Review of Deliver Us from Evil (2014) by Thequietgamer — 19 Dec 2014

Tries hard to bring some original scares by combining the horror genre with that of a police drama. It may be based on a true story, but it definitely isn't based on a scary story. At least that's how the movie makes it look. It's a drawn out affair that is devoid of fear, tension, and scares of any kind.

There's some cool imagery from time to time and some great settings that had the potential to strike up some original frights. A early scenario in a zoo instantly had me excited and thinking of cool ways the director could conjure up scares. Unfortunately it served as an lesson in that you really shouldn't expect anything in the way of horror as far as this movie is concerned.

What you get here are some of the flattest jump scares that fail to elicit any sort of reaction at all. To be honest the movie seems more interested in grossing audiences out. The possessed drool and bleed everywhere, and plenty of the environments are covered in slime and trash.

When the film isn't trying to get you to gag it surprisingly comes up with a few laughs. Not all of which are intentional. Eric Bana and Joel McHale play partners who have some amusing back and forth. Most of the other laughs come from just how stupid some of the serious moments are. It tries to scare you and just elicits some chuckles.

It's sad really, because the script isn't half bad. The story flows nicely and the actors are up to snuff. I particularly enjoyed Edgar Ramirez as the Castilian priest. It's just a shame all of this goes to waste because it's just not scary at all. Horror fans are better off skipping this one. This is one true story horror film that forgot the horror. As we all know a horror film that isn't scary isn't worth anyone's time.