Deliver Us From Evil
A New York police officer becomes involved in a dangerous game when investigating a sinister case. When he joins forces with an unconventional priest, his eyes are opened up to a world he wish he’d never discovered..
Cast
Eric Bana – Sarchie
Édgar Ramirez – Mendoza
Olivia Munn – Jen
Joel McHale – Butler
Olivia Horton – Jane
Daniel Sauli – Salvatore
LOL
..because this was the reaction from the viewing audience throughout Deliver Us From Evil. If you’re expecting a jump-a-minute fright fest – don’t. If you’re wanting one or two moments that genuinely shock you – don’t.
And if you go along to the cinema thinking this movie will be as freaky as the poster – it won’t. Deliver Us From Evil was just awful, from beginning to end. I was hoping for a real shit-your-pants horror movie, but got the opposite. I understand it is based on actual accounts of an NYPD sergeant, so the director must have been limited to what he could offer, but he certaly didn’t package it properly. It just didn’t deliver the evil.
Cinema audience laughter during a horror movie can mean one of two things:
– they jumped so hard or are so shocked by what they just saw on screen, that they start laughing at their reaction / embrace other audience members reactions of relief.
– they are laughing because the scene is genuinely funny, and far from scary.
This reaction was the latter last night in the auditorium.
The jokes were flying (mainly stirred by McHale who seemed to enjoy shattering tense moments with sarcastic one-liner’s and facial expressions) in an almost sloppy effort at entertaining the audience. It was actually quite deflating, having a tense scene where the two police officers enter a dark area with torches, suddenly a noise is heard – the tensity rises.. and then suddenly Sarchie’s colleague Butler cracks a ‘gag’ which makes a few audience members laugh – and completely shatters the moment. Sometimes I’ll let it pass because what the character says can be funny, but what Butler kept coming out with were just stupid, unnecessary. Like driving a knife firmly into a healthy pumped-up balloon, this movie had a terrible habit of turning up the tension – then destroying it with a single (unfunny) blow.
Very deflating.
Supernormal
Before this movie began, the BBFC notification came up on screen displaying the age bracket for it and with the ‘contains..’ note.
In this specific case, it stated how the movie contained ‘supernatural’ events.
..it couldn’t have been more supernormal.
Movies such as Paranormal Activity, The Amityville Horror, The Conjuring – those are supernatural. Deliver Us From Evil contained the theme, but failed to deliver the goods (note how ironic the word ‘deliver’ is in its title). It was one of the most tame supernatural horrors I have ever seen. Tedious and boring, I’d had enough not even halfway through. And I think the opening half hour sparked this off, having police officers walking around sharing idle banter, etc. The beginning of the movie is nowhere near intriguing and actually splits off into different directions as it shows what various characters are getting up to.
One scene actually surprised me – when Sarchie meets up with Mendoza the spiritual priest – in a bar. Suddenly the current events are forgotten as the pair chat about the past, before going off to – yes – play pool.
I think I had my arms folded by this point, looking at the ceiling.
Well Done, Olivia
Olivia Horton who plays Jane is brilliant.
The possessed character foams at the mouth, wails like an animal and bites anyone with a willing forearm – and the actress plays her superbly. (although there is yet another scene ruined by Joel McHale where Jane stares at Sarchie intriguingly before being carted off by doctors, and Butler asks, “do you think she’s single?”) – once again the balloon burst.
The director manages to contain the immature humour for a minute or two during the scene where Jane is locked in a cell and Sarchie goes to see her. The scene is tense, slightly scary – and Olivia does fantastically as she writhes across the floor groaning like a pained animal. The look in her eyes, the noises she makes, its all great and escalates the movie to the level it needs. All because of the woman’s performance.
Well done Olivia.
Deliver Us From Evil was just awful, from beginning to end.
I thought I’d give it a go because it looked like a good little shocker – I then realised halfway through the movie that I’d never seen a trailer for it at the cinema. And you know what that means.
Shit. Basically.
There really is nothing I can use to sum the movie up. But I would urge anyone to avoid it at all costs – ‘costs’ being the ironic word – I wouldn’t pay a single penny to sit through this. Just forget its been released, and if you do happen to notice it for rental in the future, stick it on your list – but at the very bottom.
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