'Deliver Us From Evil' Director Scott Derrickson Talks Horror Movies, Faith, and Human Nature
Just in time for Fourth of July celebrations this year, director Scott Derrickson is offering thrill seekers a brand new horror film, "Deliver Us From Evil."
Derrickson's cast includes Eric Bana, Olivia Munn and newcomer Edgar Ramirez who help the real-life crime story unfold on the big screen. "Deliver Us From Evil" is based on actual events that took place in the life of New York police sergeant Ralph Sarchie, a hard-lined cop who realizes that supernatural forces are causing a string of crimes in the Bronx. After teaming up with an unconventional priest, Sarchie confronts not only his inner struggle with faith and evil, but also an evil that supersedes humanity.
Discussing "Deliver Us From Evil" and horror films on the whole, Derrickson told The Christian Post that horror and sci-fi films allow the exploration of faith more than any other genre. The director explained that films such as "Deliver Us From Evil" leave audiences open to two key elements: "assumption of the immaterial and fantastic natural order of the world."
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"At its best, you can ground something realistically and expand [the audience's] experience for the next two hours," Derrickson continued. "The genres remind me that the world is more than we can see, and the best horror and sci-fi films always leaves the audience with a sense of that."
Furthermore, Derrickson is able to incorporate his faith and philosophical views into his horror and sci-fi films. Acknowledging "cheap" horror films, the director admitted the horror genre is not his personal favorite, but the category does allow Derrickson's beliefs to flow freely in the creative process.
"The horror genre really allows you to delve into moral ideas stories of good and evil and spiritual themes – open to that in a way that other film genres aren't," the director told CP. "I found that I knew a lot about fear. I spent a lot of my adult life overcoming fear. It was a subject I knew a lot about, and it's one of the most important and most powerful human emotions. Fear is one of the greatest driving forces in the world. So I thought I could go into the horror genre and do things differently and contribute a different point of view."
Meanwhile, the "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" and "Sinister" director found Sarchie's story fascinating since the police officer began investigating the paranormal and even learned the rituals of exorcism while working with a priest named Mendoza. "Deliver Us From Evil" follows both Sarchie and Mendoza's relationship with God, which plays a pivotal role in combatting the possessions that are terrorizing their city.
"A lot in the movie is about personal demons -- the things that haunt us, mistakes that we make, guilt, and both Sarchie and father Mendoza have these histories that define them," Derrickson previewed.
As for Derrickson's faith, the director said his frequent work with dark material and horror films has "strengthened it tremendously."
"The experience of doing it has left me feeling less afraid of the world," said the director. "Horror is a reckoning, it releases that kind of fear. I find I am more able to deal with fears of the world. It definitely makes you more appreciative. In my personal life, dark material is kind of an emptying out -- it leaves more room for light. If I'm writing a particularly awful scene, something is released in the process. So when I watch my 11-year-old's game, there's more appreciation and light."
Derrickson also noted that horror films can have the same effect on viewers.
"These kinds of movies leave audiences more capable of dealing with real evil," he said. "It may make them afraid in the theater, but after the scary movie, it will have made them stronger."
Citing rich characters, a truly scary story, and significant material as ingredients for a good horror film, Derrickson explained that his films always come with some kind of resonate meaning.
"I can't imagine making something that is made only to be scary," he said. "For me, the darkness and scary material has to have meaning attached to it or I can't invest the time and energy it takes to write and script or make a movie. It has to mean something."
However, the director knows audiences must formulate their own interpretations of the message within his films. While resistant to simplify "Deliver Us From Evil" down to just one meaning, Derrickson said he hopes the film reminds audiences of the realities in today's world.
"The world is a more mysterious place than we admit sometimes -- there is more to the world than just human evil. That is a significant idea," Derrickson told CP. "Also, I think … No matter how severe the sins, they do not have to define the good we can do in the world and they don't have to define what we can contribute."
"Deliver Us From Evil" hits theaters everywhere Wednesday, July 2.
