Yeah, “Drag Me to Hell” is schlock cinema.

But it’s schlock cinema with a Ph.D.

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"Drag Me to Hell" stars Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Lorna Raver, Dileep Rao and David Paymer in a Universal Pictures release. Rated PG-13 for sequences of horror violence, terror, disturbing images and language. Watch »

Alison Lohman stars in "Drag Me to Hell."

Drag Me to Hell

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Rated PG-13 for sequences of horror violence, terror, disturbing images and language

Length: 99 minutes

Released: May 29, 2009 Nationwide

Score: 3.5

Cast: Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Lorna Raver, Dileep Rao, David Paymer

Director: Sam Raimi
Producer: Grant Curtis
Writer: Ivan Raimi, Sam Raimi
Genre: Horror, Suspense/Thriller
Distributor: Universal Pictures

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Writer/director Sam Raimi knows that one of the most satisfying experiences for moviegoers is to be scared out of your wits, laugh at your own discomfort and then be scared all over again.

He and co-writer (and big brother) Ivan Raimi have fashioned a preposterous tale involving a gypsy curse and a demon who drags unfortunate victims off to a fiery eternity.

Pure cheese.

But the execution is practically perfect, a blend of the over-the-top lurid and self-referencing humor that creeps us out while leaving us convulsed with laughter.

It’s harder than it sounds. In fact, many a horror geek will tell you that the last guy to pull it off properly was Raimi himself back in 1987 with “Evil Dead II.”

Since then Raimi has gone “legit” with the “Spider-Man” series, “A Simple Plan” and “The Gift.” This is a bit like a homecoming.

Plus, “Drag Me” benefits from a premise that smacks of the real world.

Our protagonist is Christine Brown (Alison Lohman), a young loan officer at a Los Angeles bank. Problem is, it’s a job that sometimes means doing unpleasant things, and Christine is a softie.

Her boss (David Paymer) suggests that if Christine wants a promotion, she’d best show she can ruthlessly crunch numbers and make tough decisions.

Enter Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver), a creepy old lady facing eviction for failing to make the mortgage payments. Mrs. Ganush wants an extension; Christine is inclined to indulge her. But that would leave Christine even farther behind in the competition for an assistant manager’s gig.

Mrs. Ganush throws such a scene that security must drag her from the premises. That night she attacks Christine in a parking garage, muttering imprecations in an unnatural tongue.

Seeking an explanation, Christine visits a psychic (Dileep Rao) who delivers the bad news: Christine has been cursed. Over the next three days she’ll be stalked by a supernatural collector of souls, and on the final morning she’ll be pulled down into the nether regions.

Desperate to escape this fate, Christine tries to reason with Mrs. Ganush, only to find that the old lady has died. She tries to appease the demon with an animal sacrifice (don’t ask) and participates in a seance that gets out of hand

“Drag Me to Hell” establishes a palpable sense of dread, but Raimi is smart enough to know that a demon seen can be a demon laughed at. So we never get a good look at the fiend on Christine’s trail. He appears as a shadow, as a fetid breeze and in the sounds of creaking wood and clanking metal.

Some of this business is sublimely disturbing. Visiting the stuffy parents of her psychologist boyfriend (Justin Long), Christine offers a homemade cake. But she finds that her slice features a staring human eye. She stabs the offending orb with a fork, only to find the utensil vibrating angrily.

It’s laugh-out-loud funny. And a little nauseating.

Bottom line: “Drag Me to Hell” is slumming. But it’s great slumming.