6. Drag Me To Hell (2009) – Bulimia
Sam Raimi’s 2009 horror Drag Me to Hell stands out as a particularly unique horror movie. It’s an odd combination of a horror premise, shoehorned 3D moments that haven’t aged well at all, and gross-out scares that make it singularly memorable. Despite containing a handful of unintentionally funny moments, it’s also loaded with symbolism and deeper meaning, which is something that some viewers may have missed.
Drag Me to Hell‘s Christine is plagued by a curse and tormented by the demonic Lamia, but these are actually representations of her internal struggle with bulimia. The film reveals she was overweight and bullied as a child, and the demon mostly attacks through food – he appears in the kitchen, an eye emerges in Christine’s cake, and there’s a scene that can only accurately be described by the words “vomit torture”. What’s more, Drag Me to Hell has repeated imagery of items going in or coming out of peoples mouths or throats, linking the film to bulimia specifically as opposed to the more general idea of eating disorders.
What’s more, the old woman who places the curse on Christine represents the character’s own potential future: toothless, pallid, and frail. The ideas explored visually within Drag Me to Hell clearly demonstrate not just Christine’s eating disorder but also the pressure from others that drives her struggles, representing the unreasonable and impossible standards placed on women in modern society and the horrors that come with such expectations. Though Christine fights valiantly for her freedom and her sanity, it’s ultimately a fight that drags her to hell.