DELIVER US FROM EVIL - Thursday 24th July 2014.

When I saw the shorts for this film I was sufficiently motivated to see 'DELIVER US FROM EVIL' that I went along to my local multiplex last night with a couple of mates in tow. I don't mind a good supernatural horror chiller from time to time and there are plenty that occupy a rightful space in that canon, but, this ain't one of them! I was underwhelmed by this Scott Derrickson Directed and Screenwritten film that we are told in the opening credits is 'inspired by real events' as recounted in the book 'Beware the Night' by now retired NYPD cop Ralph Sarchie, whom Eric Bana plays in this film.

Derrickson has a solid enough pedigree with 'The Exorcism of Emily Rose' and 'Sinister' amongst others in the same genre, but this film falls flat on many levels. Promoted as a Police action horror set in New York's present day Bronx, this story surrounds two cops - Sergeant Ralph Sharpie (Bana) and his adrenalin junkie knife toting partner Butler (Joel McHale). Called out to a random job late at night they encounter a wife beating that under normal circumstances would be routine, but this time there is more than meets the eye when the crazed, half naked husband sets about the two cops before running into the night. Cut to the Bronx Zoo and a woman randomly tosses her young child into the lion's den for no apparent reason - except that we discover later on that a hooded man is painting out a hieroglyphic type message inscribed on the wall in that same lion's den . . . in the middle of the night! All is clearly not what it seems as CCTV footage will reveal later.

What unfolds as we move forward is a story of demonic possession that is at first of course dismissed by a world weary Sharpie who has seen more than his fair share of horror on the streets of the Bronx bought about by mere mortals, and nothing as cooked up as being supernatural! Until of course things start to go bump in the night in his own home, and he starts to hear things and see things that naturally, no one else can! Added to these unexplained occurrences more similar Persian/Latin hieroglyphic paintings are uncovered, strange happenings are reported, certain persons of interest are behaving very strangely and the map of how all this is pieced together starts to unfold. En route, Sharpie reluctantly enlists the help of local Castilian priest, Father Mendoza (Edgar Ramirez) who has his own weighty baggage and is somewhat unconventional in his approach to his faith, but, who is fortunately well versed in the art of exorcism and nether worldly stuff! So it's up to Sharpie, Butler and Mendoza to uncover what is going on, explain these events and chase down our possessed protagonist before all Hell is let loose.

Derrickson has thrown just about every cliche he can at this, and we've seen it all before - creaking floorboards, flickering lights that slowly extinguish, flash lights that fade and die, static on the walkie talkies, doors that slam locked shut of their own volition, scratching sounds behind walls and under the floor, toys that suddenly spring into a menacing life all their own, repugnant smells, and images of bloodied bodies momentarily on screen to create a fright. And then of course most of the action takes place in dank, dark, dirty underground bunkers or obligatory basements, or some apartment where the main protagonists do their gruesome stuff - but none of this creates any scares, and those that do come do so from your everyday situations and encounters that are from this world, and not some other supernatural dimension.

Three are a few gruesome deaths where the claret flows, but again there is nothing you haven't seen before, and Bana does an OK job, but it is only OK. The closing exorcism inside a Police Station cell is handled reasonably well, and Santino (Sean Harris) as the possessed ex-Royal Marine is well made-up and carved-up to make his possession convincing enough, but really, everything else is fairly pedestrian!

You don't need to blow $20 on the price of a cinema ticket to see this film - wait a few months for the DVD or Bluray that might give you more of a total package that you can watch in the comfort of your own home with the lights out. But, don't expect too much!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-