Film Review: ‘Send Help’ Is A Nasty, Blood-Streaked Return To Form For Sam Raimi
by Paul Ceruti
The horror world rejoiced when it was announced that Sam Raimi’s latest feature, Send Help, would be an R-rated comedy thriller not based on previous IP. Famed for his Evil Dead series, a progenitor of the “splatstick” genre — think The Exorcist meets The Three Stooges — Raimi’s name alone brings considerable cachet to what might otherwise be standard “Dumpuary” fare. The film has racked up over $50 million at the domestic box office so far, as well as wide critical acclaim. For longtime Raimi fans, it’s a pleasure to see the old horror master still at it.
Following 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Send Help marks the second time Raimi has pivoted to horror after wrapping a superhero franchise film. Drag Me to Hell (2009) was his palate cleanser following the Spider-Man trilogy of the 2000s, delighting all who’d been waiting for more of the splat. Featuring demonic possessions, corpse defilement, and massive quantities of bile, Raimi runs it all the way back to his late 1980s nastiness. His new film is more of a conventional thriller than Drag Me to Hell — less Grand Guignol, no evil spirits to speak of — but there’s no shortage of scares and gross-out moments.
Underappreciated office worker Linda (Rachel McAdams) is stranded on a remote island with her younger, piggish boss (Dylan O’Brien). Having just inherited the company from his deceased father — old heads will spot the Bruce Campbell cameo — one of the character’s first orders of business is nixing Linda’s long-overdue promotion. The tables are turned, however, after their plane crashes en route to a business meeting and she is the only one capable of feeding and sheltering them. Much carnage ensues over their power struggle (stabbing, spearing, etc.) It may come as a surprise to viewers, though, how much of the plot is driven by the characters’ evolving relationship rather than the bloody business of their survival.
McAdams and O’Brien are well matched as workplace rivals/island frenemies, and the film is at its best whenever it shakes up the idea of exactly who and what the audience should be rooting for. McAdams is charmingly unhinged as Linda, and even when she makes objectively evil choices, we stay rooting for her. O’Brien’s character — the ostensible villain of the film — never fails to earn a tiny part of our sympathy either each time he’s humiliated by Linda. The improbable chemistry between them speaks to McAdams’ and O’Brien’s skill as actors, and with so much of the drama playing out over dialogue, the movie only works to the extent that each can portray a believable, sympathetic human being. Send Help may not amount to much more than good pulpy fun, but it puts in the work to make you give a damn.
So what’s next for Raimi? He currently straddles the line between late-style auteur and elevated journeyman. Does this film signal a permanent return to his gory, slapstick roots? No follow-up feature film is yet underway, but with this much verve at 66 years of age, one hopes he won’t hang it up anytime soon.
Send Help is now in theaters.
