INTERVIEW: From NYPD to ‘Demon Files’ with Ralph Sarchie

Ralph Sarchie’s life is different than most. He served for 18 years with the New York Police Department, rising to the rank of sergeant. Now retired, he’s able to focus his efforts on investigating what he believes to be evil in the world. His story, which he brought to readers with Beware the Night and its cinematic adaptation Deliver Us From Evil, is now the subject of a new Destination America series, The Demon Files, which premieres Sunday, Nov. 1 at 10 p.m.

The former sergeant calls this investigating the “Work.” For the new series, he needed to find cases, assemble a team and travel throughout the United States.

“So they got us all in one spot, and we went and we traveled from that point on as a team,” he said recently during a phone interview. “And we did the cases, and we filmed the investigations. And they came out pretty good actually; if you don’t mind me saying so myself.”

With the reality series, Sarchie said he has several goals. The first is showing his belief in God and the devil, and letting people know about “this battle that has been raging between them.”

“On top of that, for people that, you know, they have these problems in their homes, they don’t know how to deal with it, they can’t get rid of it, it’s very disruptive,” he said. “It hurts people. … So we go through a lot of different areas with these cases and try to present them properly, so the audience will understand how the demonic will work in your life, what human spirits are, the differences between them and that we really should not be messing around with them.”

Sarchie referenced the teachings of Jesus, including loving one’s neighbor, calling it a “prerequisite to get into heaven.” He added: “You’ve got to know and love God, and you got to love one another.”

As far as the details of the cases he worked on, Sarchie was mostly silent. Television viewers, many of them probably having seen Eric Bana portray the former sergeant in last summer’s movie, will have to wait until Nov. 1.

For Sarchie, this belief started as a child. He was an altar boy and educated at a “Catholic school.” In his teenage years, he said, he fell away from God and discovered the opposite sex. “And, you know, I lived my life as any normal kid would live,” he said. “I read about ghosts. I read about cops. I read about firemen. I read about military war history.”

Eventually he started investigating serious cases with the world-famous Ed and Lorraine Warren, who are the subjects of The Conjuring, another recent horror film. So, Sarchie would serve the NYPD during the day and often tackle these demon files at night. Ed Warren, Sarchie said, was actually the one who inspired him to write the stories down in Beware the Night.

“So you could pretty much say that it’s been a journey,” said Sarchie, who is planning another book project. “I didn’t learn all this stuff overnight, and I’ve still got tons more to go. I don’t even know half the stuff that my mentors knew. I didn’t even scratch the surface on what they know, but, you know, I have to take this life as my own journey and figure things out for myself. So that’s what I’m doing.”

On his belief and mission with the new reality series, Sarchie said, “My philosophy and the way I look at this is simply that I do serve God’s will. … I had no idea how any of this was going to happen or turn out. I just go with the opportunities that are presented to me as long as it fits in with my mission.”

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• The Demon Files premieres on Destination America on Sunday, Nov. 1 at 10 p.m. Click here for more information.