Deliver Us From Evil
Director: Scott Derrickson
Talent: Eric Bana, Édgar Ramírez, Olivia Munn, Chris Coy
Release Date: 22nd August 2014
When NYPD Sergeant Sarchie (Eric Bana) suspects a number of twisted cases may be linked to demonic possession he forms an uneasy alliance with a priest to combat the forces of darkness. Derrickson pulls off many of his horror film tricks: numerous jump scares and split-second flashes of demons, but these are the least interesting aspects of the film, which makes good on the exorcism angle in a thrilling finale. If you can suffer through the clichés, there’s something remarkable waiting for you. Whether or not you can do that depends on your tolerance for almost two hours of possessed puppets and music boxes. Deliver Us From Evil mashes the police procedural together with supernatural jump-scare horror to produce something that isn’t original or scary, but is worth seeing solely due to its nutso conclusion.
Words: Luke Marshall
For more film coverage this month, see our reviews of Moebius, The Hundred Foot Journey, The Congress, Million Dollar Arm, Into The Storm, Obvious Child, The Expendables 3 and We Gotta Get Out Of This Place.