Drag Me To Hell (2009) Director: Sam Raimi

There are several morals to be had from Drag Me To Hell.

Number one - always be nice to old grannies, especially if they have nasty nails, spit their false teeth out on your desk and they are gypsy romany types.

Number two - never f**k someone over to try and get a promotion or ANYTHING.

Number three - don't sacrifice your kitten to get rid of a demon spirit as the act is futile.

Being a huge fan of Sam Raimi (Evil Dead 2 is one of my favourite films EVER), Drag Me To Hell started slow...but picked up the pace with some truly yukky stuff and true Raimi direction. Bank worker Christine (a great Alison Lohman) has the day from hell (she doesn't even know how bad it's going to get) when she refuses an old crone a bank loan. The disgruntled enquirer puts a curse on Christine that condemns her soul to burn in hell for eternity and in three days time, she'll be going downtown. Poor Christine then gets all manner of Ash Evil Dead treatment thrown at her with puking up flies at the dinner table, eyeballs popping out at her and the most brutal fist punch swallow to the mouth ever seen.

It's a good yarn but not outstanding. Being Raimi, it's very tongue in cheek horror and comedic but it left me feeling that more COULD have been done. Would it have been better with more gore and madness? The performance from Alison Lohman is stellar though and it's a rip-roaring ride of gross out horror and laughs.

3/5 popcorn bites