Scream Stream: Sam Raimi's Drag Me To Hell is an underrated and horrific gem with a simple storyline

For Sam Raimi, the horror genre is like a textbook, and he just aces this one with a limited runtime.

Lorna Raver in a still from Drag Me To Hell

I am terrified of the horror genre altogether! I am among those who are made to sit with their friends and are not allowed to cover their eyes. One such movie I watched during a night-out with friends was the 2009 release, Drag Me To Hell. It's not remembered much by the horror community. But the director became a household name this year. Yes, we are talking about Sam Raimi, whose Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was released this year.

Drag Me To Hell is about a loan officer, Christine Brown (Alison Lohman), who forcibly removes an elderly person, Mrs. Sylvia Ganush (Lorna Raver), from her house and ends up under a demonic curse. Evil powers are working to bring her to her breaking point as she desperately seeks the help of a seer to try and rescue her soul.

A curse always has a history, and this time it's in the button, which was a silver necklace first. The film starts with a Hispanic couple in 1969 Pasadena asking Shaun San Dena, a young medium, for advice because they believe their son is ill and is hearing evil voices as a result of stealing a silver necklace from a Gypsy waggon despite trying to return it. When San Dena is about to conduct a séance, an unknown power attacks and drags the youngster to Hell. San Dena promises to take on the devil once more.

The film wastes no time in showing the curse, as Ganush seeks an extension on her loan, which Brown refuses. Thus, she attacks her in a parking lot and takes a button from her outfit and curses it. Since then, her dark phase begins, and even a fortune teller reveals that she has been haunted. Here the demon doesn't possess her but keeps on showing her creepy stuff. The worst turn happens when Ganush dies and Brown is left with nothing but a curse that is making her die every day.

What's actually the interesting part of Drag Me To Hell is that, apart from jump scares, there's a storyline that will keep you hooked. Despite trying to cover my eyes multiple times, I was eager to know how Brown was going to save herself. Here, the lead character is so helpless without any fault of hers that you root for her to be alive until the end of time.

Brown is also seen telling her friend that the Lamia, a powerful demon, will torture her for three days before dragging her to Hell if she keeps the cursed button. Seeing how literally the film is going to get dragged to hell left me intrigued. The film is hardly 100 minutes, so it doesn't waste time on any of the sequences.

From jump scares to creepy creatures, the horrific elements of the film serve the genre properly. But along with that, it also shows a horror film can have a good story, which will leave you entertained.

Brown is not always a good person, but Lohman's facial expressions and performance will make you feel sorry for her. But Raver, as Mrs. Ganush, bakes the cake and eats it too. Her presence is enough to make you jump off your seat. The way she curses and attacks Brown or even lies like a deadly corpse haunted me for days.

For Sam Raimi, the horror genre is like a textbook, and he just aces this one with a limited runtime. People who love the horror genre must have surely watched Drag Me To Hell and appreciated its content. Those who haven't, please go on, and I will assure you that it will send chills down your spine.

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