Streaming giant Netflix, unfortunately, does itself no favors with the release of its latest horror movie, The Deliverance (2024). The platform’s offering quickly collapses into a predictable mire, leaving us grasping for something, anything new.
Andra Day Channels Ammons’ Demon House Horror
Rooted in the true tale of Latoya Ammons and her family, including her mother, Rosa Campbell, and her children, who lived in Gary, Indiana, in what became known as the "Demon House." There, they claimed to have experienced demonic possessions and all kinds of disturbing, unexplained events within the walls of their rental home. Andra Day steps into Ebony’s shoes, a fictional echo of Ammons, while Glenn Close becomes Alberta, a representation of Rosa, the cancer-stricken mother and grandmother who moves in with her daughter.
Family Feuds and Feces-Flinging Antics as Kids Face Sinister Puppeteer
Temper your expectations as The Deliverance treads the same creaky floorboards as every possession flick before it. Just a classic tale we’ve seen many times before, only this time the execution falters and, by all accounts, stumbles into a pit. The first half of the movie is pretty standard; it establishes the foundation as we’re introduced to a rocky family dynamic between Ebony and Alberta, their bickering a brittle thread stretched thin under one roof. They navigate their strained relationship while struggling to get along for the sake of the children.
As things begin to unravel inside the house, it becomes apparent that something sinister begins to pull the strings, manipulating events in ways that make everyone question their reality. The children, who often seem more susceptible to the puppeteer’s wrath in these types of movies, end up bearing the brunt of the malevolent forces at play as the unexplainable incidents push the family into a state of panic.
The evil in this movie clearly has a twisted sense of humor. In a moment of grotesque absurdity, it goads a child into squatting in a classroom and hurling feces at a stunned teacher, an event that, we’ll admit, is something we haven’t seen before, making it one of the movie’s more memorable moments, for better or worse.
As Hope Fades, Along Come the Tired Old Possession Tropes
For its first half it teases some promise, laying bricks for a house that might haunt. But at the halfway mark, the walls crumble, and it slowly becomes a struggle to stay focused on what is happening on-screen. From there, it only gets worse, as the temptation to bail on it altogether grows stronger.
The movie throws every cliché in the book at us, including the typical Exorcist-like contortions, spider-walking up the walls, and everything that goes with it. Though inspired by Ammons' Demon House truth, these tired theatrics drain all novelty, leaving us itching to escape the screen’s numbing grip. The possessed even spew racial slurs in a desperate attempt to shock some life back into the movie. Even when some hope seems to materialize, we're dragged back into the monotonous clichés, leaving us in a haze of disappointment.
Frustration festered and originality faded as we endured close to two hours, our eyes straining against the dim hope of redemption, only to find it was a bridge too far, as none ever came.
