Jumpy, gory and with more laughs than you’d typically expect from a Hollywood fright-fest, Drag Me To Hell on Blu-ray also packs in extras to back up its bone-jangling main feature. Is it worth slapping down your weekly entertainment allowance for? Read our full Drag Me To Hell Blu-ray review to find out.
Written and directed by Sam Rami, Drag Me To Hell is a return to classic pop-horror for the man who brought us the Evil Dead series. Since then, he’s dabbled in comic book fantasy by helming Spider Man, and its influences are subtly visible throughout this latest outing.
Drag Me To Hell is gory, but not in a gratuitous sense. It’s more a hilarious than stomach churning, complete with comedy sound effects and over the top reactions.
It’s a quality that Drag Me To Hell enhances through Blu-ray. The visuals are as crisp as you’d expect, but the added clarity really makes those slapstick moments spew from the screen. In some cases, quite literally.
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And then there’re those jump-out-of-you-skin moments. Rami specialises in spine-tingling jump-cuts, as well as spiking Drag Me To Hell’s volume for several high quality hair-raisers. It’s more quick thrill than seething unsettlement though, and the 15 certificate makes this the perfect entry to horror for those too young its full-blown brethren.
As well as the theatrical version, Drag Me To Hell Blu-ray includes an “unseen” version, with extra scenes and extended sections. However, that’s where the bonus bounty runs dry. There are only two real extras included on Drag Me To Hell’s Blu-ray disc. There are the usual actor and director interviews, but they feel more like filler than true extras.
Worse still is the Drag Me To Hell “Production Diary.” Yes, it’s an insightful look at the effects and production of the film, but its implemented poorly. Not only is it in standard definition, but there’s no way to skip between chapters or zero in on scenes that interest you. It’s wooly, and we’ve come to expect more from Blu-ray productions.
Overall, Drag Me To Hell on Blu-ray is a decent package. The film is a gem in its genre, and the special effects featurettes are well worth a watch, which is lucky, as you’ll have to watch them all the way through to see the bits you want.
Does it make true use of Blu-ray’s abilities though? Not nearly. There’s no BD Live, and little use of overlaid features. It loses marks for that, but the film itself is still solid gold.
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