Directed by:
Scott DerricksonCinematography:
Scott KevanComposer:
Christopher YoungCast:
Eric Bana, Edgar Ramirez, Olivia Munn, Sean Harris, Joel McHale, Dorian Missick, Jenna Gavigan, Chris Coy, Sean Nelson, John Cenatiempo, Ivan Cardona (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
New York police officer Ralph Sarchie (Eric Bana), struggling with his own personal issues, begins investigating a series of disturbing and inexplicable crimes. He joins forces with an unconventional priest (Edgar Ramirez), schooled in the rituals of exorcism, to combat the frightening and demonic possessions that are terrorizing their city. Based upon the book, which details Sarchie's bone-chilling real-life cases. (Screen Gems)
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Reviews (11)
One day, Catholic cop Sarchie got blind drunk and had a fit at the jukebox playing The Doors. And now there’s a humorous police crime buddy exorcist horror “inspired by true events" where, thanks to the width of the genre, you don’t get clichés you’ve seen a hundred times over from just one or two, but from three genres at once. So situations arise where separate clichés meet in clashing combinations and create something completely new, often bizarre or downright ridiculous, but always (however unintentionally) entertaining. If only it could decide what it wants to be, if it were shorter, if only it didn’t run off naively into ridiculous situations (welcome to the tomb with the twisting Morrison or the furry owl) if only the frights weren’t so cheap and pre-warned, if only Ramírez had at least a pinch of charisma, if only McHale weren’t Jeff from Community, if only this, if only that, this could have been good, very good. Unfortunately, there are too many “if only"s for one picture.
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With Scott Derrickson, it's clear from the start that he's going to focus more on the crime element and only at the end will he pull out the horror cards. Actually, even in The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Sinister it was primarily crime driven horror, so to blame the director for something we assume with every other one of his ventures seems silly to me. So, about the film: the actors are decent, the high budget is obviously evident, the cinematography, editing, visuals are all of a high standard, the atmosphere is decently dark and gloomy, I was also pleased with the abundant animal presence, and the final exorcism was unnecessarily long, but it was uncluttered and decently horrific. For me, therefore, only positive impressions prevail. 75%
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Technically, this is absolutely divine. Legendary shot composition, transitions in focus, lighting, and masks. Thank you. The rest of the cast, led by the haha hoo hoo owl and the integrated demonic MP3 in the hero's head, does its best to make you spit Bruckheimer-flavored popcorn at the screen and giggle through the next two scenes. Fortunately, we're told that the senselessness of the dark forces' actions is due to the fact that we as humans are unable to grasp it, so that takes care of that. Plus, I'm of the opinion that Scott Derrickson’s ol’ pal Jesus should dock his allowance.
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The only problem with Derrickson's film is that it presents exactly the type of horror that any experienced viewer is currently oversaturated with: ghosts, strange noises under the bed, a peculiar priest, exorcisms. This template is so tired that despite the director's enormous skill, which holds the viewer's attention throughout and searches for themes beyond all James Wan's ghost stories, the film doesn't have much chance to break through. Big plus points just for pushing an interesting detective storyline, for the music by The Doors, and for Eric Bana, who's still got it. But even that is not enough to satisfy me this time... 70%
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If it weren’t for the authors pushing the horror elements, I’d even rate it with all five stars. But not only were the occasional jump-scares cheesy, they were also pointless. They were just there to try and create a distinguished atmosphere that the movie already had without them. And that was mostly due to the great combination of story and atmosphere which was definitely inspired by the legendary movie Seven. But after I watched the movie, I was shocked by the fact that it was – once again – based on true events. I can’t help but think that I haven’t seen a familiar story in the news or heard someone speak about a similar experience. It’s always introduced by these sorts of horrors that try to assure us that all that exorcism is based on true events. Isn’t the actual truth going to be a little different? Or maybe it’s a ploy to support the Church? And Eric Bana was great in this, but the authors could have done without the final scene.
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