Deliver Us From Evil: DVD Review
The Movie:
New York police officer Ralph Sarchie (Eric Bana), struggling with his own personal issues, begins investigating a series of disturbing and inexplicable crimes. He joins forces with an unconventional priest (Édgar Ramírez), schooled in the rituals of exorcism, to combat the frightening and demonic possessions that are terrorizing their city. Based upon the book, which details Sarchie’s bone-chilling real-life cases.
It really does take a lot to scare me or make me jump. With me being a horror movie fanatic I have become somewhat numb to scares and gore so deep down I’m always in search of a film that can creep me out. We’ve seen plenty of these “Based On A True Story” kind of horror films and this premise is most likely one that we’ve seen before (sometime these plots get recycled so much I can’t even remember how often I’ve seen a certain story) with possession and having to do with the Devil. With that being said this film kind of falls in the middle of all that. It has some bits that are somewhat familiar but the scares in the film are what make this film awesome. The same kind scares that director Scott Derrickson gave us with Sinister continue on with this film. You get moments that build up so much then get really calm and you find yourself knowing that something is coming but don’t know when then….BAM! Something suspenseful happens and next thing you know you realize that the soda you had in your hands is now all over you. Like I said before, it takes a lot to make me jump but this film had me doing just that numerous times. Bana gives an authentic and intense performance in the film and pretty much made me forget that he’s actually Australian. Ramirez was fantastic and had the conflicted religious persona down great. His performance was extremely believable and added so much to an already great horror film. Going in to it I honestly wasn’t expecting too much more than what I’ve seen in the past but I was pleasantly surprised. It’s not the perfect horror film as it does run into some of the same territory as others BUT it certainly got a rise out of me and that definitely makes it effective.
Special Features:
Illuminating Evil: Making Deliver Us From Evil – This feature takes a look at Ralph Sarchie and how his life and story influenced the film.
