(dir. Scott Derrickson)
*First time viewing
Deliver Us From Evil
is inspired by the accounts of NYPD officer and demonologist, Ralph Sarchie,
who partnered up with a Jesuit priest to deal with paranormal occurrences in
New York. The film (which is completely fictional and not based on an actual
case) follows Sarchie as he tracks down three war vets who encountered
something demonic in a cave in Iraq. With the help of a priest, Sarchie comes
to terms with his own lack of faith and the crime of vengeance he committed
years ago, in order to stop the rise of demonic forces in the Bronx.
If I’m
going to be completely honest, there really wasn’t and still isn’t a need for
any exorcism movies after William Friedkin’s The Exorcist. That movie covered all the basics and delivered the
best possible exploration into that specific subject. Sure, I’ve enjoyed a
number of the exorcism movies that followed, but with the understanding they
were simply borrowing from Friedkin’s film.
Deliver Us From Evil is no
different in terms of its influence. It still follows many of the same clichés,
but it’s clear that Derrickson at least attempts to do something a little
different by blending multiple genre clichés together. It’s not memorable, but
it did hold my interest for the most part.
The story is
often cluttered by its desire to be too many things. It’s an exorcist story, a
redemption story for both a cop and a priest, a heavy-handed metaphor for PTS
in a post-9/11 world, and a traditional procedural crime-thriller. There’s a lot going on in this, which
sometimes causes the central storyline to become lost in the shuffle. And yet,
it is this shuffle of too many elements that make the film more interesting
than just another typical tale of possession. Deliver Us From Evil takes a more personal look at its characters
than most modern horror films, and it’s an admirable effort. While it doesn’t
entirely succeed as a crime or horror film, it is one of the better exorcism
efforts to break away from the found-footage formula.
Scare Factor: 2/5 Even though the movie is too long
and filled with too many subplots to consistently build tension and terror, Derrickson
creates a great sense of atmosphere. The movie is nowhere near as successful as
his previous film, Sinister, but it’s
entertaining and contains solid performances from Bana and Ramirez. While you
won’t see anything new, Deliver Us From
Evil offers some creepy moments if you want to get your exorcism fix in
with a newer release. And after all, it is the day before Halloween, “what an
excellent day for an exorcism.”
**Available at Redbox
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