Deliver Us from Evil Review

RYAN: Starring Eric Bana, this is a new horror/thriller, “based on actual events,” notice the quote there – and is opening for July 4th instead of Halloween which is random because I think it would play so much better in the fall.

CAROLINE: It is a rather random release date for a horror flick.  How was it?

RYAN: OMG so good.  Not perfect, mind you, but so good.

CAROLINE: Well what didja like?  Did it scare you?

RYAN: Yes. Finally!  I feel like this really is one of the rare scares I’ve had in a movie in the last eight or so years.  Horror films are so formulaic and predictable and they just usually don’t get you but this one really did creep under my skin a few times – and I liked it.

CAROLINE: Ew, I’d hate that but I know you like the thrill of an effective scare in a movie.

RYAN: It wasn’t always brilliant because many of the scares are just the typical manipulation of editing and sound design in this film, which I find a cheap, pandering way to get a scare, but they were actually all super effective in this movie.  And there were enough other frights and thrills that weren’t as manipulative so I appreciate that.  Some of the imagery is highly disturbing and gross and, like, stuff you just never want to see – that sort of burn through you and I really hope I don’t think about as I’m trying to sleep tonight.

CAROLINE: Wow.  Job well done, then, to the creative team behind this movie.

RYAN: Exactly.  And it’s the best exorcism in a movie since The Exorcist, which LBH, let’s be honest, nothing has yet been able to surpass.  But the exorcism scene features some twisted things that I was equally freaked and amazed by.

CAROLINE: See, I would just hate that.

RYAN: And there’s a lot of creepy things with animals – spiders, snakes, bats, etc… a scary scene at a zoo.  Like, how unsettling, you know?  Why have we not had an after-hours horror scene in a zoo before?  Brilliant.

CAROLINE: Even thinking about it could scare me.  How’s Eric?

RYAN: He’s always strong and great here.  He and his on-screen wife, Olivia Munn, both do stellar New York accents.  And then there’s his cop-partner, Joel McHale, who at first I was thinking, “I can’t take him seriously in this – he’s just a funny guy.” But he really won me over.  They used his personality to augment his character and he has enough of a presence where I grew to actually believe him in the role.

CAROLINE: That’s good.  I like him.

RYAN: I actually jumped several times in this movie and I equate it to people who like roller coasters.  It’s the thrill of it.  I like to be scared in a scary movie and most don’t phase me.  So I was glad this one packed the punch.  It’s a bit long at times, and could really have lost about twenty minutes of dialogue, mostly between the priest and Bana, but overall, I really liked this one on the big screen.

Thanks For Viewing The Deliver Us from Evil Review