Los Angeles Times feature: Screenwriter-Director Scott Derrickson

The supernatural horror movie Deliver Us From Evil opened this last weekend and today the LAT ran a feature on its co-writer and director Scott Derrickson:

Filmmaker Scott Derrickson was first introduced some 10 years ago to a New York cop who had undertaken what he calls “the Work” of investigating demonic possession and performing exorcisms. In the time since, Derrickson has been involved as both director and screenwriter with films such “The Exorcism of Emily Rose, “Sinister” and “Devil’s Knot,” exploring the unlikely intersection of true crime procedurals and otherworldly horror.

With the current “Deliver Us From Evil” — directed by Derrickson and co-written with Paul Harris Boardman based on a book by the officer, Ralph Sarchie, and Lisa Collier Cool — the story of a cop investigating the supernatural brings the filmmaker full circle. It was meeting Sarchie those years ago that helped launch this phase of his career, not least of all because it was Sarchie who gave him a photocopy of the then-out-of-print book that would be the basis for “Emily Rose.”

“If you’re talking about connecting horror to a true story, connecting it to true real events, that would start for me with Ralph,” said Derrickson during a recent interview in Los Angeles. “It immediately struck me there was territory there that had not been worked over.”

Here is a documentary on Sarchie, the New York City policeman whose real life exploits inspired Deliver Us From Evil:

Upcoming movie projects for Derrickson: Dr. Strange and The Outer Limits.

For the rest of the article, go here.

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