Sumith Prasad
In Netflix’s horror film ‘The Deliverance,’ Bernice James is an apostle who sets out to help Ebony Jackson and her children by freeing them from the clutches of the demonic spirit that possesses them. Even though the young mother is initially skeptical about the religious figure’s explanations and suggestions, she becomes convinced about needing the latter’s assistance to safeguard her kids, especially Andre. Bernice then performs a deliverance on the youngest child in the family to free him from Trey, the vicious entity that controls the boy. The origin of the apostle lies in the life of a priest who supposedly saved a scared family from alleged demonic possession! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Bernice James is Partially Based on the Exorcist Reverend Michael Maginot
Bernice James can be seen as the fictional counterpart to Reverend Michael Maginot, who assisted Latoya Ammons, the inspiration behind Ebony Jackson, and her family in 2012 to deal with alleged demonic possession. The Roman Catholic priest joined the Diocese of Gary in Indiana in July 1983. In 2012, he served at St. Stephen, Martyr Church in Merrillville, Indiana. In the horror thriller, Bernice reaches out to Ebony after trying to save a former tenant of the house from demonic possession in the past. The apostle was unsuccessful, and the young man named Trey eventually died.
This particular backstory is entirely fictional. Maginot had no associations with Ammons’ house before he was involved in her case. In reality, the way he met the family also drastically differs from Bernice’s introduction to Ebony in the film. On April 20, 2012, a hospital chaplain reached out to the reverend to inform the latter about Ammons’ 9-year-old son. The boy had “glided backward on the floor, wall, and ceiling,” as per the testimony of Valerie Washington, the DCS case manager who was assigned to look into the family’s predicament.
By the time Maginot interviewed the family for the first time, the DCS had taken the children’s custody and sent them to care homes. He met Ammons and her mother, Rosa Campbell, at their house at 3860 Carolina Street in Gary. The priest was welcomed by a flickering bathroom light, which made him conclude that there was a demonic presence in the house. The reverend also reportedly saw wet footprints and Ammons convulsing when a crucifix was placed on her. These factors made him believe that ghosts haunted the house. Maginot returned to the property with police officers and prepared a report for Bishop Dale Melczek, seeking the latter’s permission to perform an exorcism on Ammons.
Michael Maginot Performed Three Major Exorcisms on Latoya Ammons
In ‘The Deliverance,’ Bernice performs a deliverance rather than an exorcism on Andre, the youngest child. However, Michael Maginot performed a series of exorcisms on Latoya Ammons rather than her son. Since Bishop Dale Melczek did not grant him the approval to do a church-sanctioned exorcism right away, the reverend had to rely on an “intense blessing” of the house and a minor ritual on Ammons that comprised prayers, appeals, and statements. Melczek then permitted Maginot to perform three major exorcisms on Ammons, which meant that the priest had the support of the Catholic Church.
Maginot performed the three exorcisms in St. Stephen, Martyr Church in June 2012. While Bernice conducted the deliverance without any external help, the real-life priest was accompanied by two police officers who were ready to restrain Ammons if it was required for the ritual to continue. Between the second and third exorcisms, the reverend blessed Ammons’ new house in Indianapolis, Indiana, for the family to live. Maginot performed the third exorcism in Latin in his brother’s company rather than the cops. After the final exorcism, the priest parted ways with the family as Ammons and her loved ones settled in Indianapolis.
Michael Maginot’s Exorcisms Didn’t End in a Death in Real Life
‘The Deliverance’ ends with Bernice getting killed by the demonic spirit that possesses Andre. In reality, this never happened. Michael Maginot was not killed by the supposed demonic entity that allegedly possessed Latoya Ammons. David Coggeshall and Elijah Bynum, who wrote the film, must have created this plot development for the showdown between Ebony and the demon. The horror thriller is ultimately about the young mother returning to the path of Jesus after a supernatural spirit tests her. For her to restart believing in God, she had to be helpless and alone without an apostle assisting her, which justifies the fictional death.
Latoya Ammons’ real-life story became infamous after the publication of a feature by The Indianapolis Star in January 2014. Maginot also contributed to the piece. In February 2014, Zak Bagans, the host of the reality series ‘Ghost Adventures,’ bought the allegedly haunted house on Carolina Street. He shot a documentary titled ‘Demon House’ on the property, which was released in 2018. The priest was involved in the making of the project. He joined Father Vincent Lampert during the documentary’s production to bless the house. The reverend wanted to bless the property for one last time to ensure that the “portal to hell” found in the house was shut to prevent any demon from surfacing.
However, Bagans didn’t inform Maginot about the production’s conclusion. In January 2016, the documentary filmmaker demolished the allegedly haunted house without consulting with the priest. The latter then went to the empty lot where the house was situated for a blessing. “I think we were successful but the thing is, the portal is opened. Then, when I heard that when the documentary came out, people had been showing up there doing séances — you can’t do that. You can’t play ping-pong with these things… Once it’s cleared, the demon is free to bring seven worse ones in than before. They’ll do it, and they look for that opportunity. So that is always a worry,” he told The Times of Northwest Indiana in 2019.
In February 2014, Maginot signed a film deal with Evergreen Media Holdings to adapt The Indianapolis Star’s feature to a movie. However, Ammons and her family didn’t join the priest in the agreement, as she optioned the rights to her life story to Relativity later that year, eventually resulting in the production of ‘The Deliverance.’ The deal was then scrapped.
Reverend Michael Maginot Remains Affiliated to the Diocese of Gary Even Today
Michael Maginot is still a part of the Diocese of Gary. In July 2024, he completed forty-one years with the diocese in Indiana. He remains based in Merrillville. After Latoya Ammons’ real-life saga garnered attention worldwide through newspaper features and Zak Bagans’ ‘Demon House,’ the priest started receiving several calls from visitors to the site where the allegedly haunted house was situated. “They call me because they try and get rid of it themselves, and it won’t leave. I’ve had several different calls like that,” he said in the same interview with The Times of Northwest Indiana.
Maginot continues to help people who seek his assistance in dealing with supposed paranormal presences and entities. “We had [a] situation not too long ago where a family came to me, and I performed my exorcism in the conference meeting room at the rectory,” he told the Chicago Tribune in October 2020. “The demon spirit left the body of the person, but soon, we discovered it inhabited a piece of furniture, an antique cabinet, which we never knew the history of or where it came from. We had to remove it and destroy it,” the priest added.
When Maginot’s prominence as an exorcist increased, the Diocese of Gary had to intervene to clarify that the priest could not accept every exorcism request. “Reverend Michael Maginot, a priest of the Diocese of Gary, has no authority or permission from the Bishop of Gary to perform exorcisms. Under church law [canon 1172], such special and express permission for exorcism is required. Reverend Maginot is not permitted to engage in related aspects of this ministry, nor should he be presented as an authority in such matters,” the diocese shared in a statement released in March 2022. In March 2023, Maginot battled severe health concerns, but he remains committed to serving his congregation as much as his physical condition permits.
Reverend Michael Maginot Has Appeared in Several Media Productions as a Religious Expert
Over the years, Michael Maginot has been featured in several national networks, media productions, and online publications as an expert in subjects ranging from exorcism to the occult. Some of his prominent credits include Syndication’s ‘Inside Edition,’ ‘The O’Reilly Factor’ in 2014, ‘The UnXplained with William Shatner’ in 2019, and ‘Fox News Primetime’ in 2021. He also appeared in History’s ‘True Monsters’ and Science Channel’s ‘The Unexplained Files,’ in addition to podcasts such as ‘Hall of Mears’ and ‘Bob After Dark.’
Maginot found himself in the headlines in November 2021 after criticizing Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival, especially in the wake of the crowd rush that caused 10 deaths in the same month. He described the festival as “gates of hell” and “satanic.” “Certain vibrations, drum beats, riffs, and things get to motivate a person like any music can. But this one does seem to be dark and leading to the darker side of things,” he said while appearing on ‘Fox News,’ criticizing Scott’s music. Maginot is also a strong critic of exorcists who are not affiliated with Christianity, claiming that “they are in league with these demons” in an interview given to Vice.
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