Film

Drag Me to Hell

Sam Raimi returns to horror after a decade of Spider-Man money, and it shows in the best way: this is pure, gleeful, slapstick dread, all creaking floorboards, seance vomit, and a séance-goat that somehow gets its own punchline. It's scary and stupid in exactly the right proportions — a rollercoaster, not a gut-punch. For anyone who wants their horror to wink at them without going soft.

TMDb rating6.5

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Evil Dead II1987

Raimi's own template for what Drag Me to Hell is doing — cackling camera moves, absurd gore, a hero pushed past sanity into slapstick. This is the source code.

But Rougher, cheaper, and even sillier — some viewers find the tonal whiplash exhausting rather than fun.

Evil Dead II poster

The Frighteners1996

Peter Jackson's pre-Rings horror-comedy has the same manic energy: ghosts, curses, and a plot that keeps escalating past the point of good taste, gleefully.

But Very 90s CGI and a tonal mess in spots — Jackson throws a lot at the wall.

The Frighteners poster

Tucker and Dale vs. Evil2010

Same appetite for turning horror-movie logic against itself for comedy, just aimed at slasher tropes instead of curses. Warm-hearted and genuinely inventive with gore.

But Broader and sweeter — less dread, more good-natured splatter comedy.

Tucker and Dale vs. Evil poster

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

99 Homes2015no page yet

Christine's curse begins the moment she denies a woman her home to look good for a promotion. This film takes that exact premise — the human cost of foreclosure decisions — and plays it entirely straight, no goat-seance required.

A drama about a man who becomes the guy evicting families from their homes during the foreclosure crisis — no curse, no demon, just the same moral rot at the center of the job Christine does.

But Dead serious, no jump scares, no relief — this is the story Drag Me to Hell only pretends to be about.

More like this (8)

The Cabin in the Woods2012

Another horror movie that's really having a conversation with the genre while still delivering the scares — smart, self-aware, and fun without losing its teeth.

But The meta twist reveals itself gradually and asks you to buy into a bigger, weirder machine.

The Cabin in the Woods poster

Army of Darkness1992

More Raimi chaos, this time with a chainsaw hand and a one-liner factory of a hero. If you liked the director's fingerprints on Drag Me to Hell, this is those fingerprints unrestrained.

But Pure camp, barely horror by the end — it's an action-comedy wearing a demon costume.

Army of Darkness poster

Gremlins1984

Christmas-movie-turned-monster-mayhem with that same rollercoaster mix of genuinely unsettling and laugh-out-loud silly. A masterclass in tonal juggling.

But Family-friendly-ish edges soften the horror considerably compared to Raimi's film.

Gremlins poster

Slither2006

James Gunn's small-town body-horror comedy shares the same DNA: practical gore, dumb jokes, and a script that never takes itself too seriously.

But Grosser and more overtly comic — some of it plays as parody rather than dread.

Slither poster

Final Destination2000

A different curse, same relentless structure — an inescapable force stalking someone who broke a rule they didn't know existed, building dread through absurd, elaborate deaths.

But Colder and more mechanical — no comic relief character, just escalating doom.

Final Destination poster

Beetlejuice1988

For pure demonic-visual-imagination and gleeful bad taste, this is the granddaddy — ghosts, bureaucracy, and gross-out gags played entirely for laughs.

But Much less scary — it's a comedy with ghosts, not a horror film with jokes.

Beetlejuice poster

Night of the Demon1957

Same structural engine as Drag Me to Hell — a nonbeliever cursed on a countdown, racing to undo it — but told sixty years earlier with dread instead of splatter.

A rational skeptic is marked for death by an ancient curse and has days to find a way out — moody, atmospheric British horror that invented half of what modern curse movies still do.

But Slow by modern pacing standards, and the demon effects (added against the director's wishes) look dated.

Night of the Demon poster

Ju-on: The Grudge2002

Where Raimi's curse is loud, cackling, and ultimately almost jokey, this is the same premise — an inescapable supernatural debt passed to whoever crosses its path — played with total, humorless dread.

Japanese curse horror at its most relentless — anyone who enters a certain house becomes marked for death, no negotiation, no escape, just spreading dread through fractured timelines.

But Slow-burn, unsettling rather than fun, and the fragmented structure can be disorienting on first watch.

Ju-on: The Grudge poster

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