May 2009 marks the director’s return to the horror genre

Mar 31, 2009 14:36 GMT  ·  By

Although Sam Raimi has never actually left the horror realm, what with producing “The Grudge” and “30 Days of Night,” movies like those in the “Spider-Man” franchise have contributed to fans forgetting that he is, first and foremost, a horror movie maker. May this year will see Raimi return to the genre with “Drag Me to Hell,” for which the first official poster just gotten out on the Internet.

“Drag Me to Hell” is the classic story of a woman leading a perfect life for whom everything comes to a sudden change because of one choice that she makes. In this case, upsetting an elderly lady who casts a curse on her – bottom line, the character only has three days to break the curse before she is dragged to hell to burn in the eternal fire and, for what it's worth, the woman who cursed her is not going to let her get away that easily.

Starring Alison Lohman as Christine, the cursed bank employee, and Justin Long as her picture-perfect boyfriend, “Drag Me to Hell” is meant as a comeback to the kind of movies that once brought Raimi fame and a loyal following for horror films such as “Evil Dead” and “Army of Darkness.” From what several movie-oriented media outlets are already saying, the film certainly does promise to accomplish just that. “Drag Me to Hell” also stars Dileep Rao as seer Rham Jas, who will push Christine into reversing the curse so that she can break free of it.

In other Sam Raimi-related news, over the weekend, the acclaimed director was telling the media that “Spider-Man 4” will see him in full control of the franchise again. According to Raimi himself, while he was allowed to do as he saw fit with the first two films, the movie studio forced him into doing things a certain way with the third. Venom, for instance, was a character Raimi was not too keen on, but which he had to introduce because he no longer had full creative control.

“I don’t even want to comment on Venom, because I know he’s a great character and all the fans love him. I never want to say anything bad about a much-beloved character because usually it turns out that I’m the one that doesn’t understand what makes it great. The best way for me to move forward on films, I realize…and this was a lesson I had to learn for myself… is that I’ve gotta be the singular voice that makes the creative choices on the film.” the director was saying in a recent interview.

Until more details surface on “Spider-Man 4,” fans will have Raimi’s “Drag Me to Hell” to enjoy. Below is the official trailer for it – watch and enjoy.