Christine Brown is an ambitious L.A. loan officer with a charming boyfriend, professor Clay Dalton. Life is good until the mysterious Mrs. Ganush arrives at the bank to beg for an extension on her home loan. Should Christine follow her instincts and give the old woman a break? Or should she deny the extension to impress her boss, Mr. Jacks, and get a leg-up on a promotion? Christine fatefully chooses the latter, shaming Mrs. Ganush and dispossessing her of her home. In retaliation, the old woman places the powerful curse of the Lamia on Christine, transforming her life into a living hell. Haunted by an evil spirit and misunderstood by a skeptical boyfriend, she seeks the aid of seer Rham Jas to save her soul from eternal damnation. To help the shattered Christine return her life to normal, the psychic sets her on a frantic course to reverse the spell. As evil forces close in, Christine must face the unthinkable: How far will she go to break free of the curse. - skip ad - Genres: Drama, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Suspense/Horror and Thriller Running Time: 1 hr. 39 min. Release Date: May 29th, 2009 (wide) MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sequences of horror violence, terror, disturbing images and language. Distributor: Universal Pictures Cast And Credits Starring: Lorna Raver, Dileep Rao, Alison Lohman, Justin Long, David Paymer Directed by: Sam Raimi Produced by: Josh Donen, Nathan Kahane, Joe Drake

Having been preoccupied with a little thing called the "Spider-Man" trilogy, Sam Raimi returns to his "Evil Dead" roots with "Drag Me to Hell," a funhouse ride of a supernatural thriller surrounding a demonic gypsy curse.

He might be armed with a larger budget than what he had to work with back in the pre-Spidey days, but Raimi's still very much up to his old tricks, retaining that deliriously over-the-top brand of Grand Guignol horror that he had abandoned by the mid-'90s in pursuit of other genres.

Raimi's legions of early fans, who'll likely be tickled by the title alone, are certain to eat this stuff up, especially given the buzz that's been building since a sneak preview of an unfinished version at the South by Southwest Festival in March.

The completed version, meanwhile, will have a Wednesday midnight screening at Cannes ahead of its May 29 opening.

Life for Christine (Alison Lohman) would seem reasonably far from hell given her position as a Los Angeles bank loan officer and her nurturing relationship with her college professor boyfriend (Justin Long).

But all that changes when, forced to choose between granting yet another home loan extension to weird old Mrs. Ganush (fearless stage actress Lorna Raver) or impressing her boss (David Paymer), she opts for career maintenance.

Facing eviction, the elderly Hungarian woman damns Christine's soul with the curse of the Lamia, a mythical beast who'll pay a visit to haul her off to you-know-where.

Hatched by Raimi and his brother Ivan, the scripting is not without some clunky plot mechanics, but it's hard to notice given all that visceral visual goop heaved onto the screen with gleeful abandon.

Incorporating old-school puppetry and prosthetic makeup combined with some judiciously used CGI, along with a colorful cast and composer Christopher Young's unnerving symphonic blasts, Raimi's raucous trip to hell proves to be anything but a drag.