Director Sam Raimi's Send Help, scripted by the ever-so-clever Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, isn't a traditional, horror thriller, not by a long shot, but its raw, psychological intensity rivals that of most.
The story deals with a frumpy, beleaguered employee named Linda Liddle, played by Rachel (Sherlock Holmes/Mean Girls) McAdams (who, as fans know, sports a real-life, drop-dead gorgeous persona that few can match). Liddle gets bullied by her new boss, Dylan (The Maze Runner) O'Brien's Bradley Preston, though in actuality, she's put upon by most others, but her sad, milquetoast relegation makes her ideal for what unfolds.
After Preston denies Liddle an expected promotion, she accompanies him on business trip to Thailand, but when the plane crashes, the two find themselves on an island in a Swept Away conundrum. It's this that gives Liddle the upper hand and with that, sweet revenge.
We learn that Liddle is a connoisseur of survivalist techniques, and as she implements such, she begins to torment Preston. (As a devilish hook, Liddle knows how to get off the not-so-isolated island, which alludes to the catch of Rod Serling's Twilight Zone episode, "I Shot an Arrow into the Air," which in turn influenced Planet of the Apes.) At any rate, if the two disliked each other before the crash, matters only worsen, with cerebral swings occurring, ala William Wyler/John Fowler's The Collector, Rob Reiner/Stephen King's Misery and Robert Aldrich/Lukas Heller's Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, with underscoring flecks of John Boorman's Hell in the Pacific, Frank Sinatra's None But the Brave, Ruben Ostlund's Triangle of Sadness, Neil Simon's The Odd Couple and Raimi's Drag Me To Hell.
The movie does have some violent and repellent parts, though nowhere near what one would find in an Evil Dead picture. I'll bypass the outlandish details, so as not to spoil the freaky fun, though I can say that matters do boil over to a conclusive climax, with an ending that's as uplifting as it's demented.
Danny Elfman's score enhances Raimi's build-up, but then Elfman is good with that type of thing, as he's demonstrated with such superheroic, rise-to-the-occasion staples as Tim Burton's Batman and Batman Returns, Ang Lee's Hulk and Raimi's Darkman, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and The Spider-man Trilogy. (In this case, Elman's music is bookended by apt, Blondie tunes: a cool touch.)
If one digs Raimi's zooming, over-the-top, filmmaking style (and Bruce Campbell cameos), as well as edgy fables with a prefatory but displaced, Working Girl rotation, Send Help will be your cup of tea. It sure was mine. Can't wait to take another sip.
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