‘Deliver Us From Evil’: Critics Are Frightened By Film’s Mediocrity
Deliver Us from Evil, the latest horror flick from the guy responsible for The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Sinister, isn’t winning over the critics.
When it comes to horror, professional movie reviewers are a tough sell. Although director Scott Derrickson’s aforementioned fright films were well received, Deliver Us from Evil is currently sporting an extremely low rating over at Rotten Tomatoes. Considering this weekend’s other new releases have met a similar fate, moviegoers might want to stop by the local video store instead visiting the neighborhood cineplex.
Loosely based on the book by former New York police officer Ralph Sarchie, Deliver Us from Evil tells the supposed true story of one man’s quest to rid the city of demonic possession. Sarchie (Eric Bana) ultimately joins forces with a priest (Edgar Ramirez) to battle the forces of evil head-on. As intriguing as that premise sounds, it appears critics aren’t overly impressed with the film as a whole.
Seattle Times critic Moira Macdonald explained:
“[‘Deliver Us from Evil’] is a pretty routine and occasionally silly demonic-possession flick, which distinguishes itself by making us wait so long for the exorcism that heads may be spinning in the audience as well. Eric Bana, giving it his all, plays Sgt. Ralph Sarchie, an NYPD veteran who’s deeply troubled by the horrors he’s seen in his South Bronx precinct, and Edgar Ramirez is Father Joe Mendoza, a renegade priest who’s convinced that some of these hideous crimes are the result of demons among us. After an eternity, these two handsome crimefighters finally team up — they’re like really moody superheroes — to catch the bad guys.”
L.A. Weekly writer Amy Nicholson didn’t experience too many chills over the course Deliver Us from Evil. In addition to criticizing the film’s reliance on a dark, dreary, and perpetually sunless New York City, Nicholson had some issues with some of Derrickson and cinematographer Scott Kevan’s stylistic choices.
She wrote:
“[D]espite the screaming gore, the movie is so rote that it can’t even rouse us for the de rigueur exorcism, here set in an interrogation room with a random cop observing from behind the glass. His reaction — a blurted “Get the f**k out of here!” — gets a laugh. But when the film remembers to cut back to him minutes later, we’re surprised to see he hasn’t already yawned and walked away.”
Lou Lumenick of the New York Post praised Deliver Us from Evil for its willingness to give horror aficionados exactly what they crave: plenty of gore and more than a few scares. He even had praise for the film’s star.
Lumenick explained:
“It’s also got a solid lead performance by the intense Croatian-Australian actor Eric Bana (‘Lone Survivor’) who treats the sometimes risible occurrences with deadly seriousness while still maintaining a sense of gallows humor. Bana’s refusal to treat this as camp or slumming is a good part of why this hard-R supernatural thriller is a definite guilty pleasure for those so inclined.”
Are you planning to catch Deliver Us from Evil this weekend? Are the reviews bad enough to scare you away from Scott Derrickson’s latest horror flick?
[Image via Screen Gems]
