STACK #122 Dec 2015

DVD&BD

Q&A

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Olivia Munn considers herself a big horror movie fan, but even she was creeped out by the real life events that inspired her newest flick, DELIVER US FROM EVIL . In the film you play Jen, the wife of Ralph Sarchie (Eric Bana). Did you have a chance to meet with the real Jen Sarchie? OLIVIA MUNN: I got to hang out with Ralph Sarchie a lot on set, and Jen and I have emailed. There are definitely normal questions you’d ask anybody who’s been through this. It’s so scary and you want to hear every detail. That’s the fascinating thing about having Ralph on set: it validated everything because his memory of it is crystal clear. It’s not like a dream or something that he’s made up. Sometimes when you’ve made things up, after a while you forget things here or there. There is no doubt that this happened because it is crystal clear. He’s like, “His neck went back even more.” We’re like, “Really? That’s horrific.” Having him on set just really helped elevate everything we were doing. After watching Deliver Us from Evil , you wouldn’t want to walk at night by yourself… It’s scary. Especially when you know it’s based on the true accounts of an NYPD officer. Did you hear about the actual footage? You should ask Eric [Bana] about [it], because there was this actual footage from the exorcism that took place that this movie is based on. I heard that Eric had watched it and that he couldn’t sleep for three weeks. So, instantly, I said, “I have to watch that”. He found out that the director was going to

sitting there in a straightjacket and he starts to shake and out of nowhere, his forehead just splits open. Then, at about minute four, he starts drooling, and he’s shaking, and when the drool comes off his chin and hits his white straitjacket, it turns into blood. After that, I turned it off. Did Eric make it all the way through the video? That’s why he couldn’t sleep for three weeks. I couldn’t sleep for a week. And the thing that sticks with you more is not, “How did the spit turn into blood?” or “How did his forehead split open?” It’s the look in his eyes. He was going through this and it didn’t affect him at all. It was like watching a caterpillar shed its skin. It’s very natural. It was like he was shedding. It was horrific. And the exorcism that we see in this movie – I think Scott [Derrickson, director] just mirrored it because it’s exactly what I saw. That scene is a classic horror scene but it’s also a dramatic one…You feel so much. I thought the actor who played that role [Sean Harris] had such a challenge and executed it masterfully. It’s very heartbreaking because, even though he’s a man who’s possessed, he’s still a man and there’s that feeling of wanting to see another human being be able to fight back and win, especially when you know they’re being possessed by something. I think it might have been Chucky [ Child’s Play ]. That was a really scary one. And by the way, the Chucky doll looked scary from the beginning. It’s not like the cute doll that turned into the scary one. He was always a creepy doll. Horror isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but would you describe this as a ‘horror’ film? This movie feels more like a cop drama that has a supernatural element to it because you see Eric going to investigate these crimes just like any other cop would investigate really horrific crimes. But then it starts to get more intense and then the unexplainable becomes even more unexplainable and it just becomes so intense that you have to ask other people for help, and it just so happens that this is something supernatural.That’s Do you remember the first scary movie you saw that really stuck with you?

It’s scary. Especially when you know it’s based on the true accounts of an NYPD officer. let me watch it so he came over and said: ”You’re not going to watch it because you’re not going to be able to sleep.” So I made a deal with Eric that, if I waited until the end of the movie, he’d let me watch it. He was afraid I wouldn’t be able to come to work because I wouldn’t sleep. And he was right. It was horrific. There’s a 30-minute collection of this footage and this isn’t stuff you’re going to find on YouTube. It’s like VHS tapes and scary stuff that is so unexplainable that it shakes you to your core. I only watched about four minutes of it because, after one part, I turned it off. this guy on this tape and he’s sitting there in this room and he’s in a straightjacket, and he’s got this otherworldly look in his eyes.” And I said, “Oh, like he’s crazy?” He said, “No, it’s not like he’s crazy. It’s like he’s from another world.” And you see it and the guy has this look in his eyes. This is something you don’t even know how to connect with and it’s so scary. So the guy is What was it that freaked you out? The way Eric explained it to me is, “You see

why I think it’s a thriller with a supernatural tone. It’s like a buffet of movies.

Deliver Us from Evil is out Dec 11

DECEMBER 2014 JB Hi-Fi www.jbhifi.com.au

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