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Based on true events, Deliver Us from Evil is the latest horror movie from “Sinister” director Scott Derrickson.
With Sinister being up there as one of my favorite horror movies ever (while also loving The Exorcism of Emily Rose), I had high hopes for Derrickson’s next horror installment.
Ralph Sarchie (Eric Bana- Star Trek 2009, Lone Survivor) is a family man and police sergeant in New York City assigned to the Special Operations division. Known for his “radar” sense, Sarchie and his partner Butler (Joel McHale- Ted), take-on a child murder case overseen by a priest called Mendoza (Edgar Ramirez- Wrath of the Titans 2012). Mendoza thinks demonic activity may be the cause of this tragic case as mother Jane’s (Olivia Horton- The Enemy Within) murderous behavior is completely out of character. When Sarchie arrests her she mocks Mendoza by calling him a “specialiissssst”.
Skeptical of any possible demonic activity to have caused the murder, Sarchie dismisses the help of Mendoza. But when a pair of seemingly random investigations share strange connections between three former soldiers in the Middle East (who we see investigating a mysterious cave in the film’s prelude), Sarchie is forced to accept that some evil deeds may not be perpetrated by humans, and instead the handiwork of malevolent spirits.
Deliver Us from Evil brings quite a few jump scares as it leads up to a long exorcism scene, but while the film looks incredible it felt lacking in genuine dread for me. The scares are jumpy but do not live up to the atmosphere and ultimately disappoint. One of the more legitimately creepy scenes, involving Sarchie’s daughter and her collection of creepy toys, is a strange input and could’ve come from a different film entirely. Though I did find myself wanting to see more of that demonic owl that benignly coos “Aa-ooo, aa-ooo.”
While it doesn’t leave much of a lasting impression and the scares are jumpy but not scary, I still found myself entertained. If you enjoy supernatural movies about demons and exorcisms, I’m sure you’ll enjoy Deliver Us from Evil to some extent.
WICKED RATING: 6/10 [usr 6]
Director(s): Scott Derrickson
Writer(s): Scott Derrickson, Paul Harris
Stars: Eric Bana, Édgar Ramírez, Olivia Munn
Year: 2014
Studio/ Production Co: Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Screen Gems
Budget: $30,000,000 (estimated)
Language: English
Length: 118mins
Sub-Genre: Crime, Thriller
