The Review Revue

Film Review

Drag Me to HellWhen I was a kid, my grandpa had the vastest of movie collections.

Almost 1,200 VHS tapes with (usually) three movies per cassette, of every genre of film imaginable.

I remember falling in love with horror films. By the time I was 10, I had seen terribly recorded versions of every freakin' Halloween and almost every version of Friday the 13th. I don't remember much of them now, but at the time, I was obsessed.

That same year, when I was 10, my dad and I rented Scream while my mom was at work one night.

Now, I don't recall my thoughts exactly, but I do remember being legitimately impressed, particularly by its self-referential aspects (obviously, since I was 10, I didn't think of it in those terms). A horror film about horror films - it seemed like a modern interpretation of the genre and I was terrified. I bought into every aspect of it. The first 20 minutes of that film had me so hooked that I sought out every new horror film until I could stand them no more.

Not to say that Scream was the first to do that; in fact, I can think of countless movies in the '80s that did, but here's the thing - damn near every horror movie I saw after that utilized the exact same techniques. Suddenly, It seemed like the thrill of the horror genre had died in me.

Apparently, Sam Raimi feels similar.

Or at least that's what I thought. Turns out, Drag Me to Hell was written in 1992, but Raimi decided to pursue other projects; perhaps that's why it has such a particular feel.

For those of you who don't know, Raimi is the genius behind such classics as Army of Darkness and the Evil Dead series. So go rent them immediately.

With Drag Me to Hell, Raimi returns some of the classic elements of horror cinema that made the genre so amazing in the first place. There's tension, scream-worthy frights and, most importantly, a fair bit of campiness.

Typically, horror films try to scare viewers by making them feel like this is a realistic idea and it could happen to you; that, or with out-of-nowhere scare tactics. And while Raimi utilizes the latter to fantastic effect in Drag Me to Hell, he completely ditches the former, and it works perfectly.

The film begins with a quick foray into its back-story, explaining a gypsy's curse on a young boy. Three days after the curse was placed on him, the devil, Lamia, would come to earth to feed off his soul.

Years later, Christine Brown (played tremendously well by Alison Lohman), a loan officer, would deny an elderly woman an extension on her mortgage and would be cursed with a similar fate.

It's terrifying and humourous at the same time. Raimi plays perfectly to the old techniques that made horror films so intriguing many years ago. Going into this film expecting a believable story that you can place your fears in is a bad move, but if you go in expecting very little, I promise, you'll come out with a lot.

See it, love it. 'Nuff said.

-Matthew Hadley

Album Reviews

Classified

Self Explanatory

"Is anybody listening?"

With Classified actually getting acknowledgement with 2006's Hitch Hikin Music, it's easy enough to assume that everyone is.

But should we be paying attention to him this time around, with this new album? The answer: hell yes.

If you want something that sounds different by sounding the same, then Classified is perfect. And that's not meant to be an insult. Classified's Self Explanatory captures who he has been since the early '00s: same style, same subjects (for the most part), but different songs. Classified has always been able to put together incredible music to accompany his songs and he has not stopped pumping out those one-off's that, even if his lyrics don't stick, will make you want to play the song again.

"Anybody Listening" is a perfect example of his ability to pull together different sounds and genres and make it work. "CYOA 4" is a lot heavier then most of his songs, but it gets the job done if you are looking for a party tune. "Trouble" brings a bit of lyrical speed to the album but still retains that laid back east coast swing.

However, one must ask, what's with the 22 tracks? Maybe Class is trying to give us our money's worth with the album, but if he took out all of the guest appearances like Buck 65 and Choclair (yes, he's still around), he may only have the regular 12-15 songs.

As an artist, Classified has matured a bit - not as much marijuana, booze and lack of money in the lyrics as before, but more focus on saying something important.

This maritime MC/Producer has been trying for a while to put together something that appeals to the masses and with the variations in sounds on this record, there's bound to be something on it for everyone. (Sony/BMG)

-Cody Boyko

Grizzly Bear

Veckatimest

I won't lie, I was never quite sold on Grizzly Bear.

All the hype in world, even an opening slot for Radiohead, couldn't get me to completely back the band.

Sure, 2006's Yellow House was decent, and "The Knife" may be a completely brilliant tune, but something didn't sit right with me. They just seemed like four pretty little indie fashion models with pitch perfect harmonies and good, not necessarily great, songs, and no matter who told me they were amazing or how many times I listened, they never exceeded this description.

So with, yet again, a shit-ton of hype behind Veckatimest, even a top-10 debut in the States, would they still be "just okay"?

Honestly, no.

Something in me didn't want to like this record, and by the time opener "Southern Point" reached the one-minute mark, I was pretty much converted.

See, Grizzly Bear do something here that very few bands have the ability to: create songs around harmonies. What I always found prior was that the harmonies had a tendency to overpower the band's songs, and it would start to seam like a showcase of how well they can sound like a choir. But with Veckatimest, there are songs behind these harmonies.