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  4. Drag Me to Hell

Trailer Breakdown: Drag Me To Hell

Features
By Total Film published 12 March 2009

Tearing Sam Raimi's new horror to bits...

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Hell On Earth

Hell On Earth

AAARRGGHHH! IT'S TERRIBLE! IT'S HELLISH! IT'S... Okay, it's just a motorway. Phew. Wait... It's a motorway... in LA. AAAAARGGGGHHH!

Page 1 of 25
Page 1 of 25
Meet Christine

Meet Christine

Christine (Alison Lohman) will be our heroine for this slice of cinematic entertainment. She's a loan officer at a bank, see, which sounds hellish enough... She's ambitious, too, asking her boss about an assistant manager's position that has yet to be filled.

Page 2 of 25
Page 2 of 25
The Competition

The Competition

And this is Stu (Reggie Lee). Despite being new, he's Christine's main competition for the job. What is this, The Evil Apprentice?

Page 3 of 25
Page 3 of 25
The Boss Man

The Boss Man

"Stu’s someone who’s not afraid to make the tough decisions," explains Christine's boss, manager Jim Jacks - played by eternal That Guy Off That Thing actor David Paymer.

Page 4 of 25
Page 4 of 25
Scary Granny

Scary Granny

Gah! Christine's latest customer is a disturbing crone who needs help with her home loan. Yes, we rhymed that on purpose. It's TV stalwart Lorna Raver under some make-up and sporting a demonic contact lense. She's played a lot of judges.

Page 5 of 25
Page 5 of 25
Push In On Fate

Push In On Fate

So this woman (Mrs Ganush) is in danger of losing her home. But Christine's boss is unmoved. "We’ve already granted her two extensions," he explains, "It’s a tough decision. Your call." Here we see a little of Raimi's old ways start to creep in as we push in on Christine's anguish at making her fateful bad first choice.

Page 6 of 25
Page 6 of 25
Denied!

Denied!

Sorry, Grandma! No house for you! Should've kept up with those payments. "But where will I live?" she pleads. Remembering the basement granny in Evil Dead 2, we sense this is not going to go well for anyone.

Page 7 of 25
Page 7 of 25
Ain't Too Proud...

Ain't Too Proud...

Mrs Ganush becomes desperate. "Never have I begged for anything but now I humble myself for you… I beg you…" Look, lady, this is no way to get to see Terminator Salvation early. We tried that. Oh, wait... Still about the house.

Page 8 of 25
Page 8 of 25
Falling Down

Falling Down

Whoops... that may well bring on a lawsuit. OR A HORRIBLE CURSE. Except that bit comes later...

Page 9 of 25
Page 9 of 25
Bricking It

Bricking It

We cut to Christine walking to her car in a darkened parking lot. She realises she's not alone and... crash! Mrs Ganush earns herself one whopper of an ASBO by smashing a slab straight through the car window. Umm, she seems a bit strong for an old dear...

Page 10 of 25
Page 10 of 25
I Put A Spell On You

I Put A Spell On You

Curse time! After a brief struggle, Mrs Ganush tears a button from Christine's clothes and - eww - breathes on it before muttering a weird incantation. "Soon it will be you who comes begging to me," she explains spookily. Ah, well - desperate times, desperate measures...

Page 11 of 25
Page 11 of 25
The Trouble With Magic

The Trouble With Magic

Christine has to find out what the grumpy gypsy granny has done to her. Cue helpful psychic Rham Jas (Dileep Ra). "Someone has cursed you. It is the lamia, the most feared of all demons," he explains, manfully carrying the main weight of story exposition.

Page 12 of 25
Page 12 of 25
Brought To Book

Brought To Book

Jas even has a helpful How To Know When You've Been Cursed With An Evil Goat-Like Demon tome. He lays out the terms of the curse. "For the first three days the spirit torments its victims. After that it will come to take you."

Page 13 of 25
Page 13 of 25
Final Destination

Final Destination

"Take me where?" quivers Christine. Disneyland!? Where'd you think, love? Didn't you notice the title of the movie? "To burn in hell for eternity," explains Jas, comfortingly.

Page 14 of 25
Page 14 of 25
The Young Woman Who Swallowed A Fly...

The Young Woman Who Swallowed A Fly...

...perhaps she'll die. Screaming. One of our favourite bits of the trailer, for sheer shivery horror. No blood, no demons, no gore. Just one fly and a pair of lips. You just know he's going to do a fly-poo in there.

Page 15 of 25
Page 15 of 25
The Young Woman Who Swallowed A Fly...

The Young Woman Who Swallowed A Fly...

...perhaps she'll die. Screaming. One of our favourite bits of the trailer, for sheer shivery horror. No blood, no demons, no gore. Just one fly and a pair of lips. You just know he's going to do a fly-poo in there.

Page 16 of 25
Page 16 of 25
Strange Bedfellows

Strange Bedfellows

Ah... Nice to see they worked out their differences and... apparently started living together!? Actually, no - it's a bad vision/dream for Christine. That should be Justin Long in bed with her.

Page 17 of 25
Page 17 of 25
Strange Bedfellows

Strange Bedfellows

Ah... Nice to see they worked out their differences and... apparently started living together!? Actually, no - it's a bad vision/dream for Christine. That should be Justin Long in bed with her.

Page 18 of 25
Page 18 of 25
Peek-A-Boo

Peek-A-Boo

It's the goat, sucker! We made a Chupacabra funny. The first glimpse of the demon in question is more funny than frightening. Unless you're specifically scared of goats.

Page 19 of 25
Page 19 of 25
Arms Across The Floor

Arms Across The Floor

After a montage of Christine being freaked out, we see this image of scary shadows. "It’s coming for me!" she sobs to fiance Clay, played by... you should guess it from the earlier panel... Justin Long.

Page 20 of 25
Page 20 of 25
Cold Comfort

Cold Comfort

Sadly (but perhaps understandably) he doesn't seem to believe her. "Please listen to me… There is nothing coming for you." Sez you, dude. You didn't see the old lady in bed. Or the fly. Oddly, this is Long's only line in the trailer.

Page 21 of 25
Page 21 of 25
A Happy Medium

A Happy Medium

Ram Jas is a little more useful. When asked how Christine can get rid of the curse, he takes her to a medium, Shaun San Dena (Adriana Barraza), who starts a seance to draw the spirit to them. "I welcome the dead!" is the refrain. Somewhere, Hayley Joel Osment shudders.

Page 22 of 25
Page 22 of 25
Road Trip

Road Trip

You can imagine their satnav instructions for this moment: "Continue north on secluded road. Go straight ahead, towards screeching old biddy." That nice Mrs Ganush starts popping up in the most unusual places...

Page 23 of 25
Page 23 of 25
Flying Tonight

Flying Tonight

And we're into the final montage as Christine endures more torment at the hands of the demon. Here we see her flung around her house. During the flinging, Christine is told, "You can give the curse away!" Oooh... like an unwanted gift! Or in Night Of The Demon! Wonder if she'll get the chance.

Page 24 of 25
Page 24 of 25
Scream And Scream And... You Get The Idea

Scream And Scream And... You Get The Idea

Another flurry of mad, horrific imagery, with Christine battling the spirit and her aged tormentor everywhere from her home, to a seance and a grave. Plus this intriguing final image...

Raimi's back on familiar schlock-horror turf and having all the fun he can have. We can exclusively reveal that while Bruce Campell is sadly not in the movie (too busy making Burn Notice), Ted Raimi's ear is on camera during one scene and he gets a line.

Page 25 of 25
Page 25 of 25
Total Film

The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine. 

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