I’ve got something in the works for the main event (nothing major, so don’t get your undies too bunched), but here’s a little pre-Halloween treat of a recommendation for you: Drag Me To Hell. Or as I’d like to call it, Button, Button, Who’s Cursed the Button?

Loba loves scary movies. For this reason, Loba loves Sam Raimi. He, Wes Craven, Tobe Hooper, and John Carpenter helped to pretty much define the horror genre that I grew to love as a wee pup in the 80s. Many of my favorite movies, in fact, come from this phantasmagorical collection of directors.

Raimi hasn’t really focused on horror in quite a while…unless others out there were as horrified by Spider-Man 3 as I was, then I retract this statement completely. However, his last “real” scary movie was 2000’s The Gift, which for some reason didn’t make much of a mark in my memory. I remember that it stars Cate Blanchett and features Keanu Reeves playing a bit of a dickish character, but that’s about all I can give you without looking it up.

Then, of course, he became tangled in spinning the massive web of the Spider-Man mythology. He slammed it out of the park with parts 1 and 2, but after 3 maybe even he realized that it was time to cleanse his directorial palate of the taste of radioactive spiders.

And so he came back home to his horror roots.

[Actually, though, if he’d come back to his “roots,” he would have done yet another movie about a group of friends finding evil in a secluded cabin in the woods. Seriously, Sam, how many more times are you going to do this idea? No disrespect, but Bruce is getting a bit too old to keep whipping out his boomstick for you.]

Back on track: Drag Me To Hell is nothing less than exquisite. If you dig watching a classic horror-style revenge story unfold in classic Raimi style (meaning lots of bone rattles and over-the-top grossness held together by ridiculously well-timed moments of Raimi’s trademark gallows humor), you simply have to watch this movie. I can’t think of one thing from this movie that I didn’t adore (although there were a couple of scenes that left me a bit green around the gills…the “face gumming” suffered by our heroine left me feeling extremely grossed out).

Also, the audio is spot-on chilling. I don’t think any other movie has ever made the rusty screech of a swinging gate so utterly terrifying. I also have to say that the “pwink” sound of a staple coming loose during a particularly tense scene was a wonderfully funny post-production touch.

I want to say so much more about this movie, gush like a little fan girl about my favorite moments…but I want you all to go out and watch it for yourselves to discover the squee-inducing glee that I discovered. It’s been a long time since I saw a horror movie that delighted me as much as this one did. Raimi proves that he can still make us jump and laugh just like the old days, even without Bruce Campbell’s assistance (although other Raimi trademarks are present, including his brother Ted and that freakin’ pimp Oldsmobile Delta 88…where the hell does he keep that road boat in between movies?!). So check it out, see if it makes you as happy as it made me.

Now, all I can hope is that Raimi’s next scary movie isn’t Spider-Man 4…