Because she’s bucking for a promotion and trying to impress her boss with her ability to make tough decisions, loan officer Christine Brown (Alison Lohman, very committed to her role) denies an old gypsy woman a third extension on her overdue mortgage despite the woman getting down on her knees and begging. Feeling shamed, the gypsy curses Christine with some sort of spell causing a demon to haunt her for three days after which it will drag her down to hell. But during those three days, Christine will see and hear all sorts of things (creepy shadows, buzzing flies, loud footsteps, hurricane-force winds, etc.) that aren’t really there.
All these hallucinations lead to multiple scenes (at work, at dinner, out in public, etc.) where Christine will hear or see things that those around her cannot and will subsequently embarrass herself by freaking out for what appears to everyone else to be absolutely no reason. After a couple such moments, each new scene is greeted with a great amount of trepidation. Not because something horrible might happen to Christine but because she’s invariably going to be embarrassed by the end of it (and probably end up with some sort of bodily fluid on her besides). Making matters worse is the fact that before each one of these scene Christine is convinced that she’s beaten the demon. Thus, each time she enters one such bound-to-be-embarrassing scene, she completely believes that the hallucinations are over, which of course sets her up for even greater embarrassment.
In a way, the experience of watching Drag Me to Hell is a look like that of watching an episode of the British version of The Office (or a Michael Scott-centric episode of the American version). This film is really much more akin to a cringe-inducing comedy than a horror film. The suspense and terror of the movie is not in awaiting what horrible and scary thing will happen next but instead in waiting to see just how big a fool Christine will end up making of herself.
The crucial difference between Drag Me to Hell and something like The Office, and the one that completely sinks the film, is that Christine is a nice, normal person who hasn't really done anything to deserve the torturously embarrassing things she’s subjected to. Now, I don’t particularly enjoy the cringe-inducing moments of The Office (in fact, I hated the British version mostly because that was the main feature of the show) but David Brent and Michael Scott are buffoons who at least partially deserve whatever embarrassment they have coming. Christine doesn’t. And thus watching her enter a dinner party where she’s meeting her boyfriend’s parents for the first time is unbearable. You just know she’s going to make a complete fool of herself and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.
I suppose the fact that the film elicited such a powerful response from me says something about the level of filmmaking talent on display here. And since people adore the British version of The Office (as well as Extras, Eastbound & Down and many other shows and films of their ilk) it seems likely that Drag Me to Hell will find an audience that absolutely adores it as well. But that isn’t me. I can’t for the life of me understand why watching someone as pleasant, good natured and harmless as Christine have the worst three days of her life would be enjoyable to anyone. What pleasure can possibly be gleaned from seeing a likeable person be this morbidly embarrassed? Because I can’t answer that question, I guess this film isn’t for me.
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