Sam Raimi Returns to Horror Film Roots With 'Drag Me to Hell'

May 29, 2009 -- The marquee director of the "Spider-Man" films, Sam Raimi, is returning to his horror-film roots.

Taking advantage of a lull between "Spider-Man 3" (2007) and "Spider-Man 4," which is set for next year, Raimi decided to pursue a project that he and his brother Ivan began years ago: a horror film, albeit with a much smaller budget and crew than he had been accustomed to lately.

"I looked forward to a smaller crew and a tighter schedule but found out it was a big challenge," he admitted wryly in an interview for ABC News Now's "Popcorn" with Peter Travers.

"Drag Me to Hell", co-written and directed by Raimi, is the story of Christine Brown, a bank-loan officer played by Alison Lohman. When an opportunity comes up to give an old woman a loan extension, Christine opts not to do so in order to get into her boss' good graces and earn a promotion. Bad idea, as the woman throws a curse on her, sending a demon creature to ... drag her to hell.

In describing Christine's descent, Raimi, 49, said, "She continues to make worse and worse decisions, morally bankrupt decisions. She begins to lie ... when the demon appears, she tries to pin the blame on her boss. ... Finally, at the end, she tries to figure out which innocent soul to give to the devil, instead of her own."

Raimi, who was born in Royal Oak, Mich., believes the greatest horror films rely on the audience's imagination, which can create more terrifying monsters in the mind than filmmakers ever could. He generates such fear through more subtle methods, "old fashioned ways with sound effects and shadows." To Raimi, the scariest scene in the movie doesn't involve any blood, teeth, gnashing or tearing; it is shadow, spooky sound effects and fear. His horror technique was inspired by Jan de Bont's "The Haunting" (1999) and Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" (1960), both of which he said chilled him to the core.

Raimi's own descent into horror films took place in college. His partner and roommate at the time, Robert Tapert, asked him if he could make a horror film because it was the only kind that could be made on a low budget and distributed. Tapert took Raimi to see John Carpenter's "Halloween," which intimidated him. "I didn't know they were that good. 'I'm sorry,' I said, 'I don't know if I could do that;" he told Tapert. Eventually, Raimi learned how to make horror films, purely "out of business necessity," he insisted. His first feature film was "The Evil Dead" (1981) starring the man with the chin, Bruce Campbell. Raimi cast Campbell in the "Evil Dead" sequels, making the leading man an icon and cult figure.