Rachel McAdamsis currently in talks to play the lead role in Sam Raimi’s new thrillerSend Help, and it’ll mark her first appearance in a horror film in 19 years.Send Helphas been described as a cross between the Tom Hanks survival dramaCast Awayand the Stephen King novelMisery, so it sounds like it’ll be a psychological horror two-hander set on a remote island. This will be Raimi’s first straightforward horror movie since 2009’s supernatural chillerDrag Me to Hell, as he’s focused on big-budget franchise installments since then.
McAdams’ potential casting inSend Helpis an exciting prospect. If she’s able to negotiate a deal, it’ll mark a reunion with Raimi after she reprised her role as Stephen Strange’s love interest Christine Palmer in the Marvel Studios sequelDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.Send Helpis being produced byBoy Kills World’s Zainab Azizi from a script byBaywatchduo Damian Shannon and Mark Swift.Raimi first signed on to direct and produce the movie in July, andwith casting underway, cameras could be rolling pretty soon.
Sam Raimi’s Send Help Is Rachel McAdams' First Horror Movie Since 2005
McAdams' Last Horror Movie Was Red Eye
If she ends up landing the lead role,Send Helpwill be McAdams’ first horror movie since she played Lisa Reisert inRed Eyeback in 2005. LikeSend Help,Red Eyewas the work of a renowned horror auteur (A Nightmare on Elm Street’s Wes Craven), and likeSend Help,Red Eyewas a two-handed psychological thriller. McAdams’ Lisa is a hotel manager on a red-eye flight to Miami and the guy sitting next to her, Cillian Murphy’s Jackson Rippner, turns out to be a sadistic terrorist who holds her hostage in an assassination plot.
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There were strong horror elements in Raimi and McAdams’ last collaboration,Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. It had plenty of hair-raising jump scares, like the Scarlet Witch snapping Professor X’s neck, and it utilized horror motifs like zombies, demonic spirits, and a mystical book that controls all the evil in the universe. But ultimately, as a PG-13 superhero movie, theDoctor Strangesequel wasn’t able to really push the boundaries of horror in the way McAdams’Red EyeandRaimi’sEvil Deadfilmsdid.Send Help, on the other hand, will be a full-blown horror movie.
Rachel McAdams' Horror Movie Return Is Much More Exciting Than Red Eye
Sam Raimi’s Return To Horror Makes Send Help A Thrilling Prospect
Send Helpis a much more exciting horror movie thanRed Eyewas, because it’s being directed by Raimi.Raimi is one of the most unique voices in horror cinema, bringing a quirky, idiosyncratic sense of humor to some of the goriest imagery ever put on film.Raimi invented a whole new subgenre of surrealist, cartoonish horror with theEvil Deadtrilogy, and the fact that he’s returning to scary movies for the first time in 15 years is a tantalizing prospect for horror fans.
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Red Eyewas also directed by a legendary horror filmmaker with Craven at the helm. But it wasn’t the gonzo Craven who madeThe Hills Have Eyes,The Last House on the Left, andThe People Under the Stairs. It wasn’t even the tongue-in-cheek satirist Craven who madeScreamandNew Nightmare.Red Eyewas the work of a disappointingly restrained Craven working within the confines of a PG-13 rating. Raimi has proven withthe grisly thrills ofDrag Me to HellandMultiverse of Madnessthat even ifSend Helpis rated PG-13, it’ll still be a wild ride.
Sam Raimi Could Help Turn Rachel McAdams Into A Major Horror Movie Star
Raimi Could Give McAdams The Bruce Campbell Treatment
Under Raimi’s direction,McAdams could become the next major scream queen. In recent years, a lot of famous movie stars have become icons in the horror genre, like Toni Collette withHereditaryorDemi Moore withThe Substance. McAdams could follow in their footsteps with the lead role inSend Help.Raimi is one of the most revered horror directors in Hollywood, so his return to the genre is already a big deal — andMcAdams is a great actor, so she’ll surely turn in a terrific performance.
Raimi is one of the most revered horror directors in Hollywood, so his return to the genre is already a big deal — and McAdams is a great actor, so she’ll surely turn in a terrific performance.
Raimi is already responsible for bringing one of the horror genre’s most beloved mainstays into the spotlight when he cast childhood friend Bruce Campbell to star in his low-budget indie debut featureThe Evil Deadin 1981.Campbell has continued to reprise the role of Ash Williamsin sequels, spin-offs, and TV shows in the years since. IfSend Helpis just half as great asThe Evil Dead,Rachel McAdamscould get the Campbell treatment and become a new titan of the horror genre.
