Three Soldiers in Iraq stumble onto something evil in a cave over there and they all bring it back to their home town in the Bronx New York. Hardnosed cop Ralph Sarchie (Bana) whose true case file this movie is based on, begins to link crazy criminal behavior happening in his neighborhood with the returning soldiers. A psychotic woman (Olivia Horton) throws her baby in a lion's pit at the zoo and Sarchie and his partner (Joel McHale) drag her in. A renegade priest named Mendoza (Ramirez) shows up and suspects the woman's possessed but Sarchie will hear none of it due to his wavering faith. Eventually Sarchie has no answers and turns to Mendoza for them. The possessed by the devil soldier Santino (Harris) kidnaps Sarchie's Wife (Munn) and daughter (Lulu Wilson) and forces a confrontation with Sarchie and Mendoza which turns into a full blown Exorcism at the police station. Retired NYPD Sarchie is now a demonologist and this movie follows his story. How much is true we may never know, but as a film, Deliver Us from Evil has some scares and jumps in it. After giving us "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" and "Sinister", Director Scott Derrickson is establishing himself as one of Horror's best Directors. This film is a bit of a cross between his two earlier films and hangs somewhere in the middle. Derrickson brilliantly has filled all three of his films with a sense of dread and evil that gets deep into your soul. You can't shake off the feeling and are forced to go through the proceedings with the characters. The sound design works very well and even though you can tell something is about to happen, the jump scares are usually on target. Like all good exorcism films, it helps if you are a Christian and believe that the proceedings could be real. If you're not all in with the storyline (and the filmmakers don't give you a choice) you could easily dismiss this film from being effective. The concluding exorcism is a bit over the top and doesn't hit the heights that 'Emily Rose" did, yet it's still curiously effective. Not as daunting as "Sinister" was or as scary as "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" is, this film still has a scary punch and will make you sink down in your seat while watching it.
Review of Deliver Us from Evil
