Cannot Compare with Raimi's Incomparable "Evil Dead" Trilogy!

Rating: 6/10 (8 June 2009)

"Evil Dead" trilogy director Sam Raimi returns to his roots with this relatively lightweight chiller "Drag Me to Hell," but it generates nowhere as many chills as his "Evil Dead" epics with Bruce Campbell. Indeed, "Drag Me to Hell" ranks several rungs below Raimi's reputation.
A twentysomething bank loan officer Christine Brown (cute little Alison Lohman of "Flicka") struggles to convince her immediate superior Mr. Jacks(David Paymer of "Mumford") that she is the best candidate for the as yet filled assistant loan manager's position. Mr. Jacks reminds Christine that the individual that he selects for the job has to be able to make difficult decisions. Meanwhile, Christine faces stiff competition from an Asian-American, Stu Rubin (Reggie Lee of "Tropic Thunder")who will stoop to any low tactic to get the job himself. For example, Stu gives Mr. Jacks a couple of tickets to a Los Angeles Lakers' basketball game.
A ghastly-looking hag of Gypsy woman, Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver of "Freeway"),shows up to get a third extension on her mortgage since she has been sick. Ganush is so hopelessly repulsive that you almost find yourself laughing at her when she pulls out her Halloween-looking dentures. In an effort to impress Mr. Jacks, Christine displays her complete lack of compassion for this revolting looking crone and turns her down. The hideous old Gypsy woman curses our heroine and Christine's life becomes a living Hell. Flies climb her nose and the old woman haunts her.
Sam Raimi and Ivan Raimi penned the screenplay, but there isn't really anything new here. In fact, "Drag Me to Hell" reminded me of the Stephen King chiller "Thinner" (1996)where a guy hits an old Gypsy woman with his car and finds himself cursed. Poor Christine cannot sleep with experiencing nightmares and a horned goat-like phantom stalks her at his house. Meanwhile, Christine's sympathetic boyfriend, Clay Dalton (Justin Long of "Live Free or Die Hard") has trouble trying to figure what has turned his girlfriend into a delusional maniac. Desperate to rid herself of the Gypsy woman's curse, Christine visits a medium. No sooner has a storefront psychic, Rham Jas (newcome Dileep Rau), cradled our heroine's hands in his hands than he realizes that he is out of his element.
Ostensibly, "Drag Me to Hell" qualifies as your basic morality horror movie with a couple of surprises, but it remains flatly predictable right to its hellacious ending. Christine gets what she deserves in the last scene. Justin Long does a good job as Christine's long-suffering boyfriend, while Lorna Raver is terrific as the Gyspy woman. The first half of this chiller surpasses the last half. The key to everything in this occasionally frightening fare is a button from Christine's couat. Raimi relies on standard horror practices to turn your skin into goosebumps. People jump out of places that you never expected them to and the sound effects are ramped up loudly enough to make you jump. Interestingly, Raimi opens this minor league chiller with the old 1950's Universal Studios logo instead of the new one. "Drag Me to Hell" doesn't have enough hell and contains too much drag.