‘Drag’ satisfies horror fans
‘Drag Me to Hell’
Sam Raimi’s return to horror filmmaking is a satisfying, terrifying old-fashioned thriller-chiller.
Loan officer Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) is at a crossroads. Her boss (David Paymer) is dangling a promotion, but an office yes-man (Reggie Lee) might steal it from under her.
So when an old woman appears at her desk pleading for a little more time to pay off her mortgage, Christine hardens her heart and denies the request.
As it turns out, it’s not a good idea to foreclose on a Gypsy sorceress with hell-demons under her command.
The movie’s sucker punch of an ending will have even experienced fans of the genre amazed at Raimi’s nerve. (1:36; PG-13 for horror violence, terror, disturbing images and foul language.)
‘The Proposal’
A tightly wound dominatrix of a boss (Sandra Bullock) dragoons her long-suffering male secretary (Ryan Reynolds) into marrying her so her U.S. visa won’t expire (she’s Canadian).
Reynolds and Bullock don’t generate much chemistry, but both can be thanked for bringing restraint to otherwise thankless roles; tireless trouper Betty White is underused as Reynolds’s kittenish grandmother. Otherwise, it’s cute, generic and instantly forgettable. (1:44; PG-13 for sexual content, nudity and profanity.)
‘Land of the Lost’
Will Ferrell’s Rick Marshall, a crackpot scientist in a career slump, is transported through time-space with a comely assistant (Anna Friel) and an unwitting dope (Danny McBride) to a parallel dimension.
While not completely terrible, the film’s more laugh-worthy bits have already been seen in endless ads for the movie. (1:33; PG-13 for crude humor and cheap gore.)
‘Adoration’
Four hundred people do not die on an airplane bound for Tel Aviv because security catches a bomb that was placed in a pregnant woman’s bag by her Arab husband.
Atom Egoyan’s film follows a Toronto high-schooler (Devon Bostick) who is encouraged by his teacher to translate and retell the old news story in French class – as though he were the unborn child of the woman unintentionally carrying the bomb.
The complex story structure teeters between the revelatory and the absurd, depending on how much you buy the irritating-then-intriguing performance by Arsinee Khanjian, who plays Simon’s teacher. (1:40; R for foul language.)
‘Every Little Step’
“God, I’m a dancer!/ A dancer dances!” goes the memorable lyric from “A Chorus Line,” the landmark Pulitzer Prize-winning musical.
But as the filmmakers reveal in this thoroughly engrossing documentary about the origins and casting of the show’s 2006 Broadway revival, a dancer also worries a lot and paces a lot and prays a lot and cries a lot. (1:30; PG-13 for strong language, including sexual references.)
Also available: “American Violet,” “Flashpoint,” “Futurama: The Complete Collection,” “The Haunted Airman,” “The Mighty Boosh: Special Edition,” “Natural Born Killers: Director’s Cut”