The horror genre’s nasty feud with Oscar nominees continues, as Juno star Ellen Page has pulled out out of the dark place that is director Sam Raimi’s upcoming horror-thriller Drag Me to Hell. Bloody Disgusting reports that the sweet tart wasn’t happy over the latest draft of the script, which was written by Raimi and his brother Ivan Raimi, but they speculate that this is really “Oscar cold feet.” Page came aboard the film earlier this month.
No word on a replacement, but who would you like to see in the flick? It was described here earlier as “a ’spook-a-blast,’ a wild ride with all the chill and spills of [Raimi’s] The Evil Dead, without relying on the excessive violence of that film.” I’m digging the exploitation-vibe of the title, which recalls grindhouse films like I Spit on Your Grave and Thriller: A Cruel Picture. The plot reportedly revolves around “the unwitting recipient of a supernatural curse” and presumably that’s who Page was going to play. Page will next be seen in Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut, the rollerskating-fem movie Whip It!, due in 2009.
Discuss: Who’s the best replacement for Page? What young actress who hasn’t starred in a horror flick would you like to see take “the plunge”? And after three Spider-Man films and many Jacuzzi nights, does Raimi still have the goods to scare you up a wall and make you do a spit-take back to back?
She made the right choice. Lets face it starring in this kind of movie wouldn't garner her any praise or oscar nominations and potential win. She should keep doing oscar quality movies.
One of my favorite films of all time is Evil Dead 2, yes its brillant. It's not original in storytelling ,but its crafty and has every bit of exploitative magic. Evil Dead 2 is a low-budget filmmakers wet dream. The humor is spot on and the movie has the power to creep you out. Especially when you knew where Henrietta was hiding half way through the movie. Anyone who's seen it knows exactly what I'm talking about. The special effects and visuals are amazing. You cannot deny that Evil Dead 2 is a classic, at least in the humor/horror genre of cult films. What Sam Raimi is doing now, I'm partically rooting for him and also not. Sam Raimi has made a sucessful transition to Hollywood films...in a different way. His style of horror is far from what Hollywood are customed to ,but his mainstream filcks are pretty decent, especially Spider-man 1 & 2. Army of Darkness is, what I consider, a product of Hollywood tampering with a genius. Yes, its a cult flick, many people love it ,but it doesn't have the high-energy or the creativity that the first two had. Army of Darkness is way too polished looking, and doesn't have the violence or gore the others had. Not that it made the story better ,but it generated a raw feel that made Evil Dead so anti-Hollywood. I'm worried that this Sam Raimi horror flick will be a product of Hollywood rather than a true product of Sam Raimi's vision. I hope Raimi is able to deliever the goods without the influence of studio heads.
I think Raimi still has what it takes. You have to imagine how restricted he must have been dealing with something so iconic as Spiderman. I can just see Avi and Stan standing behind his chair whispering the whole movie shoot. I have faith in Raimi, he has a solid horror foundation and enough cred with Hollywood to get movies done. As for the replacement, I first thought Eliza Dushku, but then I read the part about "not starring in a horror film before." So I'm going to throw out Hayden Panettiere as one choice, obvious draw to the box office. Also would suggest Margo Harshman, although she appears to have just completed the horror/thriller "From Within." Sorry not to familiar with the young Hollywood crowd, maybe Alexa Vega, she seems to have a good foundation of films as well.
she seemed pretty stoked on doing it to in interviews o well
I don't mind getting flack for this, but I really enjoyed the remake of When a Stranger Calls coupled with Camilla Belle's performance. Maybe we'll see more of her after 10,000 BC.
Man she did Hard Candy and she's gonna punk out. I cut for that more than Juno but that's me.
This happens way too much. I remember Silence of the Lambs being a horror film until it won an Academy Award, then it turned into a "thriller." While there are plenty of poorly done horror films out there that give good horror a bad name it's still a shame that an actor (or actress) can't choose a part because of a great story and not because of "if" it will "ruin" their career. As for Raimi, he's still got the chops. I enjoyed Spider-man, although it had too much angsty-drama in it for me. I didn't bother to return for the two sequels though. I think Raimi is very talented and I can't wait to see what he comes up with for his return to the genre.
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