I had no plans of sitting through another horror film by my lonesome, but because the mall I was planning to spend my Friday evening in decided to change their movie listings last minute and pulled out the film I originally wanted to see, I settled for this. It was either this or an asian horror movie and I think I’ve had enough of those from my high school days to last me a lifetime. Besides, an officemate of mine said that he really wanted to see it so I was intrigued.
Also, Eric Bana.
So here’s my round-up of Scott Derrickson (Sinister)’s Deliver Us From Evil. 
Please note that there may be spoilers. Read at your own risk.
THE STORY:
New York Police Officers Ralph Sarchie (Eric Bana – Star Trek) and Butler (Joel McHale – What’s Your Number?) roam around the street trying to patch up random cases – domestic violence reports, calls to investigate noises in the basement, etc – when they stumble upon a string of cases that turn out to be supernaturally related. Despite Sarchie’s lack of religious beliefs, they enlist the help of Father Mendoza (Edgar Ramirez – Wrath of the Titans), a reformed narcotics addict-turned-priest to solve a case that threatens to harm Sarchie’s wife Jen (Olivia Munn – The Newsroom) and daughter Christina (Lulu Wilson – The Millers).
THE GOOD:
- Joel McHale. By far this was his best movie to date. Although I still couldn’t take him seriously, I must say that the adrenaline junkie role fits him.
- Eric Bana’s jaw line. He was severely underused in this film but they did get him to look super good.
- Edgar Ramirez, if only because he looks a whole lot like Kit Harrington, only with a sexier accent.
THE BAD:
- The film relied too much on the gulat factor. I guess the director’s definition of scary equates to startlement.
- That whole radar thing wasn’t really explained properly, especially the scene where a man’s bloody face jumps out a tv screen for a few seconds. Okay, I get that Sarchie is “gifted” and this makes him a target, but what was the static about? And the music? Apparently demons listen to heavy rock, who knew?
- The marital problems came out of nowhere. One minute they’re sharing a blissfully sweet kiss, the next she’s crying silently because he’s too cold. Uhhh, what?
THE UGLY:
- That the film eventually loses steam during it’s final act. The climax was supposed to be the exorcism but for some reason, the moment that the perp gets captured, the whole film loses its tension. Nothing was on the line anymore and you just sort of sit through it until it’s over.
- The relatively tame exorcism scene. Considering that the priest was a former drug addict who still managed to impregnate a woman post-vows and the main character literally beat someone to death, I think the demon could’ve tortured them more, you know? As it was, it was very vanilla and over way too quickly that I was left disappointed because I find the best parts of an exorcism scene is the mindfuckery when the humans start questioning themselves and their sanities.
- No explanations were given about the demon. I’m nitpicking but I could’ve used the tiniest bit of a backstory about the creature possessing people. What was it about? If it wasn’t stopped, what would it have done?
All in all Deliver Us From Evil was an incredibly weak film. It’s a shame because the cast was talented but they weren’t really given much to work with. If you’re expecting an intelligent horror movie, this probably isn’t the movie you should see because it offers very little scare aside from the lazy and done-to-death jump tactics. If, however, you’re a huge fan of Joel McHale, then yes, this is definitely a must-see becauase he got to do more in this one that the previous movies he was in.
THE VERDICT:4.8/10. Nothing special to see here, better wait for it on cable.
*All photos are lifted from the film’s IMDB page.
