Self-proclaimed aficionado of kitschy entertainments Micah Mertes is watching a "non-classic" horror movie a day leading up to Halloween. Have some suggestions? Let him know at mmertes@journalstar.com.

Day 12: "Drag Me to Hell" (2009)

Subgenres: Horror comedy, demonic, supernatural,

Scary?: Yes. Has a few really good jolts.

Gory?: More gross than gory. Lots of slime and bile, not a lot of blood.

Notable:

Director Sam Raimi's ("Evil Dead" trilogy) return to his horror roots after a decade of those "Spider-Man" movies.

Features, to the best of my knowledge, cinema's only demon-possessed goat.

DRAG ME TO HELL: Movie Trailer - Watch more funny videos here

Thoughts:

Director Sam Raimi spent the better part of the '00s caught in Peter Parker's web. This summer he returned to his roots with an inventive, lovingly cartoony horror movie in the vein of his early work ("Evil Dead" trilogy, "Darkman").

Alison Lohman is a sweet-natured bank loan officer with a potential promotion on the horizon. To better her odds at a raise, Lohman denies a decrepit old lady an extension on her mortgage. Turns out, the old hag is a gypsy witch. She curses Lohman to hell. Demons begin to torment our heroine. And on the curse's third day, they'll come up to earth and, you guessed it, drag her to hell.

This year wasn't a very notable one for movies, but I think one peculiar trend that stood out was the abundance of films about kind women being terrorized by demonic forces. Besides "Drag Me to Hell," you've got "Jennifer's Body," "Paranormal Activity" and "The House of the Devil." I don't know what this means.

Much as I like all the other girl-meets-demon flicks, "Drag Me to Hell," I think, will be the one that endures. Its box office tally was disappointing, but it's strange and fun enough that discerning horror movie buffs will keep coming back to it every October.

The inspired lo-fi visuals and the Bugs Bunny humor remain intact from Raimi's early years. Through Lohman's horrific (but undeniably funny) journey, we get scenes of bloody projectile vomit, mud wrestling with a corpse, a woman trying to gum another one to death, an anvil crushing a skull, our hero choking on an eyeball, and, of course, there's the talking goat.

It's a carnival ride.