MOVIE REVIEW: DELIVER US FROM EVIL / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: SCOTT DERRICKSON / SCREENPLAY: SCOTT DERRICKSON, PAUL HARRIS BOARDMAN / STARRING: ERIC BANA, ÉDGAR RAMÍREZ, SEAN HARRIS, JOEL MCHALE, OLIVIA MUNN / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
Deliver Us From Evil is a crime drama/supernatural horror adapted from ex-cop Ralph Sarchie’s book Beware the Night. Based on real events – if you choose to believe them of course – the film follows Ralph (Bana) investigating murders in New York.
Paired with his boisterous partner Butler (McHale), he encounters a series of strange, horrific events linked to a mysterious painter (Harris). A priest (Ramirez) tries to convince him that he is facing a different kind of evil and must regain his faith to combat it properly. At first Ralph dismisses this as nonsense, until he starts to see and hear things he can’t explain and his family is threatened.
Creating an atmosphere of ever-present tension heightened with disconcerting music, Deliver Us From Evil is incredibly creepy. The only drawbacks are that it assumes everyone buys into what’s happening without question, and a rather silly and clichéd plot device involving The Doors. Otherwise, think The Exorcist if it was a cop film, with some brutal jump scares and a great performance from the rising star that is Sean Harris (who was also the creep in Creep by the way).
Expected Rating: 7 out of 10
Actual Rating:
