Filmmaker Sam Raimi shot to fame with his Evil Dead movies before cementing himself as one of Hollywood's top directors with the Spiderman franchise under his belt.
Raimi kicked off his career making short movies whilst still attending Michigan State University, however he left after three semesters to film The Evil Dead.
The Evil Dead was the movie that announced his arrival as a filmmaker back in 1981. It is the story of five college-age friends who travel to a cabin in rural Tennessee where the stumble upon the Book of the Dead, an ancient tome bound in human flesh and inked in blood.
After unwittingly awakening the unspeakable terror told of in the book, each of the friends is transformed into the evil dead, one by one, except for Ash (Bruce Campbell).
So, Ash is left with no other way to survive than to dismember the living corpses of his sister, girlfriend, and two of his friends.
The film was extremely controversial because of it's graphic violence and struggled to get a distributor in the U.S.
The film was shot on a shoestring and soon gained a cult following leading to two sequels Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness.
He followed this up with Crimewave before returning to his horror franchise with Evil Dead II in 1987, before a third movie in 1993.
He moved into the western genre of cinema in 1995 when he brought together Sharon Stone, Russell Crowe, Gene Hackman and Leonardo DiCaprio in The Quick and the Dead.
Stone stars as Ellen, a beautiful gunslinger with a cloudy past. She arrives in the town of Redemption with a bone to pick, namely with one John Herod (Hackman), with whom she shares a shady history.
Ellen signs up for the annual quick-draw contest, which awards $230,000 to the winner, but her real motivation is revenge.
However despite it's powerful cast The Quick and the Dead was not the box office success that many expected.
Into the late nineties and Raimi was behind the likes of A Simple Plan and For Love of the Game but it is the Spiderman franchise that has made him a Hollywood heavyweight.
2002 really kicked off the superhero movie influx when Spiderman, played by Tobey Maguire, hit the big screen.
The adaptation of the Marvel Comic character was a massive box office success as it grossed over $821 million.
Over the next five years Raimi concentrated on the franchise and 2004 brought Spider Man 2 and Spider Man 3 in 2007.
He returns to his horror roots this week with Drag Me To Hell which stars Alison Lohman and Justin Long.
Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) is an ambitious L.A. loan officer with a charming boyfriend, professor Clay Dalton (Justin Long).
Life is good until the mysterious Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver) arrives at the bank to beg for an extension on her home loan. Should Christine follow her instincts and give the old woman a break?
Or should she deny the extension to impress her boss, Mr. Jacks (David Paymer), and get a leg-up on a promotion? Christine fatefully chooses the latter, shaming Mrs. Ganush and dispossessing her of her home.
In retaliation, the old woman places the powerful curse of the Lamia on Christine, transforming her life into a living hell.
Coming up for the filmmaker is another horror movie The Evil Dead as well as Spider Man 4. he also has a string of movies, including Armoured, Priest and Dibbuk Box, where he is serving as producer.
Drag Me To Hell is out now
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
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