Don't Deliver Us from Evil

Director - Joel Seria (Charlie and His Two Chicks, Black Sequence)

Starring - Jeanne Goupil (Cookies, Fresh Bait), Catherine Wagener (One Mystery a Day, Desirella), and Bernard Dheran (Escape to Nowhere, Tarzoon: Shame of the Jungle)

Release Date - 1971

Genre - Horror/Drama

Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     I’m a huge fan of exploitation cinema. I was introduced to them at a young age when my dad bought a box of VHS tapes from a peddler at a gas station when we were traveling out of state. I convinced him to buy them when I saw a few movies that caught my eye. This was my introduction to blaxploitation. I never fully explored exploitation cinema until I was an adult, but I find myself getting more and more excited to review exploitation over horror. I’ll never turn my back on my beloved genre but watching movies that go against normal cinema is so rewarding. Several weeks ago, I received three releases from Mondo Macabro. All three looked like great international horror releases. Before I could watch them, I received another Mondo Macabro release several days later. This was 1971 French exploitation flick looked right up my alley. The film, Don’t Deliver Us from Evil is a movie I was familiar with but had never seen before and couldn’t wait to check it out. Like always, I want to thank CAV and Mondo Macabro for sending this one over. 

      The film follows two young girls who attend a catholic school. Their parents are wealthy and very strict but they find themselves going against everything they were taught. The pair are very mischievous and often pulling mean pranks on their classmates. They started turning their back on their school teachings and believe they are in league with Satan so when one of them finds themselves alone in their home for some time the other secretly moves in with her where they go on a rampage through the countryside. They tease an older man with an eye for school aged girls before pranking him. They then prank the school’s groundskeeper and eventually find their way up to murdering a tourist who breaks down near their home. 

      I went into Don’t Deliver Us from Evil excited. It’s not often that Mondo Macabro releases a movie that I’ve heard about so I was really looking forward to finally seeing a film that has been on my radar for some time especially after seeing how many of my movie friends have liked it. Sadly, I was not a fan of this one. I found myself liking the idea behind it but not fully committed to the story. I wanted to like it but it was just too dull and long winded for my taste. The acting in this one is very well done. The cast all look very comfortable in front of the camera and the young female leads are great as well. They work so well together and the characters you bring to life are what makes the film as enjoyable as it is. I liked their energy and the characters they portray when compared to the other characters. The story for this one should be so much more fun. I think the story would have had a bigger impact on the viewer if the girls were much older and it fully embraces the whole sinning for Satan aspect. As it is, it just doesn’t shock or hit like it could have been. Also, the drawn-out scenes with little to no dialogue with the two girls scheming just didn’t work for me. It was a dull watch. Finally, this is not a violent film or a sleazy one for that matter. If you are looking for blood or skin, you will be surely disappointed. Overall, Don’t Deliver Us from Evil wasn’t what I was expecting but I couldn’t help but think of the movie it could have been. It was decent for a first time watch but I really want to see the movie I thought I was going to watch. Check it out if you dig other Mondo Macabro releases.