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I'm a Sam Raimi fan back from the days when as a horror movie devotee it was mandatory to watch "Evil Dead," "Evil Dead 2," and "Army of Darkness"; though to call me a "Deadite" as Bruce Campell, star of the "Evil Dead" series, does towards the more rabid fans is going too far. That's why I feel like I can put some objectivity into reviewing Sam Raimi's new horror film "Drag Me to Hell," instead of gushing with accolades for one of my favorite directors.

If you haven't been to the theater in awhile to see repeated showings of the trailer, I'll update you briefly on the storyline. Christine Brown, as played by Alison Lohman, is a loan officer for Wilshire Pacific Bank. She's up for assistant manager against a slimy co-worker named Stu. When a Gypsy woman arrives to plea for a third extension on her mortgage payment, Christine is given the opportunity by the bank manager to show she's a tough decision maker.

"You bring me shame!" are the accusing words of the old woman as she begs for Christine not to turn her down. As Christine backs away and calls for security, she wonders if being "tough" was the right call. As far as her career, it was. The boss is impressed and Stu is jealous. As far as her soul, the old Gypsy woman is out for revenge.

Later that same day, in the underground parking lot, the old woman viciously attacks Christine and puts a curse on her, one that can't be lifted without drastic measures. And we spend the rest of the movie waiting to see if Christine can find a way out of her dilemma.

Gypsy curses, seances, animal sacrifices, devilish shadows--it's all very familiar and yet Sam Raimi and his crew have fun playing with the material like old toys brought out of the attic. There's really nothing original in this movie--it's a well known formula, but then this movie is not intended to show us something new. It's more like a side project from a script that had been sitting around for several years. Raimi is simply enjoying himself as if he went back in time to his "Evil Dead" days. Fact is, you can't watch the film and not be reminded of "Evil Dead."

What the movie has going for it is the timely issue of of a mortgage-related crisis. The audience may be split between those homeowners who played by the rules despite hardships who will root for Christine and those who were foreclosed upon because of sub prime loans or job loss who will root for the Gypsy.

I admittedly found myself on the side of Christine, because despite her not being lenient on yet another payment extension did she really deserve to go to hell?

At one point the writers have Christine confess her supposed guilt, that she could have given the extension at the cost of her promotion. That may have satisfied those in the audience that believe all banks are evil, but I found it to be patronizing. I think if someone had put a curse on me for enforcing contractual obligations for nonpayment I'd be pretty ticked off. The loss of a home is a big deal, I just don't think it's worthy of eternal torment. The arrogance of the Gypsy woman in targeting only Christine and not the entire bank seems simple-minded and unfair. After all, would she do the same thing after the third extension was not met? The fourth extension?

Justin Long also stars in "Drag Me to Hell" as the perfect boyfriend, and I don't mean that to sound sarcastic. He truly is "perfect." Even when he believes Christine's torment is all in her head he sticks by her side and demonstrates his devotion by humoring her occultic endeavors to fight back against the spirits.

The ending to Sam Raimi's film is where I found myself disappointed. It was incredibly predictable, almost dumbed down from the options that could have been available to add a couple of more twists. The entire movie, while enjoyable, felt like it had more potential.

With the onslaught of sub par horror films and reboots, "Drag Me to Hell" stands out among the pack, and yet that says something in of itself. Good horror films are rare finds because the bad ones continue to make money. That means this evil Gypsy woman will be back in "Drag Me to Hell 2" which I ironically heard from another audience member while leaving the theater.

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