As a refresher from Spider-Man -- before gearing up for the fourth instalment -- Sam Raimi returned to his American horror roots with a visceral romp, Drag Me to Hell.
As a kick-start to his leading-man career -- before Twilight turned him into a vampire god -- Robert Pattinson starred in a British psycho-thriller, The Haunted Airman, in 2006.
Because Halloween beckons, both titles debuted on DVD this week, along with the revival of Oliver Stone's electrifying Natural Born Killers.
Drag Me to Hell
In the history of horror, no heroine has been drenched in as many viscous liquids as Alison Lohman in Drag Me to Hell. She endures them all, face first: Mud, blood, mucous, embalming fluid, maggot-mash, kitty-guts and otherworldly ectoplasma. For Lohman's character, a meek girl finally showing gumption, the experience is as empowering as it is disgusting.
She plays a bank loans officer who pisses off the wrong customer, a hag who invokes a demonic curse. As that takes shape, Drag Me to Hell becomes both slick and sensational, with old-school special effects that give it a stylish appeal. Drag Me to Hell is also a fiendish comedy, although some may not watch past the animal sacrifice.
The DVD presents two versions, the theatrical release and an unrated cut with more gross-outs. Raimi did not just lard in extra scenes. His director's cut is actually nine seconds shorter, meaning he replaced shots and edited tight.
The Haunted Airman
The jury is still out on Pattinson, as an actor. On-screen, he has girls swooning. But, despite his chiselled looks, I don't see how they will love him in The Haunted Airman. This BBC TV movie is set during WWII and the "thrills" are about spiders and madness, not vampire love.
Pattinson plays an RAF bomber pilot. During a raid over Germany, he is severely wounded and paralyzed. Confined to a wheelchair in a bleak mental hospital, the airman is "haunted" by the savagery of war. His cougar lover -- the widowed aunt of a dead uncle -- seems more interested in Julian Sands, the psychiatrist, than her now-disabled boy-toy.
The Haunted Airman is worth seeing as a curiosity piece.
Natural Born Killers
Welcome to the most controversial film of the 1990s -- in its original (Director's Cut) edit. Stone has refined and restored the 155 cuts imposed by bewildered American censors when Natural Born Killers was first released in 1994.
Inspired by a Quentin Tarantino story idea, as an indictment of pulp sensationalism in the news media, the film is still shocking. Angry, agitated, audacious and bloody disgusting for its violence, Natural Born Killers is also an American classic in this uncensored form.
