I wanted to see Deliver Us From Evil when it was in theaters last summer but I never got around to it. I was delighted to find it at Redbox yesterday! It follows an NYPD detective who gets pulled into a paranormal case of possession. There have been a few run-of-the-mill entries into the possession genre lately, but this film is a breath of fresh air.

The trailer for Deliver Us From Evil was very enticing and intense. It made it out to be a grade above the usual and the actual film didn’t disappoint. Usually, all you get with a movie of this type is one possessed girl, who just looks like she forgot how to put her makeup on, making stupid noises and flailing around on her bed. Not with this one! There are multiple possessed and boy are they freaky! From crazy eyes to words cut up on their chests and feral attacks, these demon infested people are a force to be reckoned with!

The satanically infested creeps aren’t the only threat, either. The are different scenes involving animals and unseen forces that really flesh out Deliver Us From Evil. It almost makes it seem like its one of those crime dramas on primetime TV, but with an added horror element. The scene where the lead detective explains to his wife how his week is going puts it into perspective. Even if you take out the paranormal things in his explanation, what you are left with is still a horrific week.

The only thing I didn’t enjoy was the ending exorcism scene. The cliche of all possession movies. The big finale! EXORCISM HERE! GETCHA EXORCISM!

(SPOILERS: 5 CENTS! GETCHA EXORCISM!)

The scene looked alright, I guess. The typical haunted human was talking like a crazy person, the priest was reciting his repertoire, the inexperienced sidekick (the lead detective) was fumbling through his prayers. The fact that you can most likely envision the whole scene after reading that one sentence indicates how annoyingly bored I was with this ending. The possessed guy should have escaped or died or killed the men giving the exorcism and then killed himself. Any of those endings would have been welcome. Instead, we get a white bread “The demon is now gone.” conclusion, with the possessed returning to normal and the detective living happily ever after. At least the detective’s partner died earlier on (Oops, but you totally have that feeling the entire movie).

★★★★☆

4 vicious paper boys out of 5