The news that The Evil ᴅᴇᴀᴅ director Sam Raimi is directing an upcoming horror movie is exciting on its own, but the fact that 2026’s Send Help will see the director take on a new type of horror is even better. Many of Sam Raimi’s best movies are horror classics.
From 1987’s anarchic Evil ᴅᴇᴀᴅ 2 to 2009’s criminally underrated horror comedy Drag Me to Hell, Raimi is responsible for some truly iconic entries into the genre. However, the fact that Raimi has only produced and not directed straightforward horror movies since 2009 isn’t the only thing that is disappointing about his recent career output.
Send Help Will See Sam Raimi Explore A New Type Of Horror
Sam Raimi Is Leaving Supernatural Horror Behind In Send Help
Although he is an iconic horror director thanks to the endlessly influential 1981 hit The Evil ᴅᴇᴀᴅ, Raimi has never done a non-supernatural horror movie in his 44-year career so far. The Evil ᴅᴇᴀᴅ franchise means that supernatural horror is still what Raimi is most known for, alongside directing the first two Spider-Man movies in the early ‘00s.
Sam Raimi will soon direct a straightforward survival horror.
However, since 2000’s The Gift is an eerie Gothic horror, and the Evil ᴅᴇᴀᴅ trilogy and Drag Me to Hell are explicitly concerned with witches, demons, and ghosts, Raimi’s range has been surprisingly limited throughout his multi-decade career. As such, it is exciting to see ᴅᴇᴀᴅline announce that Sam Raimi will soon direct a straightforward survival horror.
Described as “A two-hander horror thriller set on an island,” Send Help is reportedly a blend of Castaway and director Rob Reiner’s classic Stephen King adaptation, Misery. The movie is set to star Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien alongside Dennis Haysbert and Chris Pang. This cast is already promising, as McAdams’ early survival thriller Red Eye proves she is an underrated horror heroine, and O’Brien has quietly impressed in indie thrillers like Caddo Lake and Ponyboi in recent years.
However, the news that Send Help’s horror story will be more human or psychological or nature-based than supernatural, unless there’s a big twist, is the most promising part of this straightforward premise. Viewers have not yet seen what Raimi can do with a horror plot that doesn’t rely on monsters, ghosts, or demons, making this thriller all the more exciting.
Survival horror is a tough genre to nail, since the audience’s fear comes from realistic, believable scenarios, but the crumbling mental state of the heroes often leaves the movie feeling almost paranormal in tone. Still, if anyone can nail the delicate balance that Send Help’s story requires, it is genre legend Sam Raimi.
Source: ᴅᴇᴀᴅline
