Lee Daniels‘ first foray into horror filmmaking, “The Deliverance,” just dropped on Netflix, but it’s a subject — and a genre — that has been on the director’s mind since he made “Precious” 15 years ago. That’s when he first heard the true account of a family besieged by evil spirits on which “The Deliverance” is based. “I was very intrigued by this story,” Daniels told IndieWire’s Filmmaker Toolkit podcast, “and I was intrigued by the idea of doing horror because I’m obsessed with ‘The Exorcist.’ I’m obsessed with ‘Rosemary’s Baby.’ I’m obsessed with ‘The Omen.'”

That obsession has yielded one of Daniels’ most audacious films yet, which is saying something when you’re talking about the filmmaker behind such singular works as “The Paperboy,” “The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” and the television series “Empire.” What makes “The Deliverance” great is the way that...