Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!
Plot Summary: A priest and a cop team up to stop a possessed man from spreading his evil throughout New York City.
Review: Supposedly this film is based on a true story, but I don't know, nor care, how accurate that statement may be. I'm more concerned with the overwhelming levels of mediocrity that weigh down, what starts off to be, a decent story. With a combination of low stakes, an overly long running time, and a general lack of creativity, "Deliver Us from Evil" instead delivered me to sleep on more than one night as I slogged my way through to the lackluster conclusion. My main problem was how cliched the possession plot line was accompanied by a ridiculously easy defeat to the demon despite the long ass buildup to that scene. Don't even get me started on the fucking fake New York accents...
Things go to shit about halfway in, however, the opening premise isn't bad at all. Some soldiers in Iraq stumble across, what looks to be, an ancient structure with sigil-esque writing that acts as a doorway to...hell...I guess. They don't even try to explain this important aspect, yet, we are to believe that somehow reading this writing can potentially allow someone to be possessed. Now, if it's this easy to possess someone you'd think the demon would have some kind of end goal...but you'd be wrong. The demon decides to open up a painting business and haunt a few houses for the lulz. Yeaaah...not exactly the most brilliant of schemes. This catches the attention of the main cop and a priest who must stop this possession shenanigans from spreading. There are some cool scenes like at the zoo and the initial haunted house, but every scene afterward drags and adds little to the central story. The drama of a cop and his family was also tiresome due to the absolute stereotypical presentation. By the way, did the cop murder a criminal and not get caught--still not sure how that subplot resolved itself magically! By the end, and shocking no one, the cop and priest exorcise the demon back to Kayako-land, or wherever, but it's so rushed when you'd think this would be the core of the movie. The demon puts up no resistance either which makes the whole story feel ultimately pointless with all things considered.
Honestly, I cannot emphasize the obscene degree of mediocrity any further. "Deliver Us from Evil" isn't bad, but it doesn't really have a reason to exist either--it's nothing more than an amalgamation of cliches and every other possession movie known to man. This could be overlooked if there were some other cool aspects to the story; unfortunately, there aren't. The actors are okay and are trying to work with the material yet there is only so much an actor can do. That two hour running time is painful and should have been edited severely. There are a ton of stupid things that could have been cut like that asshole doctor they introduce just to bolster the body count or the cop's daughter somehow being haunted and other similar zany antics. Most of the numerous subplots go nowhere except to waste time. But what's annoying is that that long running time didn't even take the opportunity to explain anything about the demon or how mere words could act as a dimensional portal. Ya know, the important shit?! Of course I do not recommend this film, however, I do want to reiterate that "Deliver Us from Evil" is not a truly bad film--it's simply boring, predictable, and cliched. I mostly just watched it to see Joel McHale.
Notable Moment: Including a cat jump scare should be a crime at this point. With that said, I think the director was at least partially self-aware and tried to make this moronic scene funny.
Final Rating: 5.5/10
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