accidentally dropped it and that the curse was never lifted.
Horrified, Christine backs away and falls onto the tracks. As Clay looks on, unable to
reach Christine, a train barrels towards her, while fiery hands suddenly emerge from the
tracks and drag Christine into the fiery pits of Hell. Clay, holding the button in his hand at
the edge of the train platform, with tears rolling down his face, stares at the tracks in utter
disbelief and horror.

I really love the ending of Drag me to hell because of its twist. From the first half of
the epilogue, everything seems to be back to normal. Christine got her job back and she
got a new coat as well! However, the viewers came to realize in the second half that the
movie we are watching is not a fairytale for we are watching a horror movie which mostly

28
ends with a twist. Even at the very last minute, the screenplay amazes me because I
thought that Christine endured the crazy Ganush, the manipulative Stu, the demon Lamia,
but the reason for her downfall is the train? But then, as the train got nearer, I remembered
the curse in which whoever receives the button, will be dragged to hell. As I remember
the curse, the ground opened and there I saw, the woman who was both the villain and
victim of Drag me to hell literally got dragged into hell.

Characters
The protagonist of the story is Christine Brown who works as a bank loan officer in
Los Angeles, California. What I love about Christine is the relatability of her character.
While what she did to Ganush was bad, it made me wonder that she is just like the rest
of us. We are all capable of making mistakes that we can’t undo. For that reason, I loathe
how the movie victimized her yet at the same time villainized her while she was only doing
her job. The kindness of Christine is shown when she cannot give the cursed button to a
living human because she does not want others to suffer. Besides that, despite being
abused due to her being a woman in the office, she tries her best to be nice. In addition,
Clay's mother dislikes her but she is still nice to the woman. In short, Christine is nice and
it's sad how in the one moment she decided to be tough, her whole life was ruined. That’s
why when she was dragged into hell, I felt sympathy because all her kindness was nothing
just because of one mistake that she did not even do out of anger or jealousy because
she only did what was required to do based on her job responsibilities. So, judging
Christine based on what she did is like judging a lawyer who is representing a convicted
person.

Next, I will discuss Sylvia Ganush, the old woman responsible for most of the
problems that Christine experienced throughout the film. Ganush was described as a
proud gyspy woman who is struggling to pay for her loaned house. Like Christine, the
character of Ganush is both moral and immoral. The story made Ganush good because
all she wants is to have her house, a problem that most people experienced. However,
the story made her bad when she cursed someone who is simply doing her job. Getting
mad at someone is normal, especially in her case, but hurting someone and cursing

29
someone to go to hell is too much. Besides that, while this may not be the most important
details, when Christine was gone, Ganush was shown to be fixing her dentures in
Christine’s table and stealing her candies. Thus, besides her anger issues, Ganush does
not know how to respect one’s space and she even stole something.

In connection to Ganush, this movie has another protagonist which is the demon
Lamia. Lamia is a primitive and powerful devil that can be summoned by villainous
sorcerers or witches, as well as Gypsies seeking vengeance on those who have
mistreated them; once initiated, the Lamia will infuriate the victim for three days and nights
before opening a gateway to Hell and dragging them into the fiery inferno of misguided
souls, where they will experience an everlasting misery at the hands of the evil dead.
Lamia first appeared in the story in 1969 in which she successfully got the body and soul
of the young thief Juan. Besides Juan, Christine was also victimized. Both Juan and
Christine were cursed because they angered gypsies. While the team behind the movie
was successful in making the Lamia horrifying, I think they failed to explain the story of
this monster. Is the monster simply mad or is there reason behind her motive? Where
does the monster originate? Why can the monster be summoned by gypsies?

Besides the major antagonists, Stu Rubin, the rival of Christine for the assistant
manager position is considered as a minor antagonist. While he may not have the power
to curse or to drag Christine to hell, Stu has the power to ridicule and abuse Christine.
Stu is constantly attempting to report Christine to their manager, Jim Jacks, over some
made-up problem. He enjoys making up stories about Christine not pushing as hard as
she should or being selfish. This is proven at the start of the film in which she accused
Christine of messing up his order. Worse, Stu is not contended in making problems
because he also stole the McPherson loan. The said loan is important for the company
thus when it was stolen, Jacks gave the position to Stu instead of Christine.

Symbols
The cinematography part tackled minor symbolisms that exist throughout the film.
However, this part will focus on the major symbolisms. The first symbol in the film is the

30
sign of Universal Studios. When I watched the film for the second time, I realized that
unlike the other movies distributed by Universal Studios, the sign looks different in the
movie, Drag me to hell. Thus, I searched the internet to find an answer, and I found out
that it was a nod to Evil dead, the movie that made the writer and director of Drag me to
hell famous. To commemorate this, the picture opens with the same 1980s-era Universal
logo that was prevalent at the time the Evil Dead movies were produced (Dee, 2020).
Besides the logo, The 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88, the yellow vehicle shown in various
scenes throughout the film, was the famous car driven by Ash in the Evil Dead series
(Laurel, 2020).

Besides commemoration to the past films of the director, the movie presented
various symbols about legends and folktales, including ghosts, gypsy curse, and a black
cat. However, the most significant symbol that was given attention in the film is Ganush’s
eyes. Ganush, who is half-blind, is a jettatura with the ability to bestow the Evil Eye, a
spell that may be transmitted by focusing one's stare on a desired object, individual, or
animal. The Evil Eye is among the earliest jinxes of all history, appearing in both
mythology and horror flicks. Those with peculiar eyes, notably those with one blue and
one dark eye, are thought to be capable of casting this curse. As showcased in the film,
the eyes of Ms. Ganush were in the same color. The evil eye, according to Volandes
(2020), is a gaze that is assumed to bring misery to the person who receives it. With this,
even without the button, Christine is doomed because the power of Ganush is beyond the
fact that she is a gypsy for she is also a jettatura.

In connection to this, When Christine visits Rham Jas, the first thing viewers see
in Jas’s store is a Nazar amulet hanging on the wall. The Nazar amulet was believed to
be a protection. However, this was insignificant in the case of Christine as she was
already cursed when she saw it. I think the reason why Raimi still showed the amulet is
to give hope to the viewers who know what kind of symbol it is. So, by simply putting an
amulet that gives protection, maybe, the viewers will be swayed into believing that
Christine will not be dragged into hell.

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 Next, the fly in the film was shown in 1969 and also the present. It started
appearing after Christine was cursed. I believe that the fly simply means that Christine is
already dead. Ryan (n.d.) explained that flies are attracted to rotting meat because of
their eating habits and breeding process. To further explain this, Ryan (n.d.) states that if
a rotten meat is left uncovered, flies will swarm on and around it. This is similar to what
happened to Christine in the scene where she was sleeping. So, the fly has always been
there to give a clue about the ending.

Besides the nod to the previous work of the director and legends, the movie also
nods to a body disorder. At the start of the present period, Christine was shown looking
at cupcakes but not buying anything. Besides this, when she bakes a cake to bring to
Clay’s parents’ house, she doesn’t dare taste it. The movie provided an answer on why
Christine rarely eats and that is through the childhood photo of her. The picture consists
of a potbellied child next to blue-ribbon big in which the child is hailed as the Pork Queen
Fair 1995. Due to the symbols presented, the movie can make viewers assume that
Christine was once a fat girl who is now monitoring her diet. However, the symbolisms do
not stop there as several reviewers of the film believe that Lamia represents a body
disorder. The reason for this is most of Christine’s hallucination involves the mouth, it can
either be creatures wanting to enter or creatures exiting her mouth.

Themes and Messages

The movie teaches us about hell. However, this review will not focus on the hell
beneath us but on the hell within us. The reason for this is throughout the film, Lamia was
the only demon from hell who was introduced, and Lamia only kills due to a curse.
However, after analyzing the characters in the story, I realized that humans are the
demons we shall fear. First, Juan, despite being young, was a thief. Worse, while the
reason why Juan stole is not stated, I research the year 1969 to find out the events that
occurred in the said year. In 1969, America was in the Vietnam war. According to Spector
(n.d), based on the official estimate of Vietnam, there were 2,000,000 civilians from
America and Vietnam died. Besides lives, wars ruin homes and livelihoods. Thus, it is no
surprise because a young boy like Juan is willing to steal to live.

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 Besides Juan, the main protagonist represents humans who lie to themselves and
to others. At the start of the present period in the Film, Christine was listening and copying
the accents of the man on the radio. In addition, when Christine was being ridiculed by
both Mr. Jacks and Stu, she did not fight for herself. Another proof that Christine is a liar
is when her boyfriend saw her eating Ice cream because according to Clay, Christine is
lactose intolerant. So, Christine creates a fake version of herself. Besides being a fake,
Christine proves that there are some humans who do not care what happens to others,
as long as they strive. This was proven not only by what she did to Ganush but also to
what she did to her cat. This bad behavior of Christine was further strengthened by what
she was willing to do in the restaurant with the cursed button. While she backed down,
her first plan was to give it to a random stranger despite knowing what the button will
cause.

Of course, Ganush is worth mentioning when speaking about demons in society.

Based on the movie, Ganush showcased 3 out of 7 deadly sins namely Sloth, Pride, and
Wrath. However, in my opinion, the worst sin Ganush made is tormenting a woman for
doing her job. She treats Christine like she’s evil, but they are just the same. Both of them
are willing to afflict pain to others just to get what they want. Besides the mentioned
characters, Mr. Jacks is a misogynist, Trudy Clayton is an elitist, Rhas is possibly greedy,
and Stu is a cheater. The reason why there is hell in society is stated by Raimi himself.
According to him, there are multiple explanations for being selfish and unkind to others.
Reason can be used to justify them, or some use the rules of an institution, a government,
or the military. In short, there are several justified and excellent grounds to torment and
be harsh to others.

Besides Raimi’s reason, the movie also stated possible reasons why earth is
slowly becoming full of demons. Based on my interpretation, sinners exist because others
amplify and justify other people’s sins. First, Christine allows herself to be ridiculed, not
only by men but also by the mother of her boyfriend. In short, she allows to be treated like
she’s nothing. Besides that, humans also amplify the sins of others. Like what happened

33
at the feud in the bank, Christine knew that what she did was wrong, but her worries faded
when her boss supported her and even complimented her. This message wants the
viewers to remember that getting support does not mean that a belief is right. To further
relate it in reality, I would state the happenings in the Holocaust. To the anti-Semitic Nazi
leader Adolf Hitler, Jews were an inferior race, an alien threat to German racial purity and
community. However, Hitler was not the only one who viewed jews in this perspective
because hundreds of thousands joined him. With this wrong belief, approximately six
million Jews and some 5 million others, targeted for racial, political, ideological, and
behavioral reasons, died. More than one million of those who perished were children
(History.com editors, 2009). In short, sinful people exist because they are tolerated and
even supported.

However, while the movie taught us about hell, it also taught us about balance.
Like a yin and yang, for every good there is bad and for every bad there is good. This is
proven by the main character who has always been nice but her desire for more made
her do something that hurt someone. It was also showcased by Rham Jas who, despite
being helpful, asked for a ridiculous amount of money just to call Shaun San Dena.
Besides the two characters, Trudy Dalton, the mother of Clay treats Christine unfairly due
to her love for her son. Lastly, Mr. Jacks also showcases this duality as throughout the
film, he seems like a concerned boss but besides that, Mr. Jacks treats Christine as a
personal assistant, devaluing the woman who deserves to be respected like him. The
duality of these characters made it easy for the viewers to relate to them, making the
movie more memorable and relatable. Besides the impact of these duality to viewers, it
is also proof that no man is pure evil, and no one deserves to be judged for a single sin.

To further explain my point, I would state the similarity of the story of Juan and
Christine. Both of the mentioned characters are victims of individuals who are blind at
seeing reality. Because while it is true that Juan is a thief and Christine is blinded by her
dreams, none of them deserves to go to hell. If anyone in this world believes that they
deserve what happened, then I want these people to face a mirror and ask themselves
the question “Am I different from Juan and Christine? Am I a perfect human being?” If the

34
answer is yes, then those people are angels. But if no, then we got the same answer
because if Christine is a demon, then all of us are demons. After all, humans are created
to learn and to change, not to be perfect. In short, I agree with the message of the movie
that besides hell, demons are in society because every time I look at a mirror, I see one
of the demons looking back at me. I am flawed, you are flawed, all of us are flawed. It is
only through the acceptance of these facts that we can help each other become less and
less of a demon per day.

SIGNIFICANCE
Drag me to hell is a controversial movie that created diverse views. First, critics
debate on whether it is truly about hell or body disorder. According to Lost Narrative
(2009), the demon in the film represents Christine's oral fixation, specifically her sinful
inclination to overeating and avarice. Lamia is the only one who knows about her immoral
secret, and she battles with her need to eat. In addition to the Lost Narrative analysis,
Millman (2018) claims that the Lamia is a physical embodiment of Christine's personal
demons because it is aware of her sickness, which is something she constantly tries to
mask. The Lamia assaults her in the kitchen, turning her culinary tools against her,
appearing partially obscured with swine feet, and throwing up her own cat in rejection of
the 'meal' it is given (Millman, 2018).

Another big part of this argument is puke, since Raimi repeatedly shows scenarios
of oral obsession. Christine is consistently resisting items that are trying to push their way
down her throat, including Ganush's own rotten body fluids and used handkerchief, which
depicts her bond with food. The presence of blood in these scenes escalates as the film
goes, demonstrating the severity of the interior destruction wrought on Christine. When
she actually tries to eat sweets at Clay's house, a scrutinizing eyeball emerges in the
treat, monitoring her slightest motion. She struggles to swallow, which makes her choke
on the dessert. This action has been an agonizing proof of her own disdain of feasting.
After the choking incident, she suddenly coughs up a fly, which might signify the

35
degradation of her flesh or even her distaste with herself for actually ingesting the food
after having previously rejected it so strenuously.

Conversely, this review views the movie as what it is, a movie about sin, curse,
hell, and karma. Besides me, Leighton (2019) believes that the body disorder hypothesis
is implausible. Raimi's screenplay is devoid of any underlying, darker meaning. It
performs as anticipated. In other words, it's a straight-up horror flick about a spell.
Leighton (2019) based her argument on the past films of Raimi which are beautiful but
not deep masterpieces. However, if there is something to get about the body disorder
theory, I believe that it is true that Christine suffers from a disorder, but it is not the demon.
Thus, I believe that the reason why the body disorder narrative was shown in the is to
emphasize that the demon attacks the insecurities of Christine. In short, the demon puts
the alcohol into the wound that hurts most.

Next, critics debate on whether Christine deserves her fate at the end of the movie
or not. According to an interview with the director and writer of the movie Sam Raimi,
Christine is deserving of hell because, while she appears to be a decent person on the
surface, when audiences truly look at her, especially when she is put in a difficult
circumstance, the true vicious person emerges. Raimi even adds that the reason why we
sympathize for Christine is her beauty. Besides Raimi, Brehmer (2016) states that the
fact that Christine’s self-motivation quickly turns into self-centeredness. In reality, she is
motivated solely by her own self-interest, both before and after she is condemned. As a
result, Brehmer (2016) believes that the old woman who laid out her demands and
pleaded for aid deserved compassion since her goals were unselfish, as she was
concerned about her family's future since she would be dying soon.

However, I believe that Christine does not deserve her fate because when I put
myself in her situation, I bet I would do everything she did. She was an obesed child,
probably abused due to this. Then even after she changed everything, she is still abused.
Thus, I understand her willingness to be tough to get a position that would result in people
respecting her more. Virtual Borderland (2012) explains that viewers sympathise to her

36
character because she is a flawed woman who is systematically humiliated and tortured
throughout this film. Garvin (2020) adds that while Christine sinned, she does not deserve
to be punished through eternal damnation. Especially when we consider the fact that
Christine will be punished for refusing to extend a mortgage that had already been
extended twice” (Garvin, 2020). Besides stating that Christine does not deserve to go to
hell, Virtual borderland also states that it is Ganush that deserved to be dragged into hell
because Ganush got 4 out of 7 of the deadly sins which are pride, wrath, greed, and sloth.

Lastly, critics debate on whether drag me to hell is a masterpiece or a piece of

garbage. The critics who view it as garbage are seen both in numbers and statements.
The movie has a budget of 30 million and its box office is 90.8 million dollars. While the
numbers were tripled, Gleiberman (2009) viewed the film as a failure. According to him,
the reason behind the failure is that it was rated PG-13, not rated R. For the film itself, An
IMDB reviewer (2012) states that the movie relies far too much on CGI in this movie, so
that most of the scare scenes are fake-looking and cartoonish. As for the heroine, Alison
Lohman tries very hard to convince, although she does fail to elicit much sympathy.
Besides that, Thompson (2019) states that the movie is not too respectful of other
cultures. Example, Mrs. Ganush is a source of much of the movie’s gross-out scares,
from her long dirty fingernails to her false teeth. Thompson (2019) adds that it seems like
Raimi forgot that gypsies are not mythological creatures; In fact, like the jews, these
people were victims that deserve to be respected, not ridiculed.

While all of their reviews made sense, most reviewers including me have a different
interpretation. For me, Raimi delivered a terrifying movie despite not using too much blood
and other gore effects that can be seen in other horror films. There is very little blood on
screen, yet the way in which events are portrayed have the same effect as The Texas
Chainsaw Massacre, where your mind is convinced, it’s seen more than it actually has
(Bowles, 2009). With this, Raimi deserves to be applauded because he made a terrifying
movie available to younger horror genre fans. Keogh (2019) adds that while the effects
seem amateur, he reminded both the critics and the audience that the movie was created
a decade ago. However, despite the technology being not advanced, the supernatural

37
elements are stronger and more well-realized than anything The Conjuring universe,
which has more advanced technology, has come up with in the past decade. In addition,
Bowles (2009) believes that Drag Me To Hell is a masterpiece of sound design and the
loud shrieks and other terrifying sound effects are used in the most powerful way.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Raimi is the master of symbolism and sound effects. However, based on the film,
I believe that he could focus on developing his skill in creating a clear story, accurate
representations, and well-supported character and conflict. The first problem that can be
improved is the lack of clarity. Besides watching the film, I watched the trailer and based
on the trailer, the genre of the film is pure horror. However, after watching the film, I
believe that the movie falls under Horror-Comedy. In short, Raimi was not clear on what
genre “Drag me to hell” belongs to. Due to this, most critics of the movie point out that
drag me to hell is hilarious, not scary. Even me, who is not a professional critic, felt that
some effects were exaggerated, making the film unconvincing. However, if I knew that
the film aims to be both funny and scary, I would have not pointed out the silly effects.
So, if Raimi clarified in the trailer or in interviews before the premiere that the movie is a
combination of horror and comedy then the critics knew what to expect.

Besides genre, Raimi should also consider being clear on what story he wants to
convey. While the movie is easy to understand, the problem lies on the different
interpretations that were formed due to several symbolism present in the movie. In short,
the movie had too many themes, making it difficult to know what truly is the purpose of
the film. Does the movie aim to eradicate hell in society? Does the movie aim to shed
light on body disorders? Does the movie want to tackle both? If the movie wants to tackle
both, I believe Sam Raimi could have made a clearer story because what happened in
the movie is hell and body disorder were forced to combine without stitches to hold them
together. While this may be a good thing because the movie remains debatable, the use
of too many themes made the story confusing.

Second, the movie had a problem with accuracy. As stated in the review, Lamia is
a half serpent half human demon, but the film chose a goat to represent it. While what
Raimi did is not harmful to the culture of Greece, it makes the movie less convincing as it
is not supported by a mythology. Like why do they have to use the name Lamia if they
will not follow the appearance and characteristics of the character? Why did they not just
create a new name for the monster they created? or why did they not use the name of a
monster who looks similar to the goat demon in the film? For a man that is very good at

38
details, it is indeed disappointing for Raimi to fail to satisfy the details of the main
antagonist of the film.

Third, while the film was able to share plenty of characters, some of these
characters do not have a convincing story. Like Stu, the audiences get to know Stu as
greedy, proud, and a cheat. However, we did not get the reason why Stu is power hungry.
Thus, as a viewer, I was incredibly shocked when Christine, despite knowing that Stu was
the reason why she did not get promoted, did not give the button to Stu. Besides Stu, I
am incredibly curious about the 10,000 dollars Rham Jas asked for. The review I created
assumed that the money was kept by Rham but obviously, it would have been better if I
did not have to guess. I think it's not hard for Raimi to write a scene in which San Dena
receives the money or perhaps a scene in which Rham kept the money because he
needed it. I know that this is a small detail, but we are talking about sins, thus, all
suspicious activities made by the characters shall be analyzed. With this, I hope that the
next time Raimi writes a story, every aspect has a supporting scene.

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Brehmer, N. (2016). Why Christine Brown in Drag Me to Hell Deserved Everything She
Got. Wicked Horror. https://wickedhorror.com/horror-reviews/why-christine-brown-
in-drag-me-to-hell-deserved-everything-she-got/

Dee, J. (2020). Things You Didn't Know About Sam Raimi's Drag Me To Hell. Screen
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