Drag Me To Hell is a vibrant Sam Raimi horror that bears all the hallmarks of the auteur behind the Evil Dead, Darkman and Spider-man films.
With a contemporary setting, it's a film that follows Christine Brown, a mild-mannered bank clerk, who, in an effort to impress her hardline boss, turns down a request for a loan extension from an ailing gypsy woman. However, miffed at the refusal, the gypsy goes on the attack and throws a curse on Brown that'll see the lowly clerk dragged to hell within three days unless she's able to reverse the imprecation.
Luckily, Brown, played by a likeable Alison Lohman, isn't long in finding her Inner Kick-Ass Heroine and sets about her task with gusto, dragging fiance Justin Long and medium Dileep Rao along in her wake.
It's a really good film that, with its bright, colourful hues, carries a comic-book sensibility that lends well to the material. It treads a fine line between scares and cheers, and is, to all intents and purposes, a Family Horror that's likely to appeal to those who aren't typically fans of the genre.
Unless you're planning on sitting down to watch it with a gypsy Human Rights campaigner? Cos that could be awkward... they're not all evil...
Drag Me To Hell: 8/10.
