290. 31 Days of Halloween 2025 - Day 25: DELIVER US FROM EVIL (2014) dir. Scott Derrickson

DELIVER US FROM EVIL occupies an intriguing crossroads in genre film: police procedurals with demonic horror. I've read Scott Derrickson's 2014 film described as a blend of SEVEN and THE EXORCIST, which is accurate. To take it a step further, this movie's based on the real accounts of one Ralph Sarchie, a NYPD detective-turned-demonologist for the Catholic Church. Having a trained policeman in your church's back pocket when it comes to investigating demonic claims proves to be fortuitous: Sarchie can sniff bullshit from miles away. But this movie isn't based on the fakers; these stories aren't dismissed as poorly handled mental illness. Cops are used to witnessing fucked-up shit. But fucked-up shit that's inexplicable? That's where the movie finds Eric Bana's Sergeant Sarchie (sounds like a G.I. Joe figure) as he and his partner (a lovably brash, dual-knife-wielding Joel McHale) investigate a series of bizarre crimes in the Bronx. The evidence points to three veterans who've returned from Iraq with the spiritual remnants of a dark discovery. When Jesuit priest Mendoza (Edgar Ramirez) informs Sarchie of the high likelihood this comes from the demonic, the cop's skepticism wastes no time presenting in rolled eyes and sarcastic quips. But Mendoza, a man with his own difficult burdened past, recognizes a lost soul when he sees one. One of the best qualities of DELIVER US FROM EVIL is its focus on Sarchie as a faithless man, calcified by a bombardment of hate and trauma. This shell won't be easy to crack at all, let alone crack wide enough to allow faith in the cosmos or God to manifest. I've watched enough of Derrickson's movies to clock his leads as people in search of possibility, a new way of being, inner explorers of faith. But either from societal rigidity or internal roadblocks, they resist any worldviews they don't immediately understand, of which their knowledge can't be used to dominate/control their environments. But when the shell shatters, it fuckin' shatters. Derrickson's movies don't paint these journeys as easy. The dude who directed this and THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE doesn't present demons you could wave away as elaborate makeup jobs. Their movements look inhuman. They shudder. They scurry out of windows. They grind their fingers down to nubs frantically sketching a demon's mantra. If you're gonna dare to face down the Devil, he's not gonna go without a fight, without threatening loved ones and dredging up dried wounds. But it makes the pursuit of goodness that much more worthwhile.--- Follow The Movies on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Letterboxd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Throw a couple dollars in the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tip jar!