While commanding time like a champion, Derrickson is able to convey stories while building excitement and horror. Sinister is an example of perfectly paced nightmare fuel, as Bughuul’s reveal is handled slowly and gracefully until the demon becomes a full-blown character as opposed to only being a home-movie haunting baddie. Sinister could have simply been just another horror flick with a monstrous villain, but Derrickson instead intelligently allots time for Ethan Hawke to establish his own paranoia, uncover a detailed Bughuul backstory, and finally expose a now more legendary evil a la Steven Spielberg’s famous handling of Jaws. Tension is such a beautiful tool, but it’s often times handled haphazardly or without delicate grace.
Sinister sticks to pretty safe horror guidelines though, more like a campfire ghost story, whereas The Exorcism Of Emily Rose truly makes one think. Part courtroom drama, part exorcism horror, I’m still not sure who to believe after hearing both sides to Emily’s true case. The story remains an inspiration to believers and non-believers alike solely because of Derrickson’s even-handed portrayal of the facts, as The Exorcism Of Emily Rose handily offers two conflicting scenarios for every piece of evidence. This shows not only a scary side to Derrickson, but also a smart, in-depth understanding that allows him to balance two different stories in one twisted movie.
Once again fitting Deliver Us From Evil‘s main structure, I believe this will be Derrickson’s most complex challenge yet based on an apparent mix of psychological horror, obvious exorcism methods, and a haunting NYC playground that houses numerous bumps in the night. Nothing looks to be as contained as The Exorcism Of Emily Rose, but Derrickson also won’t be venturing into urban legend mythologies like Sinister — well, not completely. This is the director’s chance to blend both films for one Frankensteined hit exposing the best of both worlds found throughout his horror background.
While there’s still about a month remaining before Deliver Us From Evil spreads Ralph Sarchie’s unique story, you now understand why Derrickson has every chance to make this freakishly true story the horror event of the summer — I just wish we didn’t have to wait until July 2nd to find out!