Deliver Us From Evil

INVOCAMUS Vi INGREDI AB INFERIS

Itend to ignore the based on a true story or inspired by true events tagline when I see them.  That should be a given when watching "Deliver Us From Evil" as one must remember that this is a Jerry Bruckheimer production.  Scott Derrickson, the man who directed "The Exorcism of Emily Rose," "Sinister," and the direct to DVD "Hellraiser: Inferno" brings us a very loose adaptation of  former NYPD officer Ralph Sarchie's exploits in investigating demonic events as chronicled in his 2001 book "Beware the Night."  The film's title comes from the last petition of "The Lord's Prayer," or known to Catholics as the "Our Father."  Libera nos a malo.  While Sarchie's book contains several stories of demonic possession, none of cases is actually tied together as they are in the film. 

Australian actor Eric Bana ("Star Trek," "Hanna," "Troy") plays Ralph who is going through a crisis of faith while investigating a series of murders.  Venezuelan actor Edgar Ramirez ("Domino," "The Bourne Ultimatum") also stars as a rouge Catholic priest who enlists Sarchie's help in fighting demons.  Olivia Munn ("Magic Mike") co-stars as Sarchie's wife Jen, and the wisecracking Joel McHale ("The Soup") is Ralph's partner Butler.  While watching "Deliver Us From Evil," I thought back to the 1970's TV show "Kolchak: The Night Stalker."  Melding the Crime genre with Religious Horror, Derrickson and Emily Rose collaborator Paul Harris Boardman tell us on a two-hour demon hunting tales.  Rated R for violent subjects, littered with street language and the dark hideous things that lurk in the shadows. 

Three U.S. soldiers fighting in Operation Reaper in Diyala Iraq back in 2010 stumble upon the entrance to some catacombs in a jungle oasis near the desert.  Like "The Exorcist's" Pazuzu, in the Cradle of Civilization resides an ancient evil that changes the three soldier's lives.  Three years later, we find ourselves in the violent Bronx's 46th Precinct, late at night following Sgt. Sarchie as the coroner takes charge of a dead baby.  Sarchie has his own child, 5 year-old daughter Christina (Lulu Wilson) and the death of a child is hard on him.  Apparently Ralph has a thing his partner calls Radar -- in other words, a nose for trouble.  Sarchie and Butler take on cases that range from an apparently crazy woman who throws her young child into a moat at the zoo.  A former Marine who has bout of PTSD who beats his wife and an Italian immigrant family whose house seems to be haunted.  In all these investigations Sarchie, encounters narrow hallways, dark places, scary music, the low rumble of doom, and flashlights that never seem to work when you need them. 

Those of us who watch a lot of "CSI," and "Criminal Minds" will recognize the familiar pattern of procedural investigation that Sarchie and Butler proceed from.  The two begin tying things together when they investigate Jimmy (Chris Coy) the wife beater first.  During Sarchie's examination of Jimmy's office, Ralph discovers that the painters have painted up a wall that had a Persian-Latin inscription that Jimmy and his two-war buddies found in the ancient catacomb.  While watching some of Jimmy's helmet-cam video, he watches as Santino (Sean Harris) led Jimmy and Griggs (Scott Johnsen) into the catacombs and to a wall with the same inscription on it.  The three were all dishonorably discharged for attacking a chaplain after their encounter with something in the tombs.  They find Griggs dead in the Italian immigrants family’s house and he was the husband of Jane (Olivia Horton), the woman now locked up in a mental ward for the kid-tossing incident at the zoo.  While investigating Griggs apartment, not only do they find the place infested with cockroaches but that unholy relics hang on the wall.  The puzzle starts to come together.  

 “A saint is not a moral exemplar.  A saint is a life-giver."  - Father Joseph Mendoza

Enter Father Joseph Mendoza (Ramirez) who helps Sarchie and Butler with more than just a motive, but a reason for these outbursts of insanity.  Sarchie starts out as a skeptic, a Catholic who has lost faith in humanity and himself.  His years on the force have sliced away his hope for humanity and any hope for his own should.  Mendoza is the drinking, smoking, and boxing kind of priest who helps Ralph deal with his guilt.  Mendoza warns Ralph that the demonic spirits will use his guilt against him.  The part of Father Mendoza is a combination of several real life characters drawn from Sarchie's past, and a Venezuelan priest that Edgar Ramirez once knew.  Ramirez shapes his character as a plain, simple, and humble man who has stripped himself of false piety before Christ and is neither a slayer of demons but a man who helps his friends.  He implores Ralph to confess his sins and strengthen his soul in preparation of doing "the Work."  In trying to reach past Ralph's lack of faith and his skepticism, Mendoza points out the problem of good verses the problem of evil.  While sitting in a restaurant that caters to FDYN he points out even with all the evil in the world, what possesses men to sacrifice their lives for others in times crisis.

“Vengeance always destroys the avenger.”  - Father Joseph Mendoza

There is another aspect to "Deliver Us From Evil" that strikes at the very heart of the home.  Literally.  As Ralph is tuned to the paranormal, there is a danger of the paranormal following him home.  As we saw in the "Exorcist," that opening oneself to welcoming the supernatural into your life could have tragic outcomes.  In this case, because of his work, something is haunting Ralph's daughter.  In the scenes concerning his young child we learn the sad truth that Jack in Boxes and stuffed owls are creepy.  As Derrickson gives us plausible reasons for seemingly strange and creepy phenomena, including the possible psychosis of the soldiers, alternatively, the evidence for possession builds.  As a father and a husband, the psychological cost of focusing too deeply on his work strains his relationship with his wife and child.  As his daughter, Christine, feels threatened by some malignant force stalking her, Jen believes Ralph’s mental state is affecting their daughter.  In Scott Derrickson's "Sinister," Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke) seemingly opens himself to the demonic by watching the evils committed upon past victims of the demon Bughuul, The Eater of Children.  Like Ralph Sarchie, the spiritual and psychological effects of his work affect not only him, but his family as well.

"Made the scene, week to week. Day to day, hour to hour. The gate is straight, deep and wide.Break on through to the other side."  - The Doors

Christopher Young's scoring brings out the ambiance of utter dread.  Adding to the mood are the ethereal sounds of Atrium Carceri.  Tying the film together and providing the musical cues to the motives of the possessed are selected cuts from The Doors.  Tracks include "Break on Through," "Soul Kitchen," "People Are Strange," and from their last album, "Riders on the Storm."  The breaking on through that Morrison referred to in the song was about tearing down the walls from one level of consciousness to another. However, in the film, Boardman and Derrickson, mean breaking down gates to hell.  Similar in fashion Boris Balkan's attempt to open the gates to hell in the 1999 Johnny Depp paranormal thriller "The Ninth Gate."  Cinematographer Scott Kevan (“The Losers,” “Underworld: Awakening,” “Cabin Fever”) sets the visual mood very well. Imagine the image of a hooded Santino, face marked in blood while standing backlit in the rain as "Riders on the Storm." plays in the background.  The image is creepy. 

 Ralph Sarchie not only writes novels, he is also associated with The New England Society For Psychic Research ran by Lorraine and the late Ed Warren.  Ralph started a chapter of the Psychic Research center in New York City.  If you remember, last year in "The Conjuring," Vera Farmiga from "The Orphan," "Source Code" stars as Lorraine Warren.  Patrick Wilson who starred in "Insidious," "Passengers" and "Watchmen," played her husband Ed. Last year, James Wan did a marvelous job of invoking the sense of fear and dread throughout the whole film.  What gave "The Exorcist" its ultimate horror was that we get to know Regan first as a young innocent preteen girl before the procession.  Then the horror grew as each time we met her in her possessed, peas vomiting, head turning Pazuzu self.  

In "Deliver Us From Evil," we get three possessions for the price of one, but we don't really get to focus on any of them.  Instead, Derrickson gives us a character study of a troubled cop (what cop isn't troubled), trying to deal with the secondary evils of man when he comes head on with primary evil of the the demonic kind. Some folks are going to hate this film while others will find it scary and intense.  For me, “Deliver Us From Evil" is a better than average demonic exorcism flick, with solid character development, excellent acting by Edgar Ramirez and a decent Bronx accent delivered by Eric Bana.  Munn and Hale give strong performances and Derrickson, builds a decent story, but the ending felt a bit rushed.  Although Derrickson does a mighty fine job of building tension and conjuring up a sense of fear, the ending leaves something to be desired.  The name of the demon Jungler is barely audible when Santino finally chokes out the name.  Who the hell is Jungler?  There are no offerings of where or who this demon is but only hints.  Where do the demons go once exorcised from the victim?  None of these questions has answers leaving the viewer unfulfilled at worst, and intrigued at best.  

"Deliver Us From Evil"  is in theaters, July 2, 2014. 

Related

Deliver Us From Evil: What Do You Believe
Deliver Us From Evil: Beware the Night

Movie Data

Genre: Crime, Horror, Thriller

Year:  2014

Staring: Eric Bana, Édgar Ramírez, Olivia Munn, Sean Harris, Joel McHale

Director: Scott Derrickson 

Producer(s): Jerry Bruckheimer

Writer: Scott Derrickson, Paul Harris Boardman, Ralph Sarchie, Lisa Collier Cool

Rating: R

Running Time: 118 minutes

Release Date:  7/2/2014

Deliver Us From Evil: What Do You Believe

This year "Sinister" director Scott Derrickson returns with another horror film. Derrickson and writer Paul Harris Boardman who brought us 2005's "The Exorcism of Emily Rose." collaborate yet again. 

Former NYPD officer Ralph Sarchie's details his adventures in investigating demonic events in his 2001 book "Beware the Night"  by Ralph Sarchie. 

Eric Bana ("Star Trek,"  "Hanna")  plays Sarchie who is going through a crisis of faith while investigating a series of murders. Venezuelan actor Édgar Ramírez ("Domino," "The Bourne Ultimatum") also stars as a rouge Catholic priest who enlists Sarchie's help in fighting demons. 

Here is a the synopsis:
In "DELIVER US FROM EVIL," New York police officer Ralph Sarchie (Eric Bana), struggling with his own personal issues, begins investigating a series of disturbing and inexplicable crimes. He joins forces with an unconventional priest (Edgar Ramirez), schooled in the rituals of exorcism, to combat the frightening and demonic possessions that are terrorizing their city. Based upon the book, which details Sarchie's bone-chilling real-life cases.

• - Written by Sony Pictures Entertainment

Besides  "The Exorcism of Emily Rose," horror veterans, director Scott Derrickson and writer Paul Harris Boardman, have worked together in 2000 on the direct to video "Hellraiser: Inferno,"  and 2013's "Devil's Knot."  Both Derrickson and Harris Boardman are credited as the writers of 2000's horror film "Urban Legends: Final Cut."

In this trailer, Ralph Sarchie (Bana) is having a crisis of faith. After investigating an incident at the zoo that he believes is a women's psychotic breakdown.  Finds that something evil has followed him home.  If you believe in good, or in god you must believe in evil or in the devil.

Former NYPD detective turned author, Ralph Sarchie, is associated with The New England Society For Psychic Research ran by Lorraine and the late Ed Warren.  Ralph started a New York chapter of the Psychic Research center.  It will be interesting to see how different the film is from book. 

"Deliver Us From Evil"  is in theaters , July 2, 2014. 

Movie Data

Genre: Crime, Horror, Thriller

Year:  2014

Staring: Eric Bana, Édgar Ramírez, Olivia Munn, Sean Harris, Joel McHale

Director: Scott Derrickson 

Producer(s): Jerry Bruckheimer

Writer: Scott Derrickson, Paul Harris Boardman, Ralph Sarchie, Lisa Collier Cool

Rating: R

Running Time: 118 minutes

Release Date:  7/2/2014

Deliver Us From Evil: Beware the Night

Coming to theaters near you on July 2, 2014 is this year's summer instalment of creepy. Last year's offering was James Wan's highly successful suspense/horror film "The Conjuring."  This year "Sinister" director Scott Derrickson returns with another "The following is based on actual accounts" type of horror film.  Derrickson and writer Paul Harris Boardman both veterans of 2005's "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" collaborate yet again in adapting former NYPD officer  Ralph Sarchie's adventures in investigating demonic events.  Ralph chronicles these exploits in his 2001 book "Beware the Night"  by Ralph Sarchie.  Australian actor Eric Bana ("Star Trek," "Hanna") plays Ralph who is going through a crisis of faith while investigating a series of murders. Venezuelan actor Édgar Ramírez ("Domino," "The Bourne Ultimatum") also stars as a rouge Catholic priest who enlists Sarchie's help in fighting demons. 


Sony Pictures hasn't been promoting this film very hard, however this what you need to know.

• In "DELIVER US FROM EVIL," New York police officer Ralph Sarchie (Eric Bana), struggling with his own personal issues, begins investigating a series of disturbing and inexplicable crimes. He joins forces with an unconventional priest (Edgar Ramirez), schooled in the rituals of exorcism, to combat the frightening and demonic possessions that are terrorizing their city. Based upon the book, which details Sarchie's bone-chilling real-life cases.
  - Written by Sony Pictures Entertainment

Besides  "The Exorcism of Emily Rose," horror veterans, director Scott Derrickson and writer Paul Harris Boardman, have worked together in 2000 on the direct to video "Hellraiser: Inferno,"  and 2013's "Devil's Knot."  Both Derrickson and Harris Boardman are credited as the writers of 2000's horror film "Urban Legends: Final Cut."

In this trailer, religious skeptic Ralph Sarchie (Bana) investigates an incident at a zoo that he believes is a women's psychotic breakdown.  While Catholic priest, Father Mendoza, tries to convince the NYPD officer that this paranormal and demonic.

Ralph Sarchie not only writes novels he is associated with The New England Society For Psychic Research ran by Lorraine and the late Ed Warren.  Ralph started a New York chapter of the Psychic Research center.  It will be interesting to see how different the film is from book. 

"Deliver Us From Evil"  is in theaters , July 2, 2014. 

Related

Deliver Us From Evil: Review
Deliver Us From Evil: What Do You Believe

Movie Data

Genre: Crime, Horror, Thriller

Year:  2014

Staring: Eric Bana, Édgar Ramírez, Olivia Munn, Sean Harris, Joel McHale

Director: Scott Derrickson 

Producer(s): Jerry Bruckheimer

Writer: Scott Derrickson, Paul Harris Boardman, Ralph Sarchie, Lisa Collier Cool

Rating: R

Running Time: 118 minutes

Release Date:  7/2/2014

Sinister: A Serial Tale of Murder, Mayhem, and Myth

“I'm gonna write the best book that anyone's ever read.” ~ Ellison Oswalt

T he trend nowadays is to pick an obscure deity from an ancient civilization and create a mythos around it.  That is exactly what Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill did when they imagined a world where a crime novelist finds a box of Super-8 films Eventually the home movies will lead him to realize something more is going on rather than the serial murder of several families and the disappearance of one of their children.  The concept is interesting and compelling and Ethan Hawke (“Gattica,” “The Daybreakers”) brings the character of Ellison Oswalt to life as a novelist desperately trying to make a comeback.  Juliet Rylance (“Animal”) is Ellison’s wife Tracy, Michael Hall D'Addario plays their 12-year-old son Trevor and Clare Foley (“Win Win”) is their daughter Ashley.  Although Derrickson, Cargill, and producer Jason Blum of Blumhouse productions were hoping for a PG-13 rating, "Sinister," however, does deserves the R rating it has.  “Sinister” is about 10 minutes shy of 2 hours. 

The horror begins immediately with a scratchy Super-8 film showing a tall tree with a family who has their hands tied behind their backs, bags over their heads, and a noose around their necks standing underneath it.  The limb raises and the family’s legs start their death dance.  “Sinister” is a dark film, both cinematically and spiritually.  There are only a few daylight scenes, but for the most part, the film takes place in single-story ranch style house. The setting is atypical in the horror film genre, in that it isn't some old two story house with a dark, dank, basement. Instead, this house has an attic.  The setting is in rural Pennsylvania, and the Oswalt family is moving in.  Ellison and his wife discuss his latest novel and questions if they are living, a few doors down from a crime scene.  Ellison stammers and says no.  What he doesn't tell her is that they are moving into the house of the family that was hung.  

After meeting the gruff local Sheriff, Ellison realizes immediately that he is not welcomed in the town and the sheriff believes that Ellison’s work diminishes theirs.  The deputy, on the other hand is somewhat star struck.  The family has gone through some tough times.  Ellison’s last two books were financial and commercial failures.  His last best seller, "Kentucky Blood," was over 10 year prior and their finances are dwindling. His two kids, Trevor and Ashley are typical kids who must adjust to their dad’s constant moving from one crime scene to another in the hopes of regaining his past glory.  Uprooted from their friends, the Oswalt children have to deal with kids who eventually tell them the story of the horrors that took place in their house.  Ellison, however, only cares about his career. 

Wearing a nerdy green sweater, while unpacking stuff in the attic, Ellison comes across a box forgotten by previous owners filled with apparently family films and conveniently a Super-8 projector to play them on.  It actually looked like the one I owned when I was a teenager.  At dinner, filmed in the dark, with only a single light, the family discusses the move, the need to sell their old house, and the two most important rules of the Oswalt household.  First, no kids allowed in daddy’s office, and daddy must lock his office when he isn't in there.  Ellison gets to work immediately, his office is set up, looking like an FBI command center with maps on the wall,  pictures of victims and unsubs (unknown subject) with colored yarn stretched from one picture to another. 

Throughout the film, Ellison watches each of the movies, usually at night, when things usually like to go bump.  “Sinister” is reminiscent of Stephan King’s “The Shinning” in that the story involves a writer who moves into a unfamiliar place to write his next novel, and throughout the film Ellison, like Jack drinks more and writes less. Jack and Ellison make poor choices throughout their perspective story arcs, which lead to their undoing.  Ellison sets up the projector, drapes a cloth on the wall, and looks through the selection of films.  Should Ellison watch the film with the innocuous title “Family Hanging Around '11,” or should he watch “Pool Party '66,” or “BBQ '79,” how about “Lawn Work '86,” or even “Sleepy Time '98.”  He picks the first one.  What he sees is so ghastly, he gets out his glass, some ice and a bottle of whiskey.  

n these types of horror films, the main characters isn’t the only ones that are affected, the children are too.  In the “Amityville Horror,” Missy, the kid in that film had an imaginary friend named “Jodie,” and “Captain Howdy” was Regan’s friend in “The Exorcist,” and Danny Torrance from “The Shining” had "Tony."  In ‘Sinister,” Trevor has extreme night terrors, and Ashley, who likes to color on her wall (with parental permission, of course), starts drawing pictures of Stephanie (Victoria Leigh), the murdered family’s missing girl-child.  While each of the kid’s “imaginary” friends could be explained psychologically, rather than supernaturally, however, as we all know the former explanation eventually is ruled out.  One can say the same for the each of the main character as they drink and slowly devolve.  

Ellison Oswalt (Hawke) starts out hopeful about regaining his fame as an author, but slowly withdraws into himself as he contemplates what kind of horror he got himself and his family into.  Not the typical crime story he usually investigates, Ellison begins to realize quickly that he messed up by moving into that particular house.  A pivotal point in the film comes when Ellison, after watching the second Super-8 film, succumbs to his own hubris, and decides not to call the police but to continue researching the grisly murders himself. 

Each of the Super-8 films that Ellison watches with his glass of whiskey depicts a family’s gruesome murder.  The titles are far creepier than we first thought.  Within each of the films, there are images that are more disturbing than the murders themselves.  Ellison digitally films the Super-8 movies so he can research them on his computer.  He discovers children’s drawings of the murders before they happen.  Also drawn on the walls is a character called Mr. Boogie. And depicted in the home movies is a drawing that looks almost like a Pentagram.  Deputy So-and-So played by James Ransone ("Inside Man, “The Next Three Days"), the star struck deputy from the beginning comes into help Ellison and the audience lighten up as the story descends deeper into the darkness.  As an investigative source (he researches certain crimes for Ellison), the deputy also becomes a friend to Ellison.  After one particularly rough night, Ellison confides in him that he doesn't believe in ghosts but he has the feeling that the house is haunted.  Ellison asks the deputy if he believes in any of that otherworldly stuff. Deputy So-and-So’s, reply is not only insightful, but comical as well,   “Are you kidding me, I believe in all of that stuff, I wouldn't sleep one night in this place. Are you nuts?.”  The deputy also recommends Professor Jonas (Vincent D'Onofrio) from the university as an occult crime expert who the state police in for some of the weirder stuff, to examine the pentagram looking symbol.  

D'Onofrio’s part is small, but important in that he provides the Bughuul mythos.  Bughuul, a minor Babylonian deity, needs souls of human children to survive.  The deity lures or tricks the kids into the netherworld.  Worship of deity includes blood sacrifice or the eating of children.  Drawing on the theme that once you watch a particular satanic or occult image, you have opened a door that allows evil to pass through.  Similar in theme to “The Ring,” when one views the images on the video that was conjured up from below by Samara – your fate is sealed.  The same goes for the Oswalt family.  As Dr. Jonas explains, the early Christians believed that Bagul actually lived in the images themselves and that they were gateways into his realm.  That he would take possession of those who saw the images and cause them to do terrible things.  Or, in some cases, he can even abduct the viewer into the images themselves.  Children exposed to the images were especially vulnerable to Bughuul's possession and abduction.  

"I like that you made the movies longer, they are better this way.”  - Ashley Oswalt

Juliet Rylance plays the loyal wife, who is coming to her wits end as her husband begins to unwind, and her son’s night terrors jump up a notch.  Michael Hall D'Addario as Trevor does well as the preteen son; however, the standout is Clare Foley as Ashley.  Foley’s performance throughout the film, imbues a certain sense of innocence that in the last scenes of the film, turn creepy and unsettling.  Similar in function of providing the viewer with information and sets the tone of the film is Fred Thompson as the Sheriff.  Thompson bookends the Oswalt’s stay in his cozy little stay in his town.

Christopher Young provides a score intermixed with selections ranging from the experimental musical collective from Norway, “Ulver,” to the dark ambient style of “Aghast,” and electronic music of the two brothers from Scotland, “Boards of Canada.”  While Chris Norr follows in the cinematic footsteps of Gordon Willis, who brought his dark singularly lit photography style to films such as “The Godfather” and “Klute,” Norr rarely films Ellison in full light as if a spiritual shadow hangs over the man.  

Derrickson pulls together all the tropes of a horror film and presents them in his distinctive minimalist style.  Starting with the element of missing children, he ventures into the darkness, loud bumps in the night, disturbing music, inanimate objects moving on their own, simple but effective visual effects, a few jump scares thrown in for effect, demonic symbols (a scorpion and a snake) a compelling story, and a demon that the pulls the whole film together.  “Sinister” is flawed in some areas, but not by much.  Ellison’s refusal to turn on the light but rather just use the flashlight on his phone, or going into the attic at night, are some of the poor choices that Derrickson and Cargill have Ellison make. But then again without these “flaws,” there wouldn't be much of a film.  Overall, “Sinister” is worth renting and munching on a bowl of popcorn on a dark rainy night.

Movie Data

Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller 

Year:  2012

Staring: Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance, Fred Thompson, James Ransone, Vincent D'Onofrio, Michael Hall D'Addario, Clare Foley

Director: Scott Derrickson

Producer(s): Jason Blum, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones

Writer: Scott Derrickson, C. Robert Cargill

Rating: R

Running Time: 110 minutes

Release Date:  10/12/2012