Drag Me To Hell sees Sam Raimi return to his directing roots after almost 10 years of doing nothing but movies with Spider-Man in the title. He's kept his hand in the genre on a producing level (with movies like The Grudge, 30 Days of Night, and Boogeyman), but this is the first horror movie that he's directed since 2000's The Gift. And what a triumphant return it is. This is a frantic, exhilarating, genuinely frightening experience that keeps you on edge even when little is happening on-screen. Now this is how horror should be done.
Drag Me To Hell follows Christine Brown (Alison Lohman), a bank loan advisor who is forced, through want of a promotion, to make "the tough decision" of denying an old woman an extension on her mortgage. When she does this, the old woman feels shamed enough that she attacks Christine and then puts a curse on her, damning her to a life of being tormented by evil, supernatural creatures. In her desperation, Christine tries everything she can to break the curse, including visiting a psychic, before it's too late.
A lot of people, myself included, were sad to see Raimi take a hiatus from horror simply because with the first two Evil Dead movies (and to an extent the third, Army of Darkness) he solidified himself as one of the best in the business at the genre. Although he has given us two great comic book movies with the first two Spider-Man films (the third.. let's just say wasn't so great; but two out of three ain't bad), those who loved what he did with the Evil Dead series have longed for a return. And with Drag Me To Hell he has returned with a bang... and a splash... and a wallop. This is horror-filled entertainment at its best, with an insanely breezy pace, and some of the best jump scares in recent cinematic history.
Article comments
1 - Loxlee
great film! not as good as Evil dead but that was awesome. Drag me to hell 2 soon then?