Deliver Us From Evil

"Deliver Us From Evil" (2014, Scott Derrickson, Screen Gems, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, LStar Capital) is a possession/crime movie.


Based on the book by Ralph Sarchie himself, the film follows NYC cop, Ralph Sarchie (Eric Bana), as he joins forces with a young, troubled priest (Edgar Ramirez) on a quest to exorcise a group of ex-marines inflicted with a violent demonic entity.


While not quite matching up in quality or content to the likes of "Se7en", the film delivers a familiar crime plot with some nicely achieved horror elements. Sarchie and his partner, Butler (Joel McHale), come across as violent and flawed characters (what with their apparent thirst for a fight, even if they do only want to fight abusers and murderers). Sarchie is also portrayed as a disinterested family man and a man doubting his faith. So when he is called upon to battle the supernatural threat he seizes his opportunity to jump back onto the faith train and save the day.


The horror aspects are okay. We've got possessed people chucking babies into ravines, bricking people up into walls and doing a bit of parkour, all with an obsession with The Doors. Not to mention some fun scenes in the zoo where our protagonist finds himself a little too close for comfort with some of the residents and, of course, his daughter's haunted-ass owl toy. It sounds silly, and it is, but it's also incidentally humorous which I didn't hate. And the makeup/effects are good.


The film's message is a little sledgehammer-y, sloppy and ineffective. But I'm not a religious person so maybe it's just me. There's also some muddiness on whether Sarchie is the good guy or not. Bana's accent isn't stellar either, but if you can look past the film's flaws it is overall entertaining enough to spend a bit of time on. Even if it's mostly for this sodding owl...

[Image: Screen Gems, et al]

Hani

Finders Keepers

"Finders Keepers" (2014, Alexander Yellen, HFD Productions) is an evil doll/possession movie based in a large old American house.

Alyson (Jaime Pressly) is a single mother who moves herself and her daughter, Claire (Kylie Rogers), into a large old house with a dark past so that she can focus on her writing. Claire is sad to be leaving her old home and school behind and, upon finding a creepy old doll left behind by the previous home owners, becomes extremely attached to it to the point where she seems like a completely different kid. In fact, is the doll possibly more than just a doll?

Evil dolls are a popular theme again, it seems. And Lilith the doll is pretty creepy looking to give it credit. She's a bit underutilised, however, with very few creepy doll scenes. The main issue is, however, that the film doesn't build up much sympathy with the characters. Claire's pretty upset at moving home, and I can appreciate that, but they made her come across as a bit of a brat before she even became possessed and it's a shame because Rogers did an excellent job otherwise. Jaime Pressly was pretty believable in her role as concerned parent also.

The film wavers a bit in plot and rules with the doll getting tossed about a fair bit without harming Claire, but then becoming voodoo doll-ish as and when it suits. And the plot twists rely on a few great leaps in logic that just don't add up. The ending is pretty unsatisfying also, leaving a lot of unanswered questions.

The film has gore, but isn't particularly scary, losing a lot of creep factor through being a tad too predictable. In the main, it's a good effort, but not one I'd rewatch in a hurry.

[Image: HFD Productions, Syfy]

Hani

Dolly Dearest

"Dolly Dearest" (1992, Maria Lease, Patriot Pictures, Channeler Enterprises, Trimark Pictures, Image Organization) is a killer doll movie.

The Wade family move to Mexico because of father, Elliot (Sam Bottoms)'s new job as the operations manager of the Dolly Dearest Factory. Unbeknownst to them, a cult's burial ground has recently been unearthed and an evil spirit has escaped, finding refuge inside the bodies of abandoned dolls within the factory's stockroom. When Elliot's daughter, Jessica (Candace Hutson), finds the dolls she is allowed to keep one. Soon, Jessie and her new little friend are running amok, taking down anyone in their way and behaving altogether very strangely.

A weird film that is partly Child's Play and partly the Omen. Both the doll and the little girl are supremely creepy and while Chucky was decidedly more animated, Dolly enjoys some effective shots and prehensile, plastic fingers. I didn't dislike this movie. It is a little slow moving, but on the whole it delivers an average amount of action. Whilst it's decidedly not scary, and is very predictable, it's a good crappy horror film.

[Image: Trimark Pictures, et al]

Hani

Annabelle

"Annabelle" (2014, John R. Leonetti, New Line Cinema, Atomic Monster, The Safran Company, Warner Bros. Pictures) is the follow up to "The Conjuring", this time focussing solely on Annabelle, the possessed doll.

We open the same way as we do on the film's predecessor, with the young nursing students explaining to Ed and Lorraine Warren about their dealings with the creepy doll.

But, the story isn't focussing on their incident, Annabelle's previous targets were John and Mia Form. A young professional couple, expecting their first child. John (Ward Horton) presents his wife, Mia (Annabelle Wallis), with the doll; a rare specimen for her rather large and daunting collection of creepy-ass dolls. Man, was her kid going to be traumatised!

It isn't long before creepy stuff begins. Firstly, the house is broken into by two freaky people, and they attack Mia. It transpires that the assailants are Annabelle (the girl next door) and her boyfriend, who were members of a Satanic Cult. Believing the doll, which featured in the attack, to be tainted, they throw her away. But, like Chucky, she doesn't like that and comes back...

The Forms move house to an apartment block to escape the events, but they just can't get away from the doll which finds them there. The doll inherits the moniker Annabelle after the murderous young girl (what a nice momento) and Mia, feeling safe in her new surroundings, decides to keep her....

It isn't long before the doll begins to manifest creepy happenings and other inanimate objects start being poltergeisty.

They seek help from the church and from a nice lady called Evelyn (Alfre Woodard). But the doll is after something more sinister than just scaring a few people...

With some nice jumpy bits and a good bill of characters that you can build a rapport with, this is actually a pretty good scary doll flick!

It doens't go all Chucky on us either, Annabelle is not a scuttling little maniac with a knife, she is the hiding place of something sinister.

I really haven't got anything bad to say about this film. It takes a lot of inspiration from classics, and it may not be a groundbreaking piece of horror cinema, but it does the job and it does it with class.

Just remember, spooky dollies aren't everyone's cup of tea.

[Image: New Line Cinema, et al]

Hani