Deliver Us from Evil (2014)

Crappy film

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Filmmaker Scott Derrickson has definitely been through a lot when it comes to movies even if he hasn't output a large volume. He's also been through several areas of the movie industry; everything from home video, independent to mainstream blockbuster studios. And of course now that he's been inducted into the family of Marvel Studios, his credibility has been more or less confirmed. Prior to this though he was still trying to make a name for himself in way that would make him stand out. While The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) remake was boring for most, his comeback with Sinister (2012) turned the tables in his favor. While Sinister (2012) did engage its audience at the beginning, the predictability became fairly obvious as time went on. Sadly it seems as though Derrickson did not notice this when he released this movie as his next feature.The story for this movie displays events that allegedly were told to be true by a New York police officer named Ralph Sarchie. According to him, he came across a number of strange moments where he would be on duty and witness abnormal actions by people. Playing Sarchie is Eric Bana and soon he teams up with a priest by the name of Father Mendoza (Edgar Ramírez) who believes the cases are related to a greater evil. With the screenplay adapted by Derrickson and Paul Harris Boardman, the execution of the story feels very similar to that of Sinister (2012). At the start, the plot will capture the viewers' attention, but over time it begins to lose its grasp on what matters most. This is unfortunate because initially it has an interesting detective supernatural vibe going for it, but then it turns to a rather conventional method of execution and begins to lose traction.And there's a reason why the play out to this feature feels similar. The explanation to this is that Paul Harris Boardman has been a familiar writer to that of other Scott Derrickson productions, surprisingly not Sinister (2012) though. Putting this aside however, the acting by the main cast is fairly good. Eric Bana as the tough Sgt. Sarchie has a captivating presence along with his partner Butler played by Joel McHale, who seems to find a way of making light of any situation. Olivia Munn is also involved as Sarchie's wife who adds some tension to the story being that most married protagonists are easily held as leverage. Edgar Ramirez as Father Mendoza has a peculiar back story working with the supernatural and also serves as a good backup to Sarchie. Lastly there's Sean Harris who plays a significant part to the plot, and Sarchie's investigation.The visuals to the film were properly placed. Derrickson has done horror films before and this one does not divert from what's been done before. The gore is not over the top but can get grotesque.at times. This makes for an effective take on just how bad things can get surrounding Sgt. Sarchie. The worst it gets is body contortions and really freaky looking faces. The special effects themselves though are well done. There's no areas in the run time that look heavily edited or overly fake. Though some of the events that happen are questionable as to if they actually happened at all. Of course this comes with the understanding that certain liberties will be taken with the story that was given from the original source. The question is, exactly how much of it is true? That's to be debated over since the screenplay is based off of a book by Sgt. Sarchie.The camerawork was well done too. Filmed by Scott Kevan, the cinematography is displayed competently. There are dark areas throughout the film but it is not to a point where the audience will not be able to see what is happening. If anything it helps emphasize how peculiar some scenarios get. Occasionally there is some shaky cam and dutch angles, but it occurs quite infrequently that it's not really a bother. Kevan was also the cinematographer to Cabin Fever (2002), Death Race (2008) and The Darkest Hour (2011). Composing the film score to this feature was Christopher Young who has not only worked with Derrickson before but has done many horror scores in general. Sadly, what's only heard here are repeated tracks from other movies like Sinister (2012), and the rest are all stings. It's pretty underwhelming because only a couple areas actually sound unique.Music and story execution is unfortunately a large portion why the movie could not be as good as it presents itself. Yet the actors, horror visuals and premise make the view enjoyable to watch for the most part. It's decent enough to warrant at least one watch but that's it.

Exceptional movie from start to finish. One of very few movies where from the very first scene of the movie is filled with thrill, suspense, and scenes that will keep you on the edge of your seat. No dull parts that are unnecessary to the movie or that are slow to get to the point Which is very impressive for the length of the film.. Highly recommend the movie, full on from start to finish and will keep you in the moment of the movie while leaving you immersed in the movie and guessing what is going to happen next or how everything discovered is linked or can relate to what has already happened. Well above average acting and cinematography. Rate this movie a 9 out of 10 due to how interested and on edge I was watching the movie.

The tagline 'based on a true story' is obviously worth a lot to a film's success if that film is willing to completely deceive its audience over that fact. As I was watching 'Deliver Us from Evil' I kept thinking this Ralph Sarchie guy must be a complete nutter who's found a "get-rich-quick" scheme in lying about events that happened to him on the force and now a film is even being made about it. Turns out I was wrong. Turns out the filmmakers are the ones who took liberties with the truth. There is a guy by that name who wrote a book about his stories on the force, but this story sure as hell wasn't one of them. I mean what is that? How desperate to attach that tagline to your movie are you that you would do that? This completely ruined what was an otherwise decently made film.It doesn't really have much effect in the scariness department. I think we as an audience are getting used to the genre a lot now and filmmakers are going to have to work really hard to create an atmosphere and get the audience buying in to what they're selling us. The mixture of cop scenes intertwined with the demon possession was what made it work for me. Joel McHale really surprised me with an impressively convincing performance. Eric Bana (who's never been my favourite admittedly) was even decent in the lead role and managed not to bore me to death as he usually does. Generally these demon movies are being made with a lower budget, so perhaps it was just the heightening of that which made the film come across as having more quality than your average film of the same genre. Proper actors can often go a long way. It still remains nothing overly memorable or that I would recommend to friends, and the issue with the tagline has left a very sour taste in my mouth. I can just imagine them sitting around in their marketing meeting say, "OK we have an average horror movie on our hands here, what can we do to give ticket sales a boost?" And then a lowly intern at the back of the room pipes up, "why not tell people it actually happened this time?" And they go with it. Disgraceful.

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.