Drag Me to Hell

While silly and simple at times, this re-entry to the horror genre by Sam Raimi (Spider-man, Evil Dead) is pure cult horror. In short, Drag Me to Hell is about a curse bestowed upon a young woman, a loan officer, Christine (Alison Lohman). It gives her just a few days of being haunted and tormented before literally dragging her down to hell. So, naturally, she does everything in her power—with the help of her supportive boyfriend, Clay (Josh Long)—to remove the curse. It’s a fun little scare movie, with lots of jolts and jumps but not a whole lot in the gore category (although an old woman’s mouth seems to be the origin of at least three gross-out scenes). Lohman plays her part perfectly, going from slightly shy to having to let loose and stand up for herself, at work, but mostly against this preposterous curse. And the fact that the whole movie is one big metaphor—the action that directly precedes the curse challenged Christine’s morals—adds that little bit of depth that is so often missing in horror movies. Feather River Cinemas and Tinseltown. Rated PG-13