‘Drag Me to Hell’ Has the Best Ending of Any Horror Movie, Ever

Ending a movie is tough. It’s the last image, the last thought you leave a moviegoing audience with before they leave the theater. A bad ending can ruin the whole moviegoing experience (see: Unbreakable), while a good one can redeem a bad movie (see: any Transformers movie). Drag Me To Hell, on the other hand, is a good movie with a perfect ending… And I’d argue, the best ending of any horror movie of all time. And it all comes down to truth in advertising.

See, here’s the thing: Sam Raimi’s horror flick is titled Drag Me To Hell. The plot of the movie concerns Alison Lohman’s loan officer Christine, who denies an old woman a loan and ends up being cursed by her, told that after three days of increasing supernatural torture, she’ll be dragged to hell. Yet the entire movie, as audience members we’re conditioned to think that the hero of the movie will somehow get out of the mess they’ve gotten themselves into.

Particularly as we follow Christine, we watch her understand that she’s done something wrong… She denied an old lady a loan in order to get a promotion, instead of helping her out. She causes death and destruction to everyone who interacts with her curse, and ultimately comes to regret what she’s done. And when she has the chance to put the curse on her less than savory boss, she relents, and decides to fight back instead.

And she’s rewarded for her honesty and selflessness! The curse is broken, she gets her dream job, and her boyfriend Clay (Justin Long) is standing by her through it all. At the end of the movie, the two are on a train platform, Clay’s ready to propose, and everything is great! And then he reveals a button, a piece of the curse she thought was gone. Terrified, she backs up, falls on the train tracks. The ground cracks open, demonic hands reach out from flames, and drag her into hell.

The last shot is Clay’s horrified face, which is then covered by enormous letters on screen stating, “DRAG ME TO HELL.”

That’s it. That’s the whole movie. And it’s brilliant. Because you spend the entire 99 minute running time watching a movie called Drag Me To Hell thinking, “oh, she won’t get dragged into hell.” And then she gets dragged into hell! And then they reiterate the title of the movie, which is Drag Me To Hell!

We’re wired to watch movies a certain way, to believe the “good guys” will win, and the villains will lose. But that’s not what Raimi was going for here… He plainly tells you what’s going happen in the title of the flippin’ movie, but we don’t want to believe it. We want to think there will be some other outcome. But it’s not titled How To Get Out Of Getting Dragged Into Hell, or Maybe Dragged To Hell. The movie delivers on its promise in the most delightfully horrifying way possible.

It’s a superb movie throughout, with great performances and classic Raimi gross-out scares. But it’s the ending that makes it a classic… And now that you know what it is, if you’ve never seen it before, I still encourage you to go watch the movie. Because even though I just detailed everything that happens in the last thirty seconds, you’re still going to watch the movie thinking, “oh, well maybe they won’t drag her to hell this time.” Spoiler: they do. But that’s the beauty of the movie. It drags you into its world, and then hits you with the opposite of a twist.

It’s a non-twist ending. It’s straightforward, and beautiful, and has to be seen to be believed. Just don’t insult any old ladies while you watch, and you’ll be fine.

Where to stream Drag Me To Hell