Trailer Tuesday: Drag Me to Hell

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Drag Me to Hell marks the long awaited return of director Sam Raimi to the horror genre. For the past few years Raimi’s been kept busy (for better or worse) by the Spider-Man trilogy, but before that he was best known as the man responsible for the cult Evil Dead series, which melded horror with off-the-wall comedy. Raimi has also served as producer on such spooky flicks as The Grudge, Boogeyman and The Messengers.

Given his pedigree it’s unsurprising then that fanboys are seriously amped for Raimi’s latest. And even though I am definitely not an Evil Dead fan (there were waay too many WTF moments in that trilogy for me!), I'm actually very keen for Drag Me to Hell.

For the record, early buzz has been very good for Drag Me to Hell - even if it admittedly comes from lord of the fanboys, Harry Knowles.

Anyway, although there's a Ring-esque feel to proceedings ("you can give the curse away"), Drag Me to Hell looks like a triumphant return to old-school horror. I.e it's not a slasher film, with nubile, half-naked teens being chased by a maniac, and it's also not a half-assed Hollywood adaptation of a ghost story stolen from the Far East. Drag Me to Hell should be a truly enjoyable fright-fest.


The film's trailer outlines the plot nicely. Desperate to prove to her boss that she is worthy of a promotion, loan officer Christine (Alison Lohman) gets tough with an elderly woman who is late on her mortgage payments. Shamed and furious at losing her home, the old woman curses Christine, transforming her life into a living hell.

I'm expecting the acting in Drag Me to Hell to be solid. I'm actually a fan of Alison Lohman, one of a group of fresh faced young actresses (including Juno's Ellen Page who Lohman replaced here) who seem to work harder on their performances than getting into gossip mags.

Drag Me to Hell is released in North America on 29 May. No clue yet when it will open in South Africa.

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