Drag Me To Hell takes Sam Raimi back to Evil Dead roots

A special test screening last week of an early version of Drag Me to Hell had sneak-peekers excited about Sam Raimi's directorial return to the horror genre.

The premise of Drag Me To Hell involves a demon who tortures its victims for three days after which—as you may have inferred from the film's title—it drags them to hell. Early reports about the movie suggest that it borrows a bit from Stephen King's Thinner. In Raimi's film, as in Thinner, someone offends a gypsy lady, and they get a cursing. This time, it's a loan officer (Alison Lohman) who forecloses on the gypsy woman's home and incurs the wrath of the demon Lamia. Justin Long (Apple commercials, Jeepers Creepers) plays Lohman's boyfriend.

Raimi fans will no doubt remember his start in film with the cult classic Evil Dead starring perpetual B-movie star Bruce Campbell who has had cameos in all three of Raimi's Spider-Man films. Although the film's PG-13 rating may leave some fans wanting more gore, sources say that plenty of Raimi trademarks recur from his earlier horror days, such as camera angles that create a suspenseful and frightening ambience. Also, making a cameo is Raimi's car, The Classic, a 1973 yellow Oldsmobile Delta 88, which has appeared in most of his films.

Fun Fact: Ellen Page was originally set to play the protagonist until Juno made her a hot commodity.