Whenever Sam Raimi directs horror, it’s always a treat. A nasty treat of blood and vomit so caked in the grotesque that you have to laugh at the absurdity of how high he stacks. His familiar flavor takes on a fitting form in Send Help, with a story that could easily nestle its way into an anthology of Creepshow or Tales from the Crypt. And while there are times where it does feel like a shorter story stretched longer for feature-length, the ambition of such a picture is what makes it work, where the cavorting of the extreme and gross topple any simplicity present in the picture.

In order to believe Rachel McAdams as the pitiful and undervalued employee Linda Liddle, Raimi goes out of his way to make her a mess of pitiful proportions. Propped with big glasses, a cozy sweater, and hair that struggles to stay kempt, she lives a lonely existence where every office conversation is awkward and every night is spent at home with her pet bird watching Survivor. Despite how much she is looked down upon, she’s confident that her years of working in the Planning & Strategy Department will pay off. It will not. By the same token, Linda’s new CEO, Bradley Preston (Dylan O’Brien), is an obnoxious, sexist, mean-spirited boss who is more likely to mock than promote someone as hard-working as Linda.

The power dynamic shifts when Linda and Bradley become stranded on an island after a plane crash. Linda’s obsession with Survivor allows her to thrive, while Bradley’s egotism makes him vulnerable to the elements, giving Linda greater power over him. From there, the film delights in the clashing of these forces while also embracing the madness of this scenario. There’s naturally a lot of fun in watching a spat-upon employee get giddy with their revenge, but the desire to maintain that power becomes as intoxicating as the toilet wine she whips up. Why would anybody want to go back to a world where CEOs can boss you around and office work offers zero rewards? The reality is that if Linda were accepting giving and receiving rescue, that status quo would remain. But in a film as unhinged as this, the darkest of desires come true in the most hilariously surreal of ways.

Something that must be made clear is that Send Help functions more like a cartoon than a compelling character-driven horror-comedy, and that is not an insult. Rather, it’s Raimi’s greatest strength as a director. He doesn’t just favor close-ups of shit on people’s faces and eyeballs enduring pain. He gets so extreme with his close-ups that you can probably make out what type of tuna Linda has smudged on her lips. He doesn’t just splash some bodily fluids on the characters. He goes the extra mile by featuring a scene of CPR with vomit being spewed four times in a row into someone’s mouth. Raimi’s penchant for the devilishly tongue-in-cheek with bombastic brutality has not diminished with age, and there’s glorious grossness to the comedy, from the over-the-top slaughtering of a wild boar to a finger being jammed into an eye socket. That wildness makes the film more enduring, so that one can suspend one’s disbelief that Rachel McAdams, even when dressed up to look lonely and messy, is an unattractive woman unworthy of attention. Her absurd levels of Swiss Family Robinson craft that clash with the wealthy bro-blowhard are far more enjoyable than making the scene of her glasses-free reflection being the essential outdoorsy makeover to improve her self-esteem.

Send Help sends in a heaping helping of Sam Raimi’s over-the-top, gross-out style to this most entertaining horror romp. What impressed me beyond the director’s usual theatrics was the pacing he was able to maintain for what felt like an EC Comics tale intended only for a few pages. Much like how Linda forms a strategy for her long-term survival, Raimi’s approach ensures the violence never lacks in punch, and the atmosphere never lacks danger. It’s a playful film for how it tinkers with the stranded scenario and finds the fun that can be had, even if it requires a few more gallons of blood and puke to evoke that Raimi charm.

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