Send Help Review: A Twisted Blend of Survivor and Sam Raimi’s Signature Projectiles

Following a collaboration on the last Doctor Strange movie, Director Sam Raimi knew he had to work with Rachel McAdams again. She had a knack for his style of filmmaking– game for any projectiles he'd throw her way, and the imagination to make the unbelievable, well, believable. That need to collaborate again led to the creation of Send Help, the first movie that's really felt like a Sam Raimi movie since 2009's Drag Me to Hell. It's got plenty of gross-out gore and bile to be in the same canon as his Evil Dead films, but it also has a lot of his humor as well. It's a winning combination that makes for a nasty cinematic treat.

Linda Liddle (McAdams) is an incredibly hardworking employee who's never really gotten her fair share. She's frequently passed over for advancement, and she allows her coworkers to walk all over her. That constant belittling of her achievements has led her to take less care of her outward appearance. Making first impressions isn't her strong suit. When the new CEO of her company, Bradley Preston (Dylan O'Brien), comes in, she hopes she'll be elevated to Vice President. Unfortunately, that isn't how Preston sees things.

He's always had things handed to him, including this role, which he inherited from his late father. He wants nothing to do with Liddle and would rather give the Vice President position to one of his golf buddies. He teases Liddle with the possibility of advancement, only if she'll accompany the men on a flight to Taiwan and seal the deal on an important merger.

The plane never makes it to its destination, instead crashing into the sea. The only two survivors are Liddle and Preston. She knows how to survive in a situation like this because she's a fanatic of the hit TV series, Survivor, and she's spent countless hours studying to be on the show. When it comes to the deserted island, Liddle is the boss.

Send Help really reminded me of the Palme d'Or winner from a few years ago, Triangle of Sadness. Specifically, the third act of that movie. If you haven't seen it, I won't spoil it for you, but know that a deserted island comes into play. That makes Send Help feel overly familiar, but thankfully, McAdams and O'Brien have good chemistry that keeps the picture buzzing along. And while Triangle of Sadness did have plenty of gross moments, Send Help benefits from being a Sam Raimi film with its own share of goopy projectiles.

Usually, January is a dumping ground where studios dump their undesirable projects. Movies that have taken up too much time or budget, that need to be dumped somewhere. This January has seen two great horror movies: 28 Years Later: The Bone Collector and Send Help. It's great to have Sam Raimi back. Let's hope the next one doesn't take as long. [B]

Send Help is currently in theaters.

Here are the movies I caught up with in January:

As always, if you’d like to follow along on Letterboxd, my account can be found here.

Podcast

🎙️My co-host Evan Crean and I talk about the movies of Mel Brooks in honor of his new documentary.

Quick Links

• A preview of what movies you might see during the Super Bowl
• The first look at the actors portraying The Beatles
• The last Sundance Film Festival in Park City recently ended. Here is a list of their awards, with Josephine sounding like a must-see.
• I watched The Muppet Show pilot the other day. It'll air on ABC and Disney+. It's nice to have everyone back, but it'd certainly benefit from a few more episodes. I did not expect a Rizzo the rat skit to be my favorite of the episode.
• Following the same formula Warner Bros. used for Barbie, they've asked star Margot Robbie to do an Architect's Digest video on the set of "Wuthering Heights."