Deliver Us From Evil

                Horror films…man, has beating a dead horse never been so true than with this genre. For the past ten or twenty years, we’ve hardly been able to get a good amount of horror films without a boat load of bad ones flooding the theaters, like it was a plague. Most of these “horror films” just turn out to be nothing but jump-scares, found-footage bores, or pointless gore-fests. And this time around, we get two-out-of-three of those filling up today’s film, “Deliver Us From Evil.”

                Based on the true story of Ralph Sarchie, we follow two cops in the Bronx investigating the paranormal crimes that are connected by three soldiers, after a mysterious demonic force overcomes them in Iraq. One severely beat his wife in front of their daughter, one was left dead in a basement, and the other is the one controlling people close to them to do horrible things.

Now while I do think that this scenario is genuinely interesting, I can’t say the same for the execution of it all. And that’s the biggest problem with this film; the execution of the film could have been done so much stronger than what this makes it out to be. Instead, what we get is a film that showcases creepy imagery and frightening elements, but in the end I felt so bored to where I was almost checking my watch every five to seven minutes. The film is only two minutes from two hours, yet it feels like two and a half, due to slow pacing.

Eric Bana plays Ralph Sarchie in the film, and I can see he’s trying his best to make this work…but his accent is just so dull, I could have sworn he was trying to do a British accent, if the film didn’t remind me this was the Bronx. You do see some turmoil with him, but not to where you emotionally care about what happens to this guy. Sean Harris, (yes, the mental guy from “Prometheus”) plays the possessed villain, and all I can say was he was all but scary. Not a single damn scene he was in was frightening, intimidating, or even original; the latter is especially true, because his look in the film is just Jared Nomak from “Blade II.” It’s like this film was trying to tell us that there’s no effort put into this film, which there almost isn’t, not even in the cast. Hell, Joel McHale’s in the movie, playing Bana’s partner, and even HE isn’t used properly, despite a few one-liners; you could have easily edited him out of this film, and it would have been the exact same thing.

The director of this film was Scott Derrickson, the same guy who directed “Sinister.” Whereas THAT film was actually scary and investing, this film just feels just as uninventive as his other film, “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” and his remake of “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” He has potential, just doesn’t use it when it’s needed. Let’s just hope he does give out effort for his upcoming Doctor Strange movie.

Overall, “Deliver Us From Evil” is yet again another clichéd modern Hollywood horror film. All it is, is just a bunch of stupid jump-scares, underused acting, and is just another boring flick. That’s the word for this film people: BORING.

Rating: 2/10