THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.
Oh, Sam Raimi, how I love thee. The Evil Dead series (particularly Evil Dead II) is one of my favourite horror franchises; his Spider-Man films still represent some of the best of the superhero genre (well, the first two); and standalone screams like 2009’s Drag Me to Hell are highly memorable. That being said, his output since then has been… a little more frosty. Oz the Great and Powerful and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness have merits, but they don’t hold a candle to Raimi’s work that came before. So it’s a pleasure to say that Send Help feels like a proper 90s throwback: a silly, bloody thriller that will delight and disgust in equal measure, with Raimi’s signature style written all over it.
Send Help stars Rachel McAdams as socially awkward corporate slave Linda Liddle, who is doing twice the work with none of the credit compared to her male coworkers. When her new boss Bradley Preston (Dylan O’Brien) passes her over for a promotion she had been promised by his father (a classic picture-only Bruce Campbell cameo), Linda is distraught. But Bradley offers her a lifeline: come to Bangkok to work on a merger and prove her worth to him. The film works overtime to try and make Rachel McAdams look unattractive and act generally unpleasant; unfortunately for them, her inner goddess shines through and renders any such attempt impossible, and I happen to be a big fan of tuna mayo. That isn’t to say she is wrong for the role; in fact, McAdams’ performance is pretty magnificent, letting loose in a super fun role. Dylan O’Brien also plays off her incredibly well, getting the cocky, misogynistic CEO role to a T, but also imbuing it with some genuine humanity which is crucial to the film’s success.
This is the most unattractive a woman can be before Hollywood gets scared.
Once on the island, Linda nurses Bradley back to health, saving his life. But instead of being grateful, Bradley instantly tries to continue perpetuating the idea that Linda is his subordinate. Understandably pretty pissed off about this, Linda lets him know that they are not in the office anymore; she has the skills to keep them alive, so Bradley should shut up and let her get on with it. Soon she realises they need better sustenance and goes to hunt a (questionably rendered) wild boar, and we get to see the first instance of Raimi’s penchant for throwing buckets of fake blood all over his actors. Bad CGI or not, the hunting scene is a scream. Linda continues to assert dominance by throwing the boar’s head down at Bradley’s feet, letting him join the splattered-in-blood party.
As the weeks pass on the island, Linda and Bradley’s relationship starts to develop and he seemingly begins to respect her more. She also does some perving on his butt as he washes himself in the sea – a gift from Raimi to gays and girls and Teen Wolf fans everywhere. But Bradley’s sympathy backfires deeply on him. Out in the wild, away from the pressures of society, Linda is finally feeling appreciated, useful, and getting rid of her acne – so when a boat appears, instead of calling for it, she hides away. She isn’t ready to leave the island. But Bradley is getting antsy. He uses the survival tips Linda has passed onto him to begin to plan his escape. I mean, talk about ungrateful! Any self-respecting straight man would NOT pass up the opportunity to live on a private island with baddie Rachel McAdams. But Linda starts to take “baddie” too literally after Bradley’s escape attempt is foiled. Between octopus-induced paralysis, fake-out castrations, and casually murdering Bradley’s fiancée when she comes looking for him, it’s safe to say Linda is firmly in her villain era.
I’m sure the promise of seeing Dylan O’Brien’s ass will get bums in seats.
This is where the film goes full-Raimi, and it’s all the better for it. Bradley and Linda’s fight plays straight out of the Evil Dead, with some gloriously icky eye-gouging and scalp-tearing. But perhaps the greatest gross-out is Linda’s reaction after Bradley attempts to poison her: in the spirit of Drag Me to Hell, a lot of vomit ends up all over Bradley’s face. And in his mouth. Again. And again. And again. Thank god I saw this film in a busy cinema, because that scene had the audience dying with laughter. After a tense showdown, I found myself still rooting for Linda, and I hoped this was what the film wanted. Safe to say I was in the right camp: even after weeks together in the jungle and owing his life to Linda, Bradley still saw himself as above her (men!) Like the end of Tarantino’s Death Proof, Linda got her final revenge with a golf club to the head and claimed her rightful place at the top of the corporate ladder.
It feels cliché to say that Send Help is the sort of film that doesn’t get made anymore, but it’s absolutely true: an original, entertaining horror that isn’t trying to be a cerebral award-winning masterpiece, and instead revels in its schlocky B-movie influences. Yes, the VFX are less than stellar, which does feel jarring in an age where even low-budget pictures tend to have better CGI than this, but the story and performances are more than enough to make up for it. This film needed a certain type of director to elevate it beyond standard survival trash, and I think it’s very safe to say that the Sam Raimi is the man for the job. Stop giving the man IP garbage and let him make freaky horror films until the cows come home! And whilst we’re here, can we get some more roles for Bruce Campbell too? I need to see my babygirl Ash Williams more often please.
Director: Sam Raimi
Cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert
Runtime: 115m
Certificate: 15
Country: United States
Images: Raimi Productions, 20th Century Studios