“Deliver Us From Evil“ is full of horror cliches, but behind the useless fluff is an entertaining and well executed horror film with a solid cast.

In “Deliver Us From Evil,” Bronx police officer Ralph Sarchie, played by Eric Bana, is tasked with investigating a series of strange yet related crimes along with his partner Butler, played by Joel McHale. Soon he discovers a disturbing demonic undercurrent within the cases and joins forces with a Mendoza, a priest played by Edgar Ramirez, in an effort to stop the attacks and save his home from the forces of evil.

Although I appreciated the fact that “Deliver Us From Evil” started out with a great introduction, it was a shame that the film went to cheap jump scares so quickly. The film executes plenty of great scary moments, especially near the end, but it was disappointing how the good scenes were tempered with such bad, lazy ones. The film even turns off the background music at times so the scares are even more obvious.

The biggest draw for me to this film, besides the atmosphere, is the acting. Bana was pretty great as Officer Sarchie and he did a convincing job as a conflicted husband and father against a force he couldn’t control. I was also very impressed with Sean Harris, who played one of the possessed people in the film. He really fuels the demonic atmosphere in every scene he’s in and he gives the finale an impressive amount of energy.

As a whole, “Deliver Us From Evil” was a well executed horror film sprinkled with plenty of well-worn horror tropes. It isn’t a perfect movie, but the last third of the film really shows what the film does right. It is a fun watch but might not be worth the ticket price. 

3 out of 5 Stars