Review of Deliver Us from Evil (2009) by Amanda L — 24 Jul 2007

With the slew of horror films that have been released in recent years, "Deliver Us From Evil" is not only horrifying not due to Oliver O'Grady's disconnect with his actions, but for the major cover up of his actions and the overall attitude of the catholic church. In fact, the church ends up looking even worse than O'Grady for this regard, as it examines how even new Pope Benedict was just as involved in the "obliviousness" as the cardinals and other bishops of the Catholic church were in O'Grady's sexual exploits. Even worse were some of the excuses the church gave for his actions, how some arch dioceses tried to defend his acts, and tried to protect him rather than banish him by sending him throughout California and then back to Ireland in which he roams free today.

The full scope of the testimonials start to come full circle around the first quarter of the movie, and the intertwining of elements and testimonials make for a major message of the longing effects of betrayal to not only the victims, but to those that are members of the clergy that refuse to accept the "cover ups" and simply move on.

The final nail in the coffin of sentiment comes at the last fifteen minutes of the movie, when the victims who were interviewed attempt to voice their concerns to the Vatican and the new pope, but are rejected any form of help, get no response for any parts of their efforts, and are projected as villains of the church on news outlets (made more powerful when two victims share a hug as seen on a TV channel, then cuts to that same hug on the documentary camera.) No matter the religious convictions, it's hard to conceive of a way in which the church can be defended.