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Tuesday, July 8, 2014

My review of Deliver Us From Evil.



Over the weekend I decided to see the new horror/thriller film Deliver Us From Evil, inspired by true life demonologist (and former NYPD officer) Ralph Sarchie. I was a bit familiar with Ralph Sarchie as I knew he had trained under Ed and Lorraine Warren (the investigators that were portrayed in last years horror hit The Conjuring) so I was looking forward to seeing how Deliver Us From Evil would be.

 I won’t give away any spoilers, but I will say this. This movie isn’t based on one event (as were films like The Conjuring or Amityville Horror) but was a mashup of different cases that Sarchie did over the years (hence the inspired by disclaimer and not based on a true story one). That being said it still didn’t take away from the entertainment value of the film, Eric Bana did a good job of portraying Sarchie and you could see him struggling with the paranormal events that were occurring and trying to make sense of things. Though to me the most interesting character was Father Mendoza (played by Edgar Ramirez), a fictional priest who assists Sarchie with the exorcisms and was based on two priests, Bishop Robert McKenna and Father Malachi Martin, two real life demonologists that assisted Sarchie in what he did over the years. Sean Harris played the main antagonist Santino, and  he did a great job with the creep factor through the entire movie. The climax of the film was the climax of the film. I don’t want to give much away, but it was one of the better exorcism scenes I’ve seen in a while.

 The story itself was well done, though it had me wondering what case inspired what part. The scares were definitely there, though I wish a scene with Sarchie’s daughter was expanded on cause it definitely was the creepiest. I’m glad I didn't see the trailer until after, because one of the creepiest scenes was shown in the trailer. I get why they do that, to lure you in. But you need to have more to that scene, which they really didn't. That being said the final act of the movie goes about a different way in showing an exorcism performed

 I liked the movie, but it’s not the best one I’ve seen. Definitely won’t make my list of worst horror movies ever (which I think I need to do another one btw, I'm looking at you The Purge), but I don’t know if it’s because I’ve seen this same type of movie before and the scares have been done or if it’s something else. What saves this movie is the actors portrayal of their characters, especially that of Bana and Ramirez. Those two had some great chemistry and if the producers try to make a series out of this I’d like to see both actors come back.

All in all I’d recommend seeing it. I'd give it a 7 out of 10. And I’ve learned never to buy my children (when they exist) a jack in the box or a talking owl head. Actually anything to do with creepy dolls is out altogether. Horror movies have taught me that much.