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Sam Raimi's Send Help. Rachel McAdams.

brundlefly wrote: Tue Oct 14, 2025 4:58 pm Sam Raimi's Send Help. Rachel McAdams.

Did Raimi split from producer Rob Tapert?

beamish14 wrote: Wed Oct 15, 2025 5:38 pm

brundlefly wrote: Tue Oct 14, 2025 4:58 pm Sam Raimi's Send Help. Rachel McAdams.

Did Raimi split from producer Rob Tapert?

Don't think so since both Raimi and Tapert are producing other upcoming projects together such as Evil Dead Burn.

brundlefly wrote: Tue Oct 14, 2025 4:58 pm Sam Raimi's Send Help. Rachel McAdams.

Seems a bit Swept Away / Triangle of Sadness, but always good to see McAdams in films.

Send Help shares quite a bit of its vibe with Drag Me to Hell (one of my favorites). It has many instances of gruesome, cartoonish, over-the-top violence and horror played for laughs. Its shortcomings, unfortunately, are pretty glaring. Among them are a mediocre script, inattention to detail and logic, inconsistent character development, and, of course, its borrowing (or stealing) of major plot elements from the recent Triangle of Sadness. Send Help is unapologetically nihilistic, which may or may not be your thing (it did not work for me). But as a rare nowadays example of old-school genre filmmaking, I enjoyed it for what it was, though I doubt I will want to rewatch it anytime soon.

Yakushima wrote: Thu Feb 12, 2026 7:46 pm Send Help shares quite a bit of its vibe with From Hell (one of my favorites). It has many instances of gruesome, cartoonish, over-the-top violence and horror played for laughs. Its shortcomings, unfortunately, are pretty glaring. Among them are a mediocre script, inattention to detail and logic, inconsistent character development, and, of course, its borrowing (or stealing) of major plot elements from the recent Triangle of Sadness. Send Help is unapologetically nihilistic, which may or may not be your thing (it did not work for me). But as a rare nowadays example of old-school genre filmmaking, I enjoyed it for what it was, though I doubt I will want to rewatch it anytime soon.

Drag Me to Hell? From Hell was a misbegotten Alan Moore adaptation, starring Johnny Depp.

Easy mistake. I always get Drag Me to Hell mixed up with Ti West's The House of the Devil from the same year.

I think I could enjoy the silliness and violence of Send Help over the chore that Triangle of Sadness was to watch.

The Curious Sofa wrote: Fri Feb 13, 2026 8:46 am

Yakushima wrote: Thu Feb 12, 2026 7:46 pm Send Help shares quite a bit of its vibe with From Hell (one of my favorites). It has many instances of gruesome, cartoonish, over-the-top violence and horror played for laughs. Its shortcomings, unfortunately, are pretty glaring. Among them are a mediocre script, inattention to detail and logic, inconsistent character development, and, of course, its borrowing (or stealing) of major plot elements from the recent Triangle of Sadness. Send Help is unapologetically nihilistic, which may or may not be your thing (it did not work for me). But as a rare nowadays example of old-school genre filmmaking, I enjoyed it for what it was, though I doubt I will want to rewatch it anytime soon.

Drag Me to Hell? From Hell was a misbegotten Alan Moore adaptation, starring Johnny Depp.

Doh! My bad, thank you for catching this. I will edit my original post.

Yakushima wrote: Thu Feb 12, 2026 7:46 pm Send Help shares quite a bit of its vibe with Drag Me to Hell (one of my favorites). It has many instances of gruesome, cartoonish, over-the-top violence and horror played for laughs. Its shortcomings, unfortunately, are pretty glaring. Among them are a mediocre script, inattention to detail and logic, inconsistent character development, and, of course, its borrowing (or stealing) of major plot elements from the recent Triangle of Sadness. Send Help is unapologetically nihilistic, which may or may not be your thing (it did not work for me). But as a rare nowadays example of old-school genre filmmaking, I enjoyed it for what it was, though I doubt I will want to rewatch it anytime soon.

Send Help was first announced in 2019, having been written a few years prior to the release of Triangle of Sadness. Originally set up at Sony, Raimi decided to look for funding elsewhere when they planned to release it only on streaming, which caused the delay. Even then, Triangle of Sadness was not the first film with this premise. The basic outline of Send Help is basically a gender-flipped version of Lina Wertmüller's Swept Away.
I thought this was the most entertaining film I'd seen this year, no other film has made me laugh as much. It also showcases Rachel McAdams' enormous range as an actress. She should be up for awards for this, but of course she won't be.

The Curious Sofa wrote: Wed Mar 25, 2026 6:40 pm Send Help was first announced in 2019, having been written a few years prior to the release of Triangle of Sadness. Originally set up at Sony, Raimi decided to look for funding elsewhere when they planned to release it only on streaming, which caused the delay. Even then, Triangle of Sadness was not the first film with this premise. The basic outline of Send Help is basically a gender-flipped version of Lina Wertmüller's Swept Away.
I thought this was the most entertaining film I'd seen this year, no other film has made me laugh as much. It also showcases Rachel McAdams' enormous range as an actress. She should be up for awards for this, but of course she won't be.

It's good to know, thank you for sharing this, Curious Sofa! For me, too, this was the most entertaining new movie so far this year, even considering its many imperfections.

It made me think about why Drag Me to Hell never quite worked for me (I know its widely beloved, I have the Blu-ray and gave it three or four tries) , whereas Send Help does. In Drag Me to Hell, I suppose the gag is that the punishment rained down on Alison Lohman’s character is utterly disproportionate considering her infraction wasn't really her choice. Lohman gives a grounded, realistic performance, that is out of proportion with the cartoonishly hostile world Raimi constructs around her. It's no fault of her's she's great in the movie, but as a result, the film comes across as spiteful.

In contrast, McAdams's performance is perfectly scaled to her film. It's larger than life yet relatable

Spoiler

(until it isn't).

I tend to roll my eyes when a beautiful actress goes "frumpy," but McAdams effortlessly pulls it off. Dylan O’Brien also gives a perfectly calibrated performance as her antagonist and foil. He’s an overprivileged jerk, but there's something likable about O’Brien as an actor that makes you feel he’s not beyond redemption. And he does have a point when he passes Linda over for promotion because a CEO needs to be socially competent.

On the island, McAdams's Linda blossoms and there's something knowingly ridiculous about the gourmet dishes she whips up out of what the island has to offer. And then the movie takes a sharp turn as

Spoiler

Linda oversteps a line in an attempt to hold on to her new life and she goes all out "Annie Wilkes". She goes from victim to hero to, ultimately, villain. Just as Lohman's ultimatly getting "dragged to hell" is undeservedly cruel, McAdams's undeserved happy ending feels just right: the oppressed joins the oppressors after literally stepping over corpses to get there.

Is any of this subtle or is this a future classic? Nope, but its great fun. This is Raimi's best film since A Simple Plan, and I hope he sticks to smaller, more personal projects that showcase his gonzo style of splatter comedy rather than getting pulled back into the blockbuster grind.