Raimi's most satisfying work since Ash was last pitted against the Deadites.

Rating: 9/10 (10 October 2009)

He may have spent the best part of a decade making family-friendly super-hero blockbusters, but Sam Raimi clearly hasn't forgotten how to have fun whilst scaring an audience silly: Drag Me To Hell sees the director on top nerve-shredding form, his enthusiasm for the genre that first made his name seemingly stronger than ever, and his film-making skills honed to perfection.
Masterfully blending edge-of-your-seat tension with ghoulish comedy, Raimi's brilliantly inventive and witty script tells of Christine Brown (Alison Lohman), an ambitious bank employee who, against her better judgement, rejects an old woman's pleas for a loan extension and consequently becomes the victim of a nasty gypsy curse. With only three days before she is due to be dragged to hell by goat-headed demon Lamia, the terrified young woman desperately searches for a way to avoid her dreadful fate, enlisting the help of her sceptical but concerned boyfriend (Justin Long) and psychic Rham Jas (Dileep Rao).
Packed full of perfectly executed jump scares, disgusting gross-out visual gags (eyeball popping; mucous spewing; blood gushing; maggot vomiting: it's all there!), stunning camera-work, and effective CGI, and featuring a strong central performance from lovely leading lady Lohman, Drag Me To Hell is hugely entertaining from start to finish.
It goes to show that not all modern mainstream horror is bland, predictable, vacuous drivel—just most of it.
8.5 out of 10, rounded up to 9 for IMDb.