Drag Me to Hell

Drag Me to Hell is acclaimed director Sam Raimi’s newest offering to the horror movie world, and it doesn’t disappoint. The plot is centred around loan officer Christine Brown (Alison Lohman), who is striving to gain promotion in the workplace: as a result she has to evict an old woman from her house, which unsurprisingly leads to disastrous consequences – Christine finds herself the recipient of gypsy curse, which, unless she manages to break it in three days, will result in her being dragged to hell by supernatural forces. In her desperation she visits a seer who attempts to assist her, and informs her of the various stages of the curse. With the assistance of her boyfriend Clay (Justin Long), Christine fights to rid herself of the spirit, forcing her to make some difficult choices.

Despite the somewhat formulaic nature of the plot – the evil curse ruining the seemingly perfect life of the young woman – the film provides a number of surprising twists and turns. Fans of the Evil Dead films will see a parallel in Raimi’s success in combining comedic moments and shockingly jumpy moments, which are aplenty in this film, which keeps you on tenterhooks with its unsuspected jumpy nature.

The film combines the successful elements of generic horror movies with an unusually tense atmosphere which lasts for the majority, and in doing so, keeps the viewers interest throughout. Drag Me to Hell is a must see for both Evil Dead fans and horror fans in general, and proves that recent horror movies are still as affecting as those horror classics revered by critics.

Catherine Gowers