Don’t Deliver Us From Evil is a 1971 French crime/horror/exploitation film adapted from the 1954 Parker-Hulme murder case. This story would further be adapted by Peter Jackson in his 1994 feature Heavenly Creatures, fear not readers, unlike that film, this one is the exact opposite of a class-act, and this one offers all the sleazy exploitation content you could desire from an early 1970’s attempt at true crime (if that is what you’re looking for, I know I am).
The film follows 2 girls Anne and Lore (by sheer coincidence one of the women in the original murders would adopt the name Anne Perry 8 years after this film was made to write mystery fiction, I digress). The 2 girls attend a religious school, and spend all their spare time together, whether or not that is doing evil and mischievious things at school, or in the rural French countryside that is there home. These acts are done in the name of Satan, and become increasingly more nefarious until murder occurs.
I find Don’t Deliver it from Evil to be a truly wonderful film, and I’ll say it, I find it vastly better and more entertaining then the Jackson film. The film is first and foremost a shockfest, and play with the girls youthful appearance as a means to enhance the shock value of the piece. I could see why the film was “banned in France” at the time, as combined with the shocks, the 2 protagonists are unforgiving in their approach. Director Joel Seria keeps things moving smoothly from one shocking sequence to the next. The performances from the mains fits the material quite appropriately, and overall the film itself is sleazy perfection.
Mondo Macabro presents Don’t Deliver Us From Evil in a splendid 1080p Blu-ray presentation from a new 4k transfer. Everything here looks marvelous, natural, and filmlike. Audio is presented in a DTS-HD MA 2.0 track in French everything sounds wonderful here, and comes across cleanly. As for extras we get another outstanding, and in-depth commentary track from Kat Ellinger, followed by an interview with director Seria where he discusses his motivations for the film and the possibility of a sequel (he is married to one of the co-stars ) HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!