Drag Me To Hell

Rating:

* * * *

Verdict:

Fancy that, a horror movie that's a real scream.

Before Sam Raimi spent the best part of the past decade swinging Spider-man off skyscrapers, he made his name with superior-schlock horror movies.

And he's also kept his eye in as a producer on the New Zealand-filmed likes of

30 Days of Night

and

Boogeyman

.

But while many a blockbuster director might say they pine for their earlier down and dirty days, here Raimi has actually returned to them in this madly entertaining voodoo-horror which elicits shrieks of laughter and terror in roughly equal measure.

Visually, it can feel like a throwback to Raimi's 80s and 90s horror heyday combined with some nods to Hitchcock.

But it still offers inventive uses of goo, gore, random small furry pets, the occasional liberated eyeball and an entertaining line in south-of-the-border mumbo-jumbo. Yep, an alternative title could have been

The Mexorcist

.

And at its centre is a winning performance from Lohman as the poor cursed Christine, a bank worker who finds turning down mortgage extensions to dentally challenged old gypsywomen on fixed incomes can really ruin your week.

Soon she's suffering the mother of all nosebleeds, going all Spidey on the ceiling while her academic boyfriend (Long) sits by trying to offer rational explanations for her apparent delusions.

Just as Raimi has returned to a cheap and nasty genre after the superhero excesses in time for the recession, his film has an undercurrent about these troubled times - Christine is only cursed when she lets her career ambition get the better of her compassion.

But really it's main point is shouting "boo!" at regular intervals which it does with a ghoulish glee all the way to its nasty twist of an ending. It all makes for a welcome return to Raimi's house of horrors.

Russell Baillie

Cast:

Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Lorna Raver

Director:

Sam Raimi

Rating:

R16 (horror scenes)

Running time:

99 mins