Deliver Us From Evil:
The film opens in Iraq, following a group of soldiers who stumble upon a mysterious underground shrine while on a mission. We quickly cut to three years later in New York City, following dedicated cop Ralph Sarchie, who investigates a domestic violence call, and discovers the culprit is an ex-soldier whose fingertips are chaffed and bloody. He then investigates a call from the Bronx Zoo, where a woman has seemingly gone insane at random, throwing her child into an empty lion pit (the pit was closed for refurbishments), clawing at bystanders, and running off into unknown parts of the zoo. Sarchie and his partner find her near the carousel, violently hissing and clawing at the ground until her fingertips bleed and scar. Sarchie also investigates a house whose occupants claim the basement is haunted by an evil presence. During these investigations, Sarchie befriends an "undercover" priest who believes these seemingly random and eerie happenings are the work of a demonic presence. Sarchie, a skeptic who "grew out of" his faith, doesn't believe these pretty outrageous claims, but as things get stranger and stranger, Sarchie suspends his disbelief for the sake of solving the case... and protecting his family. What is the real cause of these happenings? If there is a demonic presence (spoiler: there is), what does it want? What does this have to do with that Iraq War scene I mentioned? That's for you to find out.
I am a fan of Scott Derrickson, as people probably have figured out by now. His 2012 effort Sinister is one of my favorite horror movies of the past 20 years and one of the best films of 2012, in my opinion. His 2005 venture The Exorcism of Emily Rose may be slightly overrated, but it's still an effective and impressive scary movie, especially for a debut feature film. The only major blot on his short filmography is 2008's dull and disappointing The Day The Earth Stood Still, a bland remake of a science fiction masterpiece. So, if you can't tell, I was pretty excited for this new film. I can't really say it disappointed, despite many people criticizing it.
Eric Bana is an underrated actor, despite his impressive resume (Chopper, Full Frontal, Black Hawk Down, Troy, Hulk, Lone Survivor, Munich, Star Trek, Mary and Max, Funny People, Romulus My Father, Deadfall, Finding Nemo). I felt like he did a good job in this movie. He pulled off the gruff, jaded New York cop role really well. Edgar Ramirez (Carlos, Che, Zero Dark Thirty, Wrath of the Titans) has a prominent role as the priest Mendoza, a man with a dark past who found peace by joining the priesthood. I thought Ramirez was really likable in this movie, and he had a calming presence. Joel McHale (Community, Spider-Man 2, Ted) plays Sarchie's funny and sarcastic partner Butler. He was undoubtedly the best character in the movie. Olivia Munn (Attack of the Show, The Newsroom, Magic Mike) appears in a minor supporting role as Ralph's caring wife Jen, who worries about her stressed husband's state of mind. I don't know why, but in every one of these types of horror movies the main character is portrayed by an underrated actor (Patrick Wilson in Insidious and The Conjuring, Ethan Hawke in Sinister, Eric Bana in this), whose wife is played by an underrated hot actress (Rose Byrne in Insidious, Vera Farmiga in The Conjuring, Juliet Rylance in Sinister, and Olivia Munn in this). It's like a new cliche. Sean Harris (The Borgias, 24 Hour Party People, Red Riding, Brighton Rock, Southcliffe, Prometheus) plays Santino, an ex-soldier with some issues. Chris Coy (Treme, True Blood) has a role as Jimmy, another ex-soldier with some form of PTSD. Overall, the cast does okay, they look genuinely scared throughout the runtime.
The story isn't exactly original, and it actually takes liberties with the material. It's based on a 2001 book (Beware the Night by Ralph Sarchie and Lisa Collier Cool), which probably means the events in the book took place in the 90's or maybe even earlier, but for sake of the film, they updated the material to 2013. However, Derrickson took his experience on other films and incorporated some elements into this one. For instance, Christopher Young returns as composer from The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Sinister (which had an okay original score, but an amazing soundtrack). The exorcism sequence in the film is pretty intense, and Derrickson probably took hints from not only The Exorcist, but his own film: Emily Rose. There's also a flashback sequence done in a Super 8 filming style, obviously lifted from his previous feature Sinister. Like Sinister, this film has a cool sound design and unique soundtrack for a horror film (although not nearly as unsettling or original as Sinister's was). The film actually employs a lot of music by The Doors, which is a bit laughable at times, but sometimes it worked pretty well, like in a scene in a darkened hallway where suddenly, the song "People Are Strange" begins playing, and it's actually kind of creepy. There's also a visually striking end credits sequence that has "Break On Through (To The Other Side)" accompanying it.
Deliver Us From Evil may be cliched and filled with jump scares, but it's not terrible. It's not as original or jolting as Sinister was, but I wouldn't bash the movie either. It has some talented actors, a director who knows how to get under my skin, some cool visuals, and is able to frighten but also sort of inspire. However, the spiritual overtone may be a little off-putting to some, especially more skeptical-minded viewers (I consider myself fairly skeptical as well), and I get it. But I still say to give this movie a chance anyway. It's no classic and will probably be forgotten fairly soon, but it's entertaining enough. I actually enjoyed it a lot, and was shocked to see so many people hating on it. I feel like people are giving this movie too much shit. As much as I enjoyed The Conjuring and Insidious: Chapter 2 (as evidenced by me placing them in my favorites of the year list), you have to admit they weren't exactly perfect, either. They had some flaws and laughable moments, as any horror movie does. My point is, don't bash Deliver Us too much. Sure it's unoriginal, but what horror movie isn't nowadays? 3.5/5 stars.
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