By: Zai Muhd
Eric Bana is well known for playing leading roles in hit movies such as Hulk and The Time Traveller’s Wife but make no mistake, he won’t be turning green nor disappear so soon in this exorcism spectacle, Deliver Us From Evil.
Brought to you by Sony Films and Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Deliver Us From Evil is a $19 million horror rendition based on the true accounts of a New York Police Department sergeant. After having worked together previously in The Day the Earth Stood Still and The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Director Scott Derrickson and Producer Paul Harris Boardman are back to scare the living daylights out of the audience.
Sarchie (Bana) plays the police officer together with ‘partner-in-crime’ Butler (Jole McHale; Ted, Community) and are tasked to scour the borough for action; less like Batman and his sidekick. Sarchie turns out to have a gift and this soon lands him a spot with team Mendoza (Ramirez), who happens to be an unorthodox priest, as they set out to put an end to the city’s ‘late night’ troubles.
Like most exorcism movies, the audience is perpetually forced to cling on to their seats as the action unravels from one basement to another and it is no surprise that the sun barely shines in the film. While the film’s demonic origins points somewhere in the Middle East, much of the horror lies in unnecessary monstrosities and thunderous sounds entailing the audience into a riveting array of expletives that only adults are permitted to exclaim.
Bana’s struggle to confront his past shortcomings is complemented with Mendoza’s admirable endeavor to stifle the dark lords of Bronx and when it is not all nerve-racking and sombre, the audience can rely on Butler’s jaunty humor to conjure up some laughter that will make ‘Community’ followers proud. Besides, if Mendoza’s alluring Venezuelan accent and flowing locks fails to charm, look out for sultry Maxim model Olivia Munn who plays Sarchie’s wife; she turns 34 on the same day as the film is released in the cinemas, 3rd July 2014.
