Review of Deliver Us from Evil (2014) by Tyler R — 18 Feb 2015

Man, what happened after Sinister? It's almost like Scott Derrickson said, "Let me do a bigger budget Hollywood film, but relinquish most of the control, and leave out everything that I brought to the table with Sinister.

" And this brings us to Deliver Us From Evil, which, while showcasing some of Derrickson's perfect suspense in parts, is immediately smashed down with overly loud jump scares, a horrendously written screenplay, poor actors (who can't seem to carry an accent), and all the loud noise you'd expect from a Michael Bay film (Without Michael Bay being present).

The film is based on the real cases of a New York detective as he is shown where true demons live. This could have been good. It could have. But there are so many things working against it. For starters, the acting is really iffy, with a lot of the casting choices just outright horrid (Looking at you, Joel McHale).

Everyone feels out of place, and it doesn't help that the material they're given is so overbearingly clichéd that Syfy wouldn't even touch it. There are some true suspenseful parts that show Derrickson's knack for suspense, but any elements that work are buried under a thousand that aren't.

But, this is what happens sometimes: A small time director makes a big hit and is immediately thrown into the manufacturing plant to churn out junk. Hopefully, when he gets Doctor Strange off the ground, Marvel and Disney will give him more breathing room than this and allow for his personal touch to remain intact.