I Knew Send Help Was A Sam Raimi Movie Going In, But I Didn't Expect To Laugh Until I Nearly Puked

Spoiler Warning! I’m going to be diving into some serious Send Help spoilers below. If you’ve yet to watch the new horror movie, please exercise extreme caution.

Send Help came and went from the 2026 movie schedule, and unlike the moviegoers who made it a box office hit earlier this year, I had to wait and watch it at home. You know, I’m kind of glad. No, it’s not because I didn’t like Sam Raimi’s survival horror-comedy starring Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien as castaways trying to survive a plane crash and an interesting power dynamic. It’s just that this new horror flick was so gnarly it made me laugh to the point of nearly vomiting… multiple times.

I knew this was going to be a crazy Sam Raimi movie going into Send Help, but my love of his Evil Dead movies didn’t prepare me for the mixture of blood-soaked action, giggle-inducing nastiness, and ridiculous exchanging of body fluids found throughout. I honestly don’t know what I would have done had I seen a couple of these scenes if I were in a packed theater.

Between The Poisoning And Castration, There Was A Lot To Take In

When I first saw the Send Help trailer a few months ago, I had a feeling this movie was going to be off-the-wall goodness, but lord, I was not ready for what Sam Raimi was about to throw at me. The movie is full of one grotesque and utterly insane moment after another as McAdams’ Linda Liddle and O’Brien’s Bradley Preston miraculously survive a plane crash and fight for survival (quite literally at times) on a seemingly deserted island. However, there are two scenes in particular that filled me with both joy and nausea…

One of the most outrageous moments in the movie, and one that set me off like nothing else, was when Linda saved Bradley after the CEO poisoned her and attempted to escape the island on a hastily-made raft. When she started vomiting in his mouth while performing CPR, I was laughing, I was gagging, I was bouncing up and down on the couch! This was pure Sam Raimi goodness, and I couldn’t get enough of that.

Then came a scene that made me just as queasy and squeamish, though for a completely opposite reason. Linda getting back at Bradley by acting like she was going to castrate him had me squirming and watching through my fingers. We don’t see anything until Linda pulls up a dead rodent, but for a couple of minutes I thought Raimi was actually going for it. Though traumatizing, this was one of the best things I’ve seen (or at least heard) all year.

This Movie Was So Much More Over-The-Top Than I Expected, Which Made It Better

Rachel McAdams’ return to the thriller genre after all these years was an experience that I won’t soon forget, and that’s honestly due to the over-the-top nature of Sam Raimi’s latest movie. I knew it was going to be a survival thriller going in, but I had no idea it would be rip-roaring good time where I was losing my mind for the better part of two hours.

Though I think this movie would have worked as a less extreme horror comedy that didn’t have vomiting, teeth being kicked out, eye-gouging, ghost jump-scares, or gnarly gore, all of these elements made it so much better. The sense of humor and meanness of the movie (seriously, no one is likable here) added so much, creating an unforgettable experience!

Some would argue that 2026 is a disappointing year for horror compared to the once-in-a-decade run we just had in 2025, but movies like Send Help, with all their insanity and grossness, are making a great counter-argument.