Released on Netflix on the 30th of August, 2024, audiences are only now realizing that this new exorcism film is based on a haunting true story. The Deliverance, directed by Lee Daniels, took heavy inspiration from this one particular case which occurred all the way back in 2011. The Academy Award nominee Daniels, known for the 2009 classic, Precious, had already admitted his concerns about working on the project, making its release all that more surprising.
The story behind The Deliverance is truly terrifying, which makes the finished project a slight disappointment. Having an impressive cast lined up to bring the tale to life, it unfortunately fell short. The writing, direction, and in some places, acting really failed to give the Ammons haunting case the justice it deserved. Starring Glenn Close, Caleb McLaughlin, Mo’Nique, and Andra Day, audiences seemed to expect slightly more.
With this information aside, the terrifying truth behind Netflix’s The Deliverance is one deserving of a closer investigation. With the multiple exorcisms that took place and a degree of skepticism arising from the family’s testimonies, it is a story that deserves attention.
What Went Wrong With The Deliverance?
As stated, The Deliverance has a lot of wasted potential. By the end, the audience is left with more questions than the film answers, causing the surrounding story to fall quite flat. Prior to the film’s release, media attention was more focused on the casting of Mo’Nique. Daniels and Mo’Nique had previously worked together on Precious, where she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. However, something happened before that ceremony which caused a feud to take place between the two. The disagreement revolved around the campaigning for the awards, with Mo’Nique wanting a break to focus on her family. At an important moment in the campaign, Daniels felt betrayed, causing the two to cut ties for 13 years. Therefore, when it was announced that Mo’Nique would be replacing Octavia Spencer, who dropped out due to scheduling conflicts, the press focused on little else.
The film itself does not do much to captivate the audience, causing the story it was based on to appear dull. Sitting at almost two hours long, the first half doesn’t have enough going on, and it starts to drag. Unfortunately, when the interesting parts finally come around, it lacks pay-off. The lack of horror elements early on implied that the true events were not as terrifying as they actually were. There were many places where The Deliverance seemed like it was going, but they didn’t commit to any of them. For instance, the religious undertones did nothing for the ending, which is just unexpected for a film based on demonic possession. The Deliverance does not do the true events justice, nor does it produce any meaningful intrigue about why it inspired this project.
The Ammons Haunting Case Inspired The Deliverance
The Ammons haunting case, also known as Demon House, was an alleged haunting and demonic possession. Occurring in the city of Gary, Indiana in 2011, there is a reason it received national attention. Like in The Deliverance, the story follows a mother who moves into a new house with her three children and mother who are then plagued with some pretty strange occurrences. Within days of being in the house, they reported the strange event of black flies swarming the porch in December and would keep returning even after their extermination.
Shortly after this, the events only became more paranormal, with Rosa Campbell, played by Glenn Close in the film, claiming to hear footsteps in the basement and witnessing the figure of a man pacing around the living room. She even stated that an unseen force began choking her at one point. This was not solitary to Rosa either, with Ammons’ 12-year-old daughter apparently levitating off her bed during a sleepover, only coming down once they prayed. Additionally, the eldest son was even thrown across the room, and the youngest would appear possessed, growling threats of murder.
Already, the actuality of what happened is a lot more terrifying than the film presents it to be. Even more scary is the isolation the family faced. Reaching out to their physician for help, he noted that they appeared ‘delusional.’ Eventually, the Department of Child Services reported that the children were performing for their mother, causing reports to become sensationalized, which is when the youngest was said to have walked up a wall backward. This caused the family to request an exorcism from Father Michael Maginot, who concluded that the family was being tormented by a demonic presence. He came to perform three exorcisms, but the haunting only stopped once the family moved away in 2012.
Many Believe That the Haunting Never Actually Happened
As mentioned, the family’s physician did not believe that the family was experiencing the reported events. Whenever he visited the home, he witnessed none of the reported activity or behavior. In addition, the investigator of the paranormal, Joe Nickell, claimed that the police chief, Charles Austin, was a believer in the supernatural, so his reports were unreliable. Moreover, many of his interviews pointed to a misreporting of original events, as well as some embellishment and exaggerations. For instance, to Nickell, the girl’s levitation was explained by her throwing herself upwards, and the boy walking up the wall was allowed by his grandmother holding his hand, making it easier for him to do this.
Moreover, the homeowner of the house had not previously heard any similar reports and even claimed that the demonic claims were an excuse for missing rent payments. Although the house was purchased and later destroyed, the tenant who moved in after the family did not report the same occurrences. Additionally, wider skepticism came after the children were interviewed by psychologists who concluded that they acted more in line with the beliefs of their mother, and one claimed the youngest son “acted possessed” at times.
