Drag Me to Hell. 2009. USA. Directed by Sam Raimi. Screenplay by Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi. With Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Loma Raver, Dileep Rao, David Paymer, Adriana Barraza. 35mm. 99 min.
Drag Me To Hell stars mid-2000s It Girl Alison Lohman as Christine Brown, a well-intentioned young banker who, under pressure to live up to the “hard decisions” of her job, refuses to extend the mortgage of an elderly Roma woman named Sylvia (Lorna Raver). In retaliation, Sylvia places an ancient hex on Christine, and thereafter Drag Me to Hell reveals itself as a pitch-black comedy of errors as the increasingly desperate heroine and her boyfriend (Justin Long, at the peak of his powers) scramble to reverse the curse. Loud, gory, and rib-bruisingly hilarious, it’s a Great Recession horror story par excellence. With its William Castle-esque shock theatrics and breathtaking nihilism, Drag Me to Hell is an uncompromising follow-up (if not a rejoinder) to Sam Raimi’s crowd-pleasing corporate work helming the original Spider-Man trilogy—and many even consider it a “secret sequel” to his beloved Evil Dead trilogy.