Deliver
Us From Evil (2014/Sony DVD)
Picture:
B Sound: B Extras: C Film: C+
From
the director of
Sinister and
soon
Marvel's Dr.
Strange,
Scott Derrikson,
comes
Deliver
Us From Evil
which is a modern day Film Noir that is a cross between Se7en
and The
Exorcist but
without the originality or fun of either of those films. The film
came and went at the box office this summer but features decent
performances by Eric Bana and Olivia Munn and a few creepy scenes
that don't make it a total wash. Despite being officially based on a
2001 non-fiction book entitled Beware
the Night
by Ralph Sarchie and Lisa Collier Cool and a marketing campaign
highlighting that it was inspired by actual accounts, the film
actually does not showcase any of the cases recounted in the book and
instead features a completely original plot imagined by Derrickson
and co-writer Paul Harris Boardman.
The
movie opens in Iraq in 2010. A small group of Marines are running
through a war zone in the desert when they encounter a man-made
underground cave. The group leader, Sgt. Griggs, sends two Marines
(Jimmy Tratner and Mick Santino) to investigate. Jimmy is recording.
Underground, the camera light starts to flicker and then eventually
dies out completely. Jimmy and Santino are heard screaming.
The
movie then flashes forward to 2013, in New York. Detective Ralph
Sarchie (Bana) is seen trying to give mouth to mouth to a very small
bundle, which is revealed to be a dead baby. The coroner asks him
repeatedly to let go, but he has trouble doing so and is clearly
affected by the experience. We soon learn that despite his grisly
nights on duty, he comes home to a gorgeous wife (Munn) and a
daughter.
Detective
Sarchie and his partner soon end up getting a call of a Woman
throwing her baby in a lion's pit at a local zoo after hours. After
encountering the woman, they discover that she is crazy and is
mumbling lyrics from the door. After putting her under containment
they notice that she has clawed off her nails and is looking pretty
bizarre. Soon, Sarchie discovers that the incident in Iraq in 2010
is connected to the possession of the woman and two other returned
soldiers and a Priest adds him in bringing the case to justice.
Sound
and Picture on the disc are at a high standard for the format but
loses details that would Blu-ray would master and this has also been
issued in that format. Presented in standard definition with an
anamorphic aspect ratio of 2.40:1 and a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1
track, the disc looks fine on screen. Also available on the disc are
subtitles in English, French, and Spanish.
Extras
include a Commentary by Director Scott Derrickson and
Illuminating Evil: The Making of Deliver Us From Evil.
All
in all, the film isn't a terrible watch but is not memorable enough
to have the staying power of a thriller like Fincher's Se7en.
-
James Harland Lockhart V
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv
