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2009 Scream Award Nominations

Ross Miller — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:37:08 +0000

The nominees have been announced for the fourth annual Scream Awards, held every year by Spike TV. The decisively more “fan-friendly” award ceremony (compared to the Oscars) honors films from the sci-fi, fantasy, horror and comic-book genres of movies, TV shows and comic books. The awards are described as, “the first and only global event of its kind,” to honor those genres.

The Scream 2009 nominees were chosen by the Advisory Board of Hollywood and Genre Leaders, a list which this year includes the likes of Wes Craven, Roland Emmerich, Neil Gaiman, Frank Miller, Eli Roth and Zack Snyder, plus many more. The event will be taped on Saturday, October 17th this year at The Greek Theater in Los Angeles, and will air on Spike TV ten days later on Tuesday, October 27th (check for local times).

Along with the awards, the show will also be airing some exclusive, world premiere of footage of some of the most anticipated movies of 2010! Presenters and musicians for the event are to be announced shortly.

Below is the list of a selection of the 32 categories from this year’s Scream nominations. For those of you (all of you?) who want to have YOUR say on which film should win, you’re in luck! Public voting for the awards has opened already and will run right up to October 17th. But before you head off to vote, here are some of the nominees:

BEST FANTASY MOVIE

“Coraline”

“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”

“Twilight”

“Up”

“Watchmen”

“X-Men Origins: Wolverine”

BEST HORROR MOVIE

“Dead Snow”

“Drag Me to Hell”

“Friday the 13th”

“Let the Right One In”

“My Bloody Valentine 3D”

“Splinter”

BEST COMIC BOOK MOVIE

“Dragonball Evolution”

“Punisher: War Zone”

“The Spirit”

“Watchmen”

“X-Men Origins: Wolverine”

BEST VILLAIN

Eric Bana as Nero; “Star Trek”

Cam Gigandet as James; “Twilight”

Lorna Raver as Mrs. Ganush; rag Me to Hell”

Liev Schrieber as Victor Creed/Sabretooth; “X-Men”

Alexander Skarsgård as Eric Northman; “True Blood”

BEST DIRECTOR

J.J. Abrams; “Star Trek”

Tomas Alfredson; “Let the Right One In”

Michael Bay; “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”

Pete Doctor & Bob Peterson; “Up”

Duncan Jones; “Moon”

Sam Raimi; “Drag Me to Hell”

BEST TV SHOW

Battlestar Galactica

Dexter

Fringe

Lost

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

True Blood

BEST ACTOR IN A FANTASY MOVIE OR TV SHOW

Ed Asner, “Up”

Hugh Jackman, “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”

Robert Pattinson, “Twilight”

Brad Pitt, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

Daniel Radcliffe, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”

Michael Sheen, “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans”

BEST ACTRESS IN A FANTASY MOVIE OR TV SHOW

Scarlett Johansson, “The Spirit”

Jamie King, “The Spirit”

Rhona Mitra, “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans”

Kristen Stewart, “Twilight”

Emma Watson, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”

For the rest of the nominees you can head over to Spike.com, where you can also cast your votes.

Although some of the awards are truly suspect (how the hell The Spirit got nominated for ANYTHING is beyond me), I still like the overall celebration of the type of sci-fi, fantasy, comic book and horror films we here at Screen Rant revel in Although I won’t go into a specific rundown of who I think should win, I’d like to throw my opinion in the ring for a few of them:

Lost should win Best TV Show (I love Dexter, but it’s no Lost); Best Horror Movie should go to Let The Right One In (I would say Drag Me To Hell, but since that’s a comedy too, Let The Right One takes it for me); Best Actor in a Fantasy Movie Or TV Show should go to Brad Pitt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; and Best Comic Book Movie should (EASILY) go to Watchmen.

But enough from me, what and who will YOU vote for? As stated, you can cast your votes over at Spike.com, and you can see if the winners match your picks when the Scream Awards 2009 air on October 27th this year on Spike TV.

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World of Warcraft To Be Directed By Sam Raimi?

Rob Keyes — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 06:17:53 +0000

Harry Knowles at Ain’t It Cool News has been hard at work in recent weeks tracking down and verifying a very interesting piece of information: The director for the upcoming film adaptation of the biggest MMO ever, Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft, will be Sam Raimi.

We all know Sam Raimi for his Evil Dead films, the three Spider-Man films (and the upcoming Spider-Man 4) and more recently for his well-received horror movie from earlier this summer, Drag Me to Hell.

The man has an insane amount of feature film projects in development and as we don’t know of any official dates for the production schedule of World of Warcraft, we don’t know when exactly we could be seeing this.

We do know that the fourth Spidey installment is set for a release date on May 6, 2011 and that Raimi’s been talking up another Evil Dead film in recent months. With this announcement of his involvement with WoW, that could push the Evil Dead project further away to the dismay of Bruce Campbell fans everywhere.

Don’t fret too much though, Campbell will likely have another guest cameo role in the next Spider-Man!

With Drag Me to Hell, Raimi went back to his horror roots and now he’ll be back working in the superhero side of things, only to move into the fantasy epic realm. World of Warcraft will have a very very large budget and it’ll be interesting to see what Raimi can do with an unlimited sandbox of characters, stories, landscapes and visuals to play with.

There’s a limitless potential here to make something very special and entirely new. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a massive film franchise spawn out of this if Raimi kicks it off to a strong start. Not a stretch considering the built-in fanbase who pay a monthly subscription to play the game.

Would you like to see a feature film based on World of Warcraft and is Raimi a good pick to helm it?

Source: AICN

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Drag Me To Hell Review

Vic Holtreman — Fri, 29 May 2009 04:17:58 +0000

Short version: Sam Raimi returns to the format that put him on the map with Drag Me to Hell – and you won’t be disappointed.

Screen Rant reviews Drag Me to Hell

If you’re a REAL Sam Raimi fan, you’ve heard of him long before he ever sat in the director’s chair for the first Spider-Man movie. His claim to fame came with a little trilogy of films known as the Evil Dead series.

The first film was made on a shoestring budget and launched Bruce Campbell into the B-movie limelight. Evil Dead 2 was essentially a remake of the first film but with a bigger budget. While many people think that film is the best of the series, to me the crown jewel is the third film: Army of Darkness.

Each film had an odd mixture of humor and horror – the first film had a bit of it that made it seem campy. But with each subsequent film he refined the comedy/horror one-two punch to a high art. By the time we arrived at Army of Darkness, he pulled out all the stops and the film was 90% comedy, 10% horror.

People have been waiting for YEARS for Raimi to return to the low budget horror/comedy niche and he finally relented with Drag Me to Hell. He’s commented that he needed to “recharge” on a smaller, fun film after the mega-budget stresses of working on three consecutive Spider-Man films.

So has he lost his touch?

Hell, no!

The basic plot of Drag Me to Hell revolves around loan officer Christine Brown (Alllison Lohman) – she’s an eager-beaver at her bank, wanting to be promoted into an open assistant manager position very badly. The problem is that she’s up against a new male employee who is a much more aggressive guy who also happens to have mastery over the fine art of sucking up to the boss.

Her boss tells her she’s in the running but the other guy is more aggressive and is able “to make the hard decisions” (ie. those that favor the bank and hurt the customer). So when a creepy old woman shows up at her desk asking for an extension on her mortgage, Christine decides this is the opportunity to make one of those hard decisions.

Bad call Christine, bad call.

Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver, who does an awesome job and is pictured at the top of this review) starts out nice enough, although she’s creepy and gross as all get out – but once she is denied and embarrassed by Christine the fangs (almost literally) come out and she places a curse on our young up and comer that will give her three days of hell before something REALLY terrible happens.

We see something happen in the opening of the film that is a precursor to the curse, and frankly that opening sequence dropped my expectations for the movie. I found it to be neither particularly scary nor funny and I sat there thinking “Oh man, Raimi has lost his touch?” However I’m happy to have been proven wrong as the film moved along.

Along the way we meet her boyfriend, played by Justin Long, his rich parents including a snooty mom, and Indian fortune teller Rham Jas (played by Dileep Rao). Everyone fits right into the movie nicely like pieces of a tight-fitting puzzle.

The film takes a bit of time to rev up, beginning with the scene in the parking garage that you’ve probably already had a chance to see in the trailer. What’s in the trailer is just a hint and while you’ll be jumping out of your seat at the beginning of that sequence, by the end you’ll be laughing your head off. From there it backs off to the mundane for a bit but once the curse kicks in – a little bit here and there at first, but escalating in intensity… you’ll continue to be pummeled by scary scenes wrapped in bizarre comedy.

Raimi takes Lohman’s character from a sweet, if misguided loan officer to a desperate woman and right on through to someone willing to do whatever it takes to shake off this curse, and it’s hysterical to watch some of the choices she makes as she travels along her path.

Oh, and while (as far as I could tell) Bruce Campbell did NOT have a cameo in the film, you will notice a familiar car…

If you’re a fan of the original Evil Dead movies I think you’re really going to enjoy Drag Me to Hell. And even if you’re not, it provides plenty of VERY effective jump scares (I’m usually not a fan of those, but they’re applied to great effect here), lots of gross visual effects (amazing what you can get away with now in a PG-13 movie) plus a ton of Raimi’s trademark horror humor.

This one has future cult movie written all over it and gets a thumbs up from me.

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Sam Raimi’s Date With Mary Jane To Talk Spider-Man 4

Rob Keyes — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 06:30:19 +0000

Last month we got some big news surrounding Spider-Man 4. Among the scheduling changes for the upcoming Marvel movies, we also were told that Spider-Man 4 would hit theaters May 6, 2011. The other unsurprising update that made a splash was that Raimi really wants Kirsten Dunst to return as Mary Jane Watson.

From what we’ve heard, Dunst has been hesitant about returning for another installment, perhaps because of some negative fan feedback about her being cast into the role in the first place which still hasn’t died down.

Raimi is taking it into his own hands and is reportedly set to meet with Kirsten Dunst to talk about her return for the next Spidey adventure. In a group interview last week, Raimi discussed the current situation:

“I’m hoping that she is going to come aboard, and I’ve got a meeting coming up with her… I think she would like to. But I don’t want to speak on behalf of her.”

The folks at Sci-Fi Wire had the opportunity to speak with Raimi about his upcoming Drag Me to Hell horror movie, Evil Dead 4 and what we may expect of the style for Spider-Man 4. Sci-fi Wire raised the point of the darker trend in superhero movies we’ve seen in The Dark Knight and Watchmen and asked whether or not we’d be seeing a darker and Edgier Spider-Man this time around. Raimi’s edited response:

“Whatever it is, I think will be a direct result of the best style to bring about our writer’s screenplay. And as soon as I read that, I will know what that is. Edgy could be a direction, but I don’t think it will be applied without really understanding the character’s journey from the inside out first and then figuring out the best way to bring that about.

And then, as far as the other influences, making it different from the other films, … I hope we don’t react to these very good and sometimes bad superhero movies around us. I hope that we just [look] ever deeper into the truth of who Peter Parker really is—as a human being and the unique character, and that we celebrate that, which is a lot of the reason I want to make this next picture. I still believe I have an understanding of Peter Parker as the character that I have not quite put onto the screen yet.

I’m not talking about Tobey Maguire’s performance, which I very much love; I’m talking about my understanding of the character. I feel like sometimes a kid at the piano recital. And I know this piece really well. I know it by heart. And I sometimes get it right, and sometimes I don’t. But I want a chance to really play it the way I feel it. So I’m hoping it’s a really good screenplay and I can express the character through that.”

By his piano recital analogy, I’m guessing he’s referring Spider-Man 3 when saying he sometimes doesn’t get it right. Other than that, we get nothing new. The script isn’t done and Raimi isn’t committing to a style of film.

The good news is that Raimi will have full control over this movie unlike its predecessor which will hopefully give us another quality movie like the first two and not a mess like the third installment.

As for the Mary Jane character, I don’t know what else they can explore in her relationship with Peter Parker and I don’t think the fans really care about the plot revolving around them. Personally, I don’t want them to even try – I’d like to see the story focused on the villains and Peter Parker trying to save the day this time around.

What do you think of Kirsten Dunst returning?

Source: Sci-Fi Wire

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Wild Poster For Sam Raimi’s ‘Drag Me To Hell’

Ross Miller — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:34:18 +0000

Despite the fact that the first trailer for Sam Raimi’s upcoming (and much overdue) return to directing horror called Drag Me To Hell, wasn’t as scary I had hoped it would be, this brand spanking new one-sheet suggests differently.

It’s an intriguing, undoubtedly striking piece of imagery that does what a poster for this type of film should do – startle, grab attention, intrigue, and give off a creepy vibe. But don’t let me convince you, have a look for yourself (click on the image below for high res):

As I said above, the trailer for the film didn’t scare me as much as I had hoped. There are parts of it that feel like they’ve aimed at having that comedy/horror feel similar to Raimi’s Evil Dead series had, but they just don’t come off quite right (and fellow Screen Rant writer Sabrina kind of confirmed this when she saw a rough cut of Drag Me to Hell).

But even though it may be a bit underwhelming, it still has promise because of a couple of extremely effective moments in the trailer, plus it’s Sam Raimi who’s directing it. Although he took a beating from fans with Spider-Man 3, he’s no different from just about every other filmmaker on that front – everyone has a bad day at the office once in a while.

I remain looking forward to this one, and just hope it’s not a disappointment, particularly because the man directing it has shown many times before that he has truckloads of talent.

What do you think – is that a cool poster or what? Hopefully the film lives up to it.

Drag Me To Hell opens on May 29, 2009.

Source: ShockTillYouDrop

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New ‘Evil Dead’: Slightly Better Than Snowball’s Chance In Hell

Rob Keyes — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:55:25 +0000

At the opening weekend to 2009’s SXSW Film Festival, IGN got a chance to chat with Sam Raimi, director of the Spider-Man and Evil Dead films.

In their discussion, IGN brought up something many of us have been eagerly waiting on for quite a while now: a new Evil Dead film. On the heels of Raimi’s return to the horror genre with Drag me to Hell, it looks like there’s hope yet for the return of Ash to the big screen.

“I have talked with my partners about having a young director come in and remake Evil Dead, that film was made in 16mm on a shoestring budget and blown up to 35mm. The visual effects are crumby, it was done in mono, not even stereo, let alone 5.1. What you could do with it now would be so much better.”

“I think if you had a new director using the full power of 35mm and 5.1 sound, you could really make a pretty socko presentation. It was always meant for the big screen, but never really seen on the big screen”

Last October, the word on the street made it seem like the idea of Evil Dead 4 was vaporware and this talk of a remake has been going on for four years now. But now that Raimi and others continue to bring it back up, the idea and hope for another installment or a re-make can never die down.

If they do make the film, would they bring back Bruce Campbell, whose claim to fame was made with the Evil Dead movies? IGN brought this up to Raimi, referencing a previous interview with Campbell where he was hesitant to sign up for a fourth with the negative backlash against the fourth Indiana Jones movie. Raimi replied:

“I liked ‘Indy 4′… He’s probably just trying to get out of getting in shape!”

“Like any movie it’s hard to say if you want to do it or if you don’t want to do it until there is a script to talk about… So one day I hope to have the time to write a script, and if that happens I’m hoping that Bruce will change his mind.”

I think we all do! You can’t make a fourth installment in the Evil Dead franchise without Bruce as the star. As for a re-make… I’m not sure it can be done right and evoke the same campiness and style that made the franchise a cult hit, especially without Bruce.

Don’t forget to check out the trailer for Sam Raimi’s Drag me to Hell.

What do you think about the possibilities of a fourth Evil Dead or a franchise re-boot?

Drag me to Hell opens May 29, 2009.

Source: IGN

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Sam Raimi’s New Trailer Will Drag You To Hell

Ross Miller — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 00:41:04 +0000

Yet another film that’s had some trouble behind the scenes, Sam Raimi’s new horror movie Drag Me To Hell finally has a trailer. The pictures released so far have looked very creepy indeed and with Raimi’s resume (with the mega exception of the awful Spider-Man 3) this hopefully promises to be something very scary and fun.

If you’re a regular reader of Screen Rant you may remember that fellow writer Sabrina Cognata had the chance to see an early test screening of Drag Me to Hell. It was a rough cut, but not so rough that it couldn’t be judged like any other movie. Generally speaking, she said Raimi didn’t really get the right balance of scares and laughs – as he did with the most awesome Evil Dead trilogy.

Anyway, I don’t want to keep you in suspense anymore, so here is the trailer:

[See post to watch Flash video]

Here is the plot synopsis for the film if you haven’t heard it before:

A loan officer (Lohman) ordered to evict an old woman from her home finds herself the recipient of a supernatural curse, who turns her life into a living hell. Desperate, she turns to a seer to try and save her soul, while evil forces work to push her to a breaking point.

My initial and honest reaction to the trailer is that I was a bit underwhelmed. I’m not really sure if the bits which made me chuckle were on purpose or whether it was the writing that was so bad it was laughable. From what I could see it was more a case of the latter, but of course it could just be the way the trailer is cut that’s making me think that.

Here are a few still shots from the film:

However I am still interested in this for two reasons: That scene in the parking lot (which Sabrina mentioned as one of the highlights of the cut of the film she saw) was downright frightening, and it’s directed by Sam Raimi. Although he’s certainly had a cataclysmic bad day at the office in the past with Spider-Man 3, he still is the guy who gave us the wonders of the Evil Dead movies and the first two installments in the Spider-Man franchise.

I’m willing to give him a chance with anything he does.

What do you make of the trailer? Find it scary at all or does it seem like Raimi hasn’t got what he was trying to do right?

Drag Me To Hell is scheduled for a May 29th 2009 release.

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Super Sneak Preview: Sam Raimi’s ‘Drag Me To Hell’

Sabrina Cognata — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 01:22:14 +0000

I had the pleasure of seeing an early test screening of Sam Raimi’s new film, Drag Me To Hell this past week at a super secret viewing in Burbank, California. It was a rough copy to say the least, which was announced to the audience before the start of the film, but I didn’t care. I’ve been a fan of Raimi’s since his original foray into horror with Evil Dead so my excitement and anticipation was hard to contain.

Drag Me To Hell is a cautionary tale about a young, ambitious girl, Christine (Alison Lohman) who is forced to choose between helping an old woman or furthering her career in banking. If you’ve already guessed that Christine ends up deciding to help herself then you probably could have written the rest of this movie.

The old woman, Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver) curses Christine for shaming her in front of the entire bank after begging for help. This takes place in a parking garage and is arguably the best example of Raimi’s ability to scare, shock and amuse his audience. I found myself terrified for Christine but laughing out loud uncontrollably.

Once the curse is completed things begin to go terribly wrong for Christine. After a visit to a local psychic she realizes the severity of her curse. She will die within three days and be dragged to hell if the curse is not lifted. Christen races to Mrs. Ganush to beg forgiveness, but finds the old woman has died. With little to no resources she begs for help from the psychic as the nightmare of the curse becomes worse with each passing day.

At the end of the second day, it is revealed to Christine that in order to get rid of the curse she must transfer it to another person. With no options left, Christine understands she can only save herself by transferring the horrific curse onto an innocent person, but will she be able to bring herself to do it?

Overall the film wasn’t bad, but I found myself wondering when things would become scarier or funnier. It’s like Raimi was having trouble maintaining the balance he once mastered with the Evil Dead films. I think the intersection of gross humor and terror never really met in a way that maintained an equilibrium between the two. I was constantly wondering if I was missing something because I was never really scared and never entirely amused either. The film was slightly off the mark for me, but still worth the price of admission. Maybe there will be some fine tuning between now and its release date.

Drag Me to Hell is scheduled to open on May 29, 2009.

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Evil Dead 4 Remake/Sequel = Vaporware

Vic Holtreman — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 19:37:41 +0000

Yes, I know, we ALL want another Evil Dead movie. But if any of you are holding your breath, I suggest it might be time to exhale because this bad boy isn’t going to happen until Bruce Campbell is old enough to look like William Shatner in Star Trek: Generations.

There has been a low-level buzz percolating on this possible project for a couple of years now, but in the end it’s all just talk.

Talk of making another Evil Dead movie goes back (as far as recent history) to late 2004, when Sam Raimi apparently wanted to turn his attention to a sequel to Army of Darkness once he was done with Spider-Man 3. About a month later came word that the next Evil Dead movie would not be a sequel but a remake of the original film. This was not as bad news as you might think, as all the original folks involved in the movie were behind the idea and would be involved.

Then about six months later (June 2006) came word that Raimi would not be involved in any new version of the film because he was swamped with Spider-Man work. The possibility of a new movie wasn’t ruled out, just the fact that he would not be working on it.

After that, the interwebs went quiet, and it seemed like the project was indeed, dead.

Ah, but more hope (teasing?) made an appearance at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, where Raimi was promoting the back-to-his-roots horror film Drag Me to Hell. He mentioned once again that he was still “very interested” in doing another Evil Dead movie. Having seen some footage from Drag Me to Hell, it actually seems like it is the follow up film in the series. For fans of the “Dead” movies, “Hell” had the same vibe: a mixture of comedy, horror and over the top yet cheesy visual effects.

A month later Bruce Campbell stoked the fires in an interview with MTV where he stated in reference to a new movie: “When he’s ready [Sam Raimi], I’m ready,”.

Then a few days ago MTV deflated everyone’s hopes in an interview with Sam Raimi stating that between finishing up Drag Me to Hell and with the impending back to back Spider-Man 4 & 5 that it is totally on the back burner.

A scene from Sam Raimi’s new horror movie Drag Me to Hell

Finally, today comes word from Bruce Campbell via an interview with Horror-Movies.ca that “nothing is happening with the project.“

You can’t get much “Deader” than that.

For the complete history on the possibility of this happening check out our Evil Dead 4 archive.

Oh, and Drag Me to Hell opens on May 29, 2009.

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Is The Script For Drag Me To Hell Terrible?

Niall Browne — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 18:34:27 +0000

Since Drag Me To Hell was first announced late last year I was always sceptical about the quality of the script. What first set off warning signs was the fact that the script was written after Army Of Darkness in 1992 and that it went into production during the writers skrike. In my first post on the film I said:

“The script must be outstanding if it sat on a shelf for fifteen years and now can go into production without a rewrite (that was sarcasm, in case you missed it).”

However, I am always willing to give any film-maker the benefit of the doubt, but when Ellen Page dropped out due to “scheduling conflicts” I was sure that the script wasn’t up to snuff. In fact I said that I believed the reason Page quit the project was because she was unhappy with the script.

Now it would appear that my gut instinct was right. According to a script review from Latino Review the script is a dog, and a cliched dog at that!

The storyline of the film apparently goes like this:

Stephanie is a young twenty-something who works in a bank. Whist trying to gain a promotion she refuses to help an elderly lady named Mrs Ganush whose house is going to be seized by the bank. Later that evening Mrs Ganush attacks Stephanie and steals one of her buttons, using this button she puts a curse on Stephanie (and the button).

Stephanie then goes to a fortune-teller, who tells her about the curse. At first she doesn’t believe her, but when she is attacked by a mysterious spirit Stephanie soon realises that the the curse will have devastating affects on her career, her relationship and her pet (sharp intake of breath).

Latino Review says that the script has cliched dialogue and far too many jump moments that appear to have been shoe-horned into the film’s script because of the lack of tension. The reviewer comments that the script ” honestly reeks of amateur work.”

None of this really surprises me about this script. From the moment I first heard about the development of Drag Me To Hell it seemed to be a film that was being rushed into production so that the studio could have a film (probably for Halloween) and that Sam Raimi just wanted to make something post Spider-Man.

Maybe the script has gone through some rewrites, but considering that Page only dropped out a few weeks ago, I doubt much has changed.

It seems that Drag Me To Hell is the film to miss in the coming year. What happens to Sam Raimi’s career following the release of the film will be interesting. Will he return to Spider-Man? Or will he go on to ruin the Jack Ryan franchise for Paramount?

I’ll keep you posted on what the Hell goes on with this film, but if you are a Raimi fan you should probably just hope that Guillermo del Toro doesn’t make The Hobbit and that Raimi gets sloppy seconds on that film.

Source : Latino Review

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It’s A Long Way To Hell

Niall Browne — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 01:55:34 +0000

I’ve been following the development of Sam Raimi’s Drag Me To Hell since it was first announced that Spider-Man director Sam Raimi would be returning to his horror roots with a film that he wrote fifteen years ago with his brother Ivan.

First it was announced that Ellen Page, who is hot right now due to the success of Juno, would be taking the lead in the supernatural thriller. But then she dropped out due to scheduling difficulties, and was replaced by Alison Lohman.

Now Raimi has snagged another young actor to star as Lohman’s boyfriend: Live Free Or Die Hard’s Justin Long.

I’m viewing this film as a bit of a slow motion car wreck.

I feel that I know it’s going to be junk, but I just can’t take my eyes off it.

Don’t get me wrong, I have no hate for Raimi – Actually I feel that his best movies are his most overlooked: Crime Wave and For The Love Of The Game.

I hope I’m wrong, I really do, but I have a nagging suspicion that I’m correct… I always am. Well… sometimes.

Drag Me To Hell goes in front of cameras on March 21st.

Source: Variety

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Sam Raimi Takes Alison Lohman To Hell… We Hope

Niall Browne — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 18:45:29 +0000

Alison Lohman has replaced Ellen Page in Sam Raimi’s Drag Me To Hell.

We first reported last week that Page had dropped out due to “scheduling conflicts”.

Luckily for Raimi, Lohman was available to star in the film that’s based on a script which he wrote with his brother Ivan fifteen years ago. The movie begins shooting on March 31st, two weeks after it’s planned start date.

The rush was on to get an actress for the film as Ghost House Pictures and Mandate Pictures wanted to get the film in the can before the possible SAG strike in June.

Lohman’s film credits include Robert Zemeckis’ Beowulf, Ridley Scott’s Matchstick Men and Tim Burton’s Big Fish. Not a bad list of directors to have on your resume!

However, Lohman doesn’t have the current buzz of Juno star Ellen Page, and you have to wonder how that will affect the film’s financial prospects or even its funding.

That said, I’m sure that Drag Me To Hell will be sold as “From the director of The Evil Dead and Spider-Man“.

The main question is: Did Ellen Page really walk away because the script sucked, or was she really too busy to film Sam Raimi’s return to the horror genre?

Either way, I’m sure that Raimi will deliver a film that’s horrific. Let’s just hope he does it intentionally!

Source: Variety

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‘Juno’ Why Ellen Page Won’t Be In Drag Me To Hell?

Niall Browne — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 16:47:39 +0000

When Sam Raimi’s Drag Me To Hell was first announced I was skeptical that the script was up to snuff as it had sat on a shelf for fifteen years. However when Ellen Page signed up it looked like the project was starting to move ahead at a good pace, and that it might actually turn out to be a first rate film.

But… Page has now dropped out of the film due to a “scheduling conflict.”

A joint statement from Ghost House Pictures and Mandate Pictures says:

“We were racing to start production so that we could accommodate Ellen’s schedule. But like so many other productions trying to start before the potential SAG strike date, this one needed more time and we had to push back the start of production.”

This happens all the time in Hollywood, but what is most interesting about this recent departure is that when Bloody Disgusting first broke the story, they stated that the reason Page quit the project was because she was unhappy with the script.

It seems like the horror genre is having a difficult time holding onto key members of cast and crew these days, especially after the shenanigans with The Wolfman!

Does this mean that Drag Me To Hell will be a disaster?

Possibly. Maybe the script does suck, maybe the Juno star does have better things to do with her time or maybe she realized that a genre movie like this isn’t the best way to follow up an Oscar nomination.

No news yet on who will replace her, but they’ll have to get their skates on as the film goes into production soon.

I’ll keep you posted on any further developments!

Sources: BloodyDisgusting and Aintitcool

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Sam Raimi Goes To Hell

Niall Browne — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 10:47:01 +0000

Sam Raimi is to return to his low budget roots with Drag Me To Hell, a supernatural thriller that he wrote with his brother.

Variety is reporting that the script was written after Army of Darkness in 1992. The film was originally known by the very generic title: The Curse.

Raimi’s Ghosthouse producing partner Rob Tapert says that “Sam calls it a ’spook-a-blast,’ a wild ride with all the chills and spills that ‘Evil Dead’ delivered, without relying on the excessive violence of that film,”

Obviously then it’s going to be PG-13.

This should be a return to form for Raimi, who I feel has lost his way with the Spider-Man films. The films are a a bit on the lame side, and they lack any real thrills and spills. Spider-Man 2 does have a few good Raimi-ian moments during it’s running time, although very few. Generally though, I’m of the opinion that the films are just soul-less CGI.

The script must be outstanding if it sat on a shelf for fifteen years and now can go into production without a rewrite (that was sarcasm, in case you missed it).

Do you guys agree or disagree?

The film goes into production early next year.

Source: Variety

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Sam ‘Spider-Man’ Raimi Has Some Serious Job Security

Vic Holtreman — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:18:09 +0000

Sam Raimi doesn’t have to work on anything at all if he doesn’t want to, but his options are wide open. Following the success of his Spider-Man films the red carpet now belongs to him. He’s kicking back and pondering quite a few projects right now, including the possibility of Spider-Man 4. From the sound of it, he (and Marvel and the studio) realize that they need to do something very different with the next Spider-Man film considering the reaction of moviegoers to the weirdness that was Spider-Man 3.

Regarding Spidey, Raimi stated:

“Right now, Sony is meeting with different writers to try and bring a fresh, new story and approach to the ‘Spider-Man’ franchise, different writers have been coming in and spinning different tales of where ‘Spider-Man’ could go from here… A lot of people are working very hard to work on a really good story right now.”

He’s not contractually obligated to direct, but if the right story and circumstances arise he’s open to it.

Regarding other movie projects, Raimi said that he’s still open to the idea of having someone come in and do a remake of the cult classic Evil Dead. The original was done on a shoestring budget and shot on 16MM and he says he’d love to see “a young filmmaker to reimagine and remake it at some point.” But before you get all excited (or angry) about it, at this point it’s all just talk.

And in case you’ve forgotten, Raimi is also the guy behind the American Grudge remakes of the original Japanese horror films. There’s a Grudge 3 in the script stage at the moment and they’re trying to get it done before the possible strike next year.

What else? How about a remake of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea? This is the first I’ve heard about this project and he’s producing the film. Regarding a movie based on The Hobbit, Raimi says he’d love to do it but thinks that Peter Jackson (who directed the Lord of the Rings trilogy) should be the man.

Finally, in an interesting counterpoint to the fact that he laments that Evil Dead was made for such a low budget, he has a film in mind that seems to be a throwback to that one called Drag Me to Hell. It’s barely into pre-production and all he says about it story-wise is “It’s the story of a curse. Real bad things happen.” It will be directed by Jeff Lynch, who did the second unit work on the Spider-Man movies.

Sam just finished up producing the upcoming vampire flick 30 Days of Night which opens this Friday.

The man is not hurting for work.

Sources: Sci Fi Wire and MTV Movies

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