Being a fallible and sometimes foolish human, I missed the screening of Drag Me to Hell. Instead, I did something else that I can't remember but was probably stupid.

However! Intrepid film intern Alex Hagenah has seen the film, and wrote up a li'l something! For you! His verdict: Drag yourself to Drag Me to Hell.

When summer movie season arrives, we can’t help but hope for the best. All we want is that one perfect cinematic confection to complement these dreary, amorphous days. Wait a sec—is that an annoying MIDI version of “Happy Birthday” I hear? It’s the ice cream truck! And look, they have Drag Me To Hell pops!

Sam Raimi’s horror treat is a succulent, intoxicatingly escapist summer movie. It’s reassuring that this kind of adroit playfulness can still come out of big-time Hollywood directors. Raimi, who was probably as sick of Spiderman as we were (but all the more financially equipped because of it), teams up with his brother Ivan to plunge back into the occult silliness of the Evil Dead trilogy. This time, the dead prey on Christine Brown (Allison Lohman), an insurance agent who is cursed to hell by a gypsy witch after she rejects a payment extension on the witch’s house in the hopes of getting a promotion.

After being sadistically fucked with for three days by misogynistic minions of hell, Christine Brown’s explosions of frustration and anger are impressive. But the Raimi brothers maintain their rich tradition of hilarious, crowd-rousing one-liners and a pulpy cast of characters (who are all in on the joke). The special effects display a harmonious marriage of spectacular makeup and subtle CGI that will make you question the PG-13 rating. Drag Me to Hell is proud (and well-deservedly so) of its sheer ridiculousness, and up against so many robotic, business-as-usual summer movies, it’s tremendously refreshing.

Thank you, Alex, and thank you, Sam Raimi.