Deliver Us from Evil

Don't listen to some of the critics. A very good scary movie. I think the critics knocking it just do not like the exorcism genre. If you liked The Rite or The Conjuring you will like this movie. A story with characters you care about. Also based on a true story which of course means there are certain liberties taken with it but that makes it more interesting. This was a scary movie with brains. The background and setting reminded me a bit of the movie Seven. The priest is the most interesting character. I normally am not a huge fan of Eric Bana but he plays the role of the detective well. This could also be classified as a crime thriller with a supernatural twist.

In Iraq 2010, US troops uncover something dangerous. It's 2013. NYPD officer Ralph Sarchie (Eric Bana) investigates a series of disturbing crimes with his partner Butler (Joel McHale). He's married to Jen (Olivia Munn) with a daughter. Jesuit priest Mendoza (Édgar Ramírez) is fighting the evil and Sarchie joins in to investigating a group of returning marines.

The movie sets up a good dark murky NYC. Eric Bana is good at being the brooding intense guy. Joel McHale is the wise-cracking sidekick. Surprisingly, he muscles up and gets into a few fights. Filmmaker Scott Derrickson has zeroed in on the dark moody style. However the movie slowly loses momentum. The tension fades. Instead of intensifying the excitement, it get muddled exorcism talk. Also, Butler seems to be replaced by Mendoza. It would probably be better to keep Butler inside the group. It's a lot of darken rooms and jump scares. The movie never finds the next gear.

From Scott Dickerson, the director of the 2012 horror-thriller Sinister, Deliver Us From Evil follows a true life story of Ralph Sarchie (played by Eric Bana), a New York detective who investigates a series of murder cases. Before too long, he learns that these murders are tied to demonic possessions and gets help from Mendoza (played by Edgar Ramirez), an educated priest and exorcism expert to stop on the possessions from terrorizing the city. This film is not as scary and eerie as the trailers made it out to be, but it has its moments of scariness. However, compared to Sinister, this film really could have done better.

Like most films dealing with demonic possessions, this film has the usual subplot of someone being possessed and needing help from a priest to be saved from the evil spirit. What is different about this one is that it takes place in a metropolitan city and involves police and detectives. Basically, this film has look of The Excorcist (1973) and Se7en (1995) combined. Aside from that, the film has its occasional scares here and there, but it wasn't as scary as I was hoping for. The scenes where Eric Bana's character and his partner are investigating houses in the dark did send chills down my spine, those were pretty suspenseful. Then there are the usual jump scares and scenes of blood and gore that occur every once a while. Towards the end, however, the scary atmosphere quickly fades away.

Overall, Deliver Is From Evil doesn't fall completely. While it didn't live up to my expectations, I was still somewhat satisfied with it. If you have seen Sinister, don't expect it to be as scary.

Though I usually keep in regular touch with what movies are being widely released to theaters, somehow I didn't hear of this movie when it was in theaters, so when I came across the Blu-ray I was quite surprised to learn of it. But to be honest, after watching it, I thought the movie should have stayed in obscurity. It's not the worst horror movie I've seen, but it has some major problems. For starters, the movie raises a lot of unanswered questions, like how the hero was able to view footage shot by the military. But the main problem with the movie is how tiresome it is. It moves very slowly, and the moments of horror that occasionally happen have a "been there done that" kind of feeling. These problems are made worse by a running time of almost two hours in length - this story didn't need to be so long. On the positive side, the acting is competent and the photography is moody and gives the story a lightly eerie undercurrent throughout. Though not enough to make the movie actually scary, however.

This is by far one of the best exorcism type movies I've watched in a very long time. The whole tune of the movie as it progresses is cryptic, and keeps you longing for more. Always trying to figure it out on your own as the movie plays on. Most exorcism type movies drag on with the plot and lose me halfway in, but this one however kept me entertained throughout the entire time. Eric Bana's acting is top quality, and quite frankly the best acting I've saw of him since "Troy". It's def. something to look into, if your looking for a good movie to watch. Be it Drama/Horror/Mystery, this movie is for you. You cannot do split rankings on here, but I give it a good 8.5/10 score.