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Sam Raimi knows how to scare people. With the Evil Dead trilogy, his name became a byword for pure pulp horror: slicing, dicing, stabbing, gushing, oozing, bursting... Raimi's ghouls were the Three Stooges run amok. Since then, Raimi has slowly slipped into the mainstream with mixed results. High point: the taut, Fargo-style thriller A Simple Plan. Low point: the Kevin Costner baseball vehicle For Love Of The Game, which had even his most hardcore fans throwing up. Coming so soon after this, The Gift poses some questions. Is it an attempt by Raimi to get back to his genre roots and round up the old fans while they'll still forgive him? Or is he trying to infiltrate the mainstream with something he's more comfortable with?
Fortunately, it's the latter. Even though Raimi has the most stellar cast he's ever worked with (including Cate Blanchett, Oscar-winner Hilary Swank, Dawson Creek lovely Katie Holmes and Keanu Reeves), this is actually a modest, low-key affair. With little cash for effects, Raimi has to rely on all his spooky know-how and swampy Deep South locations to create a surreal, gothic dreamworld where the trees cluster like vengeful wraiths in the night. It's a nice contrast to last year's What Lies Beneath, which had bucketloads of money for special effects, using them to tell a similar tale.
Despite some obvious plot twists and overcooked redneck lunacy, The Gift is a surprisingly effective attempt to humanise the supernatural thriller. Blanchett is superb despite some sentimental overkill and Raimi proves he hasn't gone soft.
