When Madea Meets The Conjuring: Netflix’s Surprising Horror Hit

Horror is always a subjective topic – almost as much so as comedy. What makes us laugh and cower in fear is different on a person-to-person basis, which makes crafting the perfect horror/comedy film a tremendous labor that doesn’t always bear the best results. In the worst-case scenario, you end up with a horror movie that crosses the aisle and becomes unintentionally funny. That, however, isn’t the case with Lee Daniels’s The Deliverance, a recent Netflix release with a lot to offer for longtime horror fans – and even those with a knack for unexpected comedy.

The Power Of Horror “Based on True Events”

The phrase “based on true events” might be almost a meme at this point for the horror community, but in the case of The Deliverance, it truly elevates the core of the dramatic story Daniels wants to tell. The result is a horror flick that feels more “human” than your average Halloween feature.

The Deliverance draws inspiration from the real-life case of the Ammons family, popularly known as the “Demon House” hauntings. Latoya Ammons, her mother, and her three children were seemingly besieged by paranormal forces during their stay in Gary, Indiana, in 2011. The case is one of the most popular modern hauntings, receiving widespread media attention around 2014. Horror fans might have seen Zak Bagan’s Demon House documentary, which chronicles the Ammons’ case in great detail.

Now, a decade after the story was first made public, Lee Daniels comes to shine a light into this frightening story – and the result is a multilayered horror flick that never shies away from illustrating just how complex the Ammons’ case really was.

Lee Daniels’s The Deliverance Explores Societal Themes

Daniels crafted a story that has so much to say about ghosts and demons as it does about violence and the woes of modern society for the less fortunate. From commenting on healthcare accessibility to the nature of child protection services, The Deliverance is a chilling story beyond its ghostly apparitions.

That might be a point of contention for horror purists, though. Some scenes end up feeling a bit heavy-handed, primarily due to the director’s emphasis on human drama over purely paranormal frights.

Funnily enough, the real story of the Demon House reads more like a Lee Daniels story than the script Netflix developed for The Deliverance. The ghosts and demons, which sometimes make the story feel as deep as a Madea Halloween special, are nothing compared to the very realistic threats of family violence. Most of the real-life conflict between the Ammons and their landlord is missing from The Deliverance.

Perfect For The Spooky Season

With Halloween quickly approaching, horror hounds everywhere are starving for new content. After all, you can only re-watch The Conjuring series so many times before the jumpscares get a bit too predictable. That’s what makes The Deliverance such a chilling watch for this spooky season.

Now, The Deliverance has its flaws. Some of the more “frightening” scenes have an undeniably goofy tone that shows that Daniels is predominantly a drama director, not necessarily a horror one. Still, the filmmaker’s dramatic roots are precisely what makes the film click on a fundamental level with some viewers, delivering an experience that feels chillingly real and raw in all the best ways.

With films like The Deliverance and Rebel Ridge, Netflix seems to finally be getting the hang of producing movies with a wide appeal. The quality is through the roof with these productions, finally turning the streaming titan into the theater rival it was always destined to be.

If you’re in the mood for a horror film that’s not afraid of tackling some heavy stuff with all the class and nuance of Lee Daniels, The Deliverance is exactly the type of movie you’ll love to see.

RELATED: The Fix Movie Review – The South African Sci-Fi Body Horror Proves to Be Too Ambitious for Its Own Good