Deliver Us From Evil (C+ or 2/4 stars)
'Deliver Us From Evil' (based on supposed true events & directed by Scott Derrickson, of The Exorcism of Emily Rose), begins with a prologue set in Iraq in 2010 as 3 American soldiers stumble upon an entrance to a darkly lit, subterranean religious chamber, littered with hundreds of human skulls. Subsequently, these 3 soldiers (Scott Johnsen, Chris Coy, Sean Harris) are plagued by series of horrifying happenings. Some 4 yrs. later, that mysterious Iraq incident piques the keen interest of NYPD sergeant Ralph Sarchie (Eric Bana), who's been neglecting his pregnant wife (Olivia Munn) & young daughter in his pursuit of crimes in the Bronx. His laid-back partner Butler (Joel McHale, yes, that Joel McHale from the E! channel) is the kind of reckless cop who likes stirring up trouble wherever he goes.
And trouble arises for this duo when investigating an incident at the Bronx Zoo in which a zombie-like mother has tossed her baby into a ravine. After this, we meet a chain-smokin', alcoholic priest, Joe Mendoza (Edgar Ramirez), who slowly, but surely convinces Sarchie that there may be supernatural forces involved in the separate crimes that have occurred in this plot; and all are somewhat connected to those 3 soldiers in Iraq, particularly Santino (played by Sean Harris, of Prometheus). To make matters worse, they discover that a particular incantation - in both Latin & Persian - invites a particular demon to enter the human world, and that Sarchie's wife & daughter are in imminent danger (leading to their kidnapping). Everything culminates with a chaotic exorcism down at the police station.
Writer/director Scott Derrickson, who once wowed me with his Exorcism of Emily Rose flick, had some interesting exorcism material to work with here in 'Deliver Us From Evil' (not to be confused with a 2006 documentary that has nothing to do with this plot). I can't say that I loved this film, but I also must say that it was better than I had anticipated; that's probably because so many exorcism movies disappoint for one reason or another. That said, there ARE problems. Sarchie's (stellar Bana) story could have made for an utterly gripping, tense, spooky police procedural concerning demonic possession. Howevvver, there are too many dead spots in the middle of the film and, by the time the story is in the home stretch, the trajectory of the narrative turns towards stereotypical/traditional horror movie tropes. i.e., things go bump in the night, characters we've come to know get gutted in grisly fashion by a slow-moving malevolent being with a sharp weapon.
There are also more than few cheap scenes in which something scary leaps out at the camera or a sudden noise startles us -- but see, the source material is better than that. Furthermore, the blood/gore quotient goes up a lot towards the end, when the early spooky goings-on didn't need any of that; anything genuinely or even remotely scary is lost by the end. We are just left to go through the motions of yet another cinematic exorcism (priests holding the cross, demons yelling back, lots of wind, rain, hissing, spitting, etc.). Another issue I had: there's too much shaky-cam & a confusing use of space whenever something dynamic is happening. Lastly, the film is a bit long at 117 minutes. You know, based on my last 2 paragraphs, you'd have thought I hated this movie. I really didn't. I'm just disappointed that the potential of this story, as well as some very fine performances from Eric Bana & Edgar Ramirez go to waste the more the film progresses.
And trouble arises for this duo when investigating an incident at the Bronx Zoo in which a zombie-like mother has tossed her baby into a ravine. After this, we meet a chain-smokin', alcoholic priest, Joe Mendoza (Edgar Ramirez), who slowly, but surely convinces Sarchie that there may be supernatural forces involved in the separate crimes that have occurred in this plot; and all are somewhat connected to those 3 soldiers in Iraq, particularly Santino (played by Sean Harris, of Prometheus). To make matters worse, they discover that a particular incantation - in both Latin & Persian - invites a particular demon to enter the human world, and that Sarchie's wife & daughter are in imminent danger (leading to their kidnapping). Everything culminates with a chaotic exorcism down at the police station.
Writer/director Scott Derrickson, who once wowed me with his Exorcism of Emily Rose flick, had some interesting exorcism material to work with here in 'Deliver Us From Evil' (not to be confused with a 2006 documentary that has nothing to do with this plot). I can't say that I loved this film, but I also must say that it was better than I had anticipated; that's probably because so many exorcism movies disappoint for one reason or another. That said, there ARE problems. Sarchie's (stellar Bana) story could have made for an utterly gripping, tense, spooky police procedural concerning demonic possession. Howevvver, there are too many dead spots in the middle of the film and, by the time the story is in the home stretch, the trajectory of the narrative turns towards stereotypical/traditional horror movie tropes. i.e., things go bump in the night, characters we've come to know get gutted in grisly fashion by a slow-moving malevolent being with a sharp weapon.
There are also more than few cheap scenes in which something scary leaps out at the camera or a sudden noise startles us -- but see, the source material is better than that. Furthermore, the blood/gore quotient goes up a lot towards the end, when the early spooky goings-on didn't need any of that; anything genuinely or even remotely scary is lost by the end. We are just left to go through the motions of yet another cinematic exorcism (priests holding the cross, demons yelling back, lots of wind, rain, hissing, spitting, etc.). Another issue I had: there's too much shaky-cam & a confusing use of space whenever something dynamic is happening. Lastly, the film is a bit long at 117 minutes. You know, based on my last 2 paragraphs, you'd have thought I hated this movie. I really didn't. I'm just disappointed that the potential of this story, as well as some very fine performances from Eric Bana & Edgar Ramirez go to waste the more the film progresses.