About.com Rating

It once seemed unfathomable for a horror movie to receive a wide theatrical release during the heart of summer blockbuster season, but with fright flicks like The Conjuring and The Purge finding mainstream success in June and July of 2013 (rather than the typical late August dumping ground for genre fare), studios have broadened their horror horizons. Case in point: the demonic possession film Deliver Us from Evil, which Sony is brazenly releasing on July 4th weekend, historically one of the biggest moviegoing weekends of the year.

But is it worthy of that honor?

The Plot

Using his renowned intuition, veteran New York City police sergeant Ralph Sarchie (Eric Bana) discerns that a series of seemingly unrelated cases -- a battered wife, a woman who throws her son into the lion's den at the zoo, a family that hears noises in their basement -- in fact are connected through an ex-Marine named Santino (Sean Harris) who seems to be leaving a trail of destruction in his wake.

When Mendoza (Édgar Ramírez), the zoo woman's priest, comes forward to tell Sarchie he suspects she's possessed by a demon, Sarchie blows him off, but the more he investigates, the more the jaded policeman comes to believe. He witnesses unexplainable events and begins hearing sounds no one else can hear, but when the evil entity that's controlling Santino and the others targets his family, it's a race against the clock to find and exorcise the demon before further tragedy strikes.

The End Result

By setting it withing the realm of a police procedural, Deliver Us from Evil is an admirable attempt to slap a fresh coat of paint on the conventions of demonic possession cinema -- sort of like what writer-director Scott Derrickson did when he combined demonic possession with courtroom drama in The Exorcism of Emily Rose -- but neither side is strong enough to make the film a success.

In fact, all three genres the film combines -- horror, mystery and drama -- falter despite considerable promise.

The horror element consists of numbingly repetitive scenes of Sarchie searching through darkened rooms, hallways, basements, etc. (the demon conveniently causes light bulbs to burn out, ensuring the "horror look" is maintained throughout) only to be startled by a cheap jump scare. In between those scenes, the cop's young daughter is menaced by strange sounds and moving objects in overly familiar attempts to channel the ghostly vibe that spurred the recent success of haunted house movies like The Conjuring and Paranormal Activity. For a mid-summer release, I expected something more unique or on a more "blockbuster-y" scale, like a city-wide spate of possessions.

The mystery element, meanwhile -- consisting largely of who the demon is and what it wants -- is banal, uneventful stuff we've seen before from dozens of Exorcist clones, and it still never seems to get to the heart of what the entity wants and how exactly it operates (How can it seemingly possess multiple people at one time?). The dramatic angle is undermined by sketchy acting (particularly the dead-faced Olivia Munn as Sarchie's wife) and an uneven, clichéd script (A jaded, burned-out cop who's lost his faith? Haven't seen that one before.).

Deliver Us from Evil has enough -- a polished look, quick pace, grisly makeup, solid lead performance by Bana -- to make it fleetingly enjoyable for stretches, but you'd think it would be a sure-fire scarefest for a major studio to release it on July 4th weekend...and you'd be wrong.

The Skinny

• Acting: C- (Munn is stiff, Joel McHale feels miscast as Sarchie's partner.)
• Direction: C- (Feels derivative and relies too much on cheap scares.)
• Script: D+ (Plagued by clichés and unfinished or unexplained elements -- like, why does McHale's character wear a Red Sox hat throughout?)
• Gore/Effects: B- (Decent gore; good practical effects and makeup.)
• Overall: C- (An unconventional concept gets an overly conventional treatment.)

Deliver Us from Evil is directed by Scott Derrickson and is rated R by the MPAA for bloody violence, grisly images, terror throughout, and language. Release date: July 2, 2014.