Interviews
Sam Raimi Explains Why There’s Never Been a ‘Drag Me to Hell’ Sequel [Exclusive Interview]
It’s been ten years since Evil Dead director Sam Raimi had a horror film in theaters, but the legacy of his last scary movie – the excellent and shocking Drag Me to Hell – seems secure. And yet, even the film, starring Alison Lohman as a loan officer who cancels an old woman’s mortgage and gets cursed to eternal damnation for her sins, was a sizable hit… there has never been a sequel.
In a new interview with Bloody-Disgusting for the upcoming killer alligator movie Crawl, which Sam Raimi produced, we asked the filmmaker for his thoughts about the film ten years later, and why there has never been a follow-up.
“I look back really fondly [on Drag Me to Hell],” Sam Raimi says.
“I love the crew, I love working with Alison Lohman and my friend Bob Murawski, my editor. I loved shooting it with my old friend Peter Deming, who shot Evil Dead 2 with me. And I just loved working with my brother Ivan on the script.
“And mostly I loved having absolute creative control over the film.
“That’s the thing you lose, often, that I had on that picture, and I really was able to do just what I wanted,” Raimi remembers. “So in a way, I feel great about it because of that. I often feel that when the studio makes you cut things or add things and change things, it really ruins the entire experience for me. It’s like a cascade of… it’s just awful.”
One of the most memorable moments of Drag Me to Hell is the film’s ending, in which [SPOILER ALERT] Alison Lohman’s character – after thinking she had escaped Hell’s wrath – gets violently dragged, kicking and screaming into the underworld, in broad daylight.
And in case anyone was wondering, Sam Raimi doesn’t think she deserved it.
“No, I feel that the poor girl was overpunished, as it happens in life sometimes,” Raimi says.
“It is a morality tale, she did do the wrong thing, but holy cow, give her a break! But that’s how this particular tale [ends].
“I thought it would be shocking to title the film ‘Drag Me to Hell’ and actually end it with giving exactly what the title demanded, and still making it incredibly shocking,” Raimi muses. “I thought that was a really funny cocktail for me.”
But the problem with the ending of Drag Me to Hell is that, even ten years later, it’s so final that Raimi doesn’t know where a sequel to go.
“Oh, well, if somebody had a good story,” Raimi says, when we ask if he’d ever consider a follow-up. “I don’t have a story, because in my mind the character got killed, and worse. So I didn’t know how to proceed with the sequel.
“Usually, for me, I’m left with a character like Bruce Campbell, that I really am interested [in] or like, or a concept that really feels like it needs to continue,” Raimi added. “But this is such a definitive ending that in my mind I didn’t know where to start with a sequel.”
Hey Sam Raimi… if you’re reading this right now, may I suggest Drag Me FROM Hell, in which we learn Justin Long’s character has spent the last ten years studying the occult, trying to figure out how to get the love of his life back, and comes up with his own, terrifying plan?
Just sayin’. Sounds cool to me. But if that never materializes, at least we’ll have Crawl, which is coming to theaters this weekend!
As the inaugural season of Apple TV+’s stellar new series “Widow’s Bay” barrels toward its finale in two weeks, the latest episode gives Kate O’Flynn the spotlight as her character revisits her trauma with the Boogeyman.
“Your Baggage“, directed by Andrew DeYoung (Friendship), sees O’Flynn’s scene-stealing Patricia once again renew her fight with the Michael Myers-like stalker that slaughtered her peers during her adolescence. Thrillingly, it makes for one extended chase sequence that sees Patricia trying to warn others, while evading the undead killer.
In short, this episode’s incredible riff on Halloween and the slasher subgenre transformed Patricia into a fierce Final Girl.
“Well, that felt like a bucket list that I didn’t know was on my bucket list until I did it, but when I did it, I just lapped up every minute,” O’Flynn tells Bloody Disgusting of her triumphant turn this episode. “It felt fantastic for her to get that moment where she is becoming a badass. That was amazing.”
The actress turned to a few notable references for her performance. “Horror-wise, I go back to my youth, which was referenced in some of the episodes: Wicker Man, Carrie, and Rosemary’s Baby, that sort of thing is my kind of vibe.”
O’Flynn also notes how the series’ unique tone allows for so much creative freedom to make bold swings. “There’s something very freeing about it. Every moment is up for grabs, so it’s like we don’t have to totally land in one direction or another. It keeps it alive.“
Patricia is the eccentric assistant to Matthew Rhys‘ Mayor Tom Loftis, who’s at the forefront of trying to solve the island’s pesky curse predicament. Rhys felt the same about “Widow’s Bay” and its rare ability to make you laugh and scream in equal measure, stemming from series creator Katie Dippold.
“The mandate was, ‘It’s a real world with real people. You play for real.’ There’s no playing for comedy or horror,” Rhys echoes O’Flynn’s sentiments on how freeing the series’ tone has been.
New episodes will release every Wednesday through June 17 only on Apple TV+.
Kate O’Flynn in “Widow’s Bay,” now streaming on Apple TV.
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