Incubus

A series of brutal rapes, usually resulting in death, are plaguing a small Wisconsin town (though filmed in Canada, I couldn't tell the difference to be honest). An unusually large amount of semen is found in each attack but tests reveal it to be from just one perpetrator. It's down to the local cop, news reporter and doctor to solve this horrifying mystery. Although this is a supernatural horror movie the attacks are played out in slasher fashion, there are a couple of male victims too. I watched this on a dark, grainy VHS tape, very nostalgic but poor quality, which didn't exactly help my viewing pleasure. To its credit some of the horror scenes are quite effective, helped by a good musical score, and the cast is satisfactory but the microphone makes a couple of appearances, destroying said scenes. Based on a novel by Ray Russell, I have not read this myself but the film completely neglects to show the huge phallus of the Incubus (potential censorship issues perhaps?). I don't like to give away spoilers, all I will say that the twist ending was disappointing, as was the brief shots of the demon itself. However, what I thought really cool was the inclusion of a music video by British heavy metal band Samson featuring a very young looking Bruce Dickinson on vocals before he joined Iron Maiden! If I watch a film on VHS and like it I will usually seek out a disc release but on this occasion I probably won't bother. OK for a late night horror flick though and still better than most modern genre releases.

I picked up this one solely on the basis of its having John Cassavetes in it. Yes, it is low-budget, but despite that -- or maybe because of it -- the film is surprisingly effective. It's creepy. There's some gore but the slicing & dicing is almost all off-camera. With the exception of one scene about mid-movie, we don't see any of it. That works to make the movie more eerie -- we aren't distracted by the gross-out effect.

Cassavetes shows his talent -- he can make the worst dialogue sound believable. Unfortunately, the side effect of this is to make his coworkers sound even worse than they might have. Because a lot of the dialogue in this movie does stink out loud. On the other hand, there were a number of interesting scenes where you expected someone to break out in positively bad, cliched dialogue and instead -- nothing was said.

Others have commented on the creepiness of the doctor's quasi-incestuous relation with his daughter. It's all true. In fact, it was so blatant I was shocked that it would even get onto the screen. That kind of behavior is something that almost never gets shown.

Summary: good if you want to see a creepy movie with a great actor and lots of strange things going on. Not great art but worth a look.

John Hough's horror films are a mixed bunch, but this one is far more interesting than its horrendous critical reception would suggest. It is ostensibly a detective story of a small town policeman (John Cassavetes) investigating a series of unusually vicious rape homicides. Hough uses the structure to raise some provocative questions about penetration as violation. Sex and violence as one, forged and bonded in repression, resentment, sadism and envy.

The film is riddled with hints of the incestuous desire the protagonist has for his daughter. Hough thus plays with audience identification, seeking to implicate the viewer in a repulsive sexuality which, in a graphic morgue-table scene of a naked female cadaver, extends to incorporate necrophilia. The otherwise conventional plot is spiced up by a contemplation of p.o.v. as moderating aberrant sexuality. No wonder that critics and audiences found the film overly offensive and distasteful. Undeterred, Hough would treat similar themes in his equally maligned "American Gothic".

Graphic, contemplative and unrelenting in its bleakly oppressive visual style, this is a disturbing film experience: one of the more confrontational of taboo-breakers dealing with the always problematic theme of sexual homicide.

Intriguingly enough, the film has some elements in common with Wes Craven's "Deadly Blessing" released around the same time, and dealing with sex crime, isolated communities, deceptive innocence, female independence and role expectations, and the other-worldly demon, the Incubus.

John Cassavetes stars as a surgeon in a small Wisconsin town where a series of bizarre rapes-turned-murders are occurring left and right against the area's female residents. Thrown into the mix is his teenager daughter whose boyfriend claims to be witnessing the crimes as they are occurring within nightmares he experiences.

As far as I'm concerned, John Hough is one of horror's unsung heroes when it comes to mood and atmosphere- if "The Legend of Hell House" or the marginal Disney thriller "The Watcher in the Woods" aren't enough proof of that, "The Incubus" is. This dreary thriller is considerably more violent than Hough's other horror pictures, but has his signature stylistics that I absolutely love.

Like in most of all Hough's work, the cinematography is slick and thoughtful, making goosebumps-inducing use of POV shots. In the film, the camera follows the victims almost like a predator before launching its vicious assault, and each attack is just as effective as the next. There is also a strong gothic feel underpinning the events, and the photography accentuates the haunting landscapes (actually Ontario, serving as a midwest stand-in). The film's musty and discomforting atmosphere is underlined by an unnerving string score, another signature element of Hough's films. A somewhat withered Cassavetes is still at the top of his game here, with John Ireland supporting as the miffed sheriff and Kerri Keane as a nosy local reporter.

The film's bucolic setting is recurrently upended by instances of explicit sexual violence, and it features some of the most disturbing and visceral assault scenes I've ever seen in a horror film (the library sequence near the beginning especially stands out). Despite the picturesque pastoral setting, a sense of decay can be felt bubbling beneath the surface. The script's medley of violence and female sexuality under attack is effectively grotesque, and even more bizarre are the incestuous undertones and gender-bending revelation at the film's twisted conclusion. While the finale is irrefutably shocking (and the monster makeup surprisingly scary, even by today's standards), I can say that the narrative build-up could have been a tad better handled as it all does seem to come crashing down rather awkwardly; a bit more finesse in script and editing could have remedied this, but the film still works in spite of it.

Overall, I found "The Incubus" to be a formidable and disturbing film. Hough's handling of the bucolic locales is wonderful, and the effective, moody cinematography really establishes a menacing and inauspicious feel. The film's one major flaw is the hackneyed pacing in its last act, but I personally found this a forgivable sin given how strong the rest of it is. It is definitely one of the more aggressive horror films of its era in terms of themes, but the quaint and gothic feel hearkens back to a more classical and almost British sensibility. A fantastic thriller best suited for viewing on a chilly autumn night with all the lights off. 8/10.

To say that The Incubus is underrated is quite the understatement.From start till finish (even with a somewhat flawed script) it keeps you interested.There is a very good build up in suspense and it is gory when needed.Not everything is what it seems and there are a few red herrings thrown it to keep the viewer guessing.Now there are some sexual themes touched perhaps to deepen the intrigue which do work to a degree but overall distract the viewer a little.It looked like they realised this in the latter part of the film where events have been opened up and defined more and sort of let go these sexual themes.Not that it becomes clearer.Because some oft the raised questions are left unanswered.Which surprisingly works in favour of the ending.The acting is pretty darn good and it is nice to see these fine actors take the main plot seriously.John Cassavettes brings in that extra sophistication and is able to be interesting because of the underlying sexual themes I was talking about earlier and a little sub plot that could be seen as an explanation to his behaviour.But also could be a red herring as well.For the build up of tension and suspense it is extremely effective but I can understand that it could lead to some disappointment for viewers who wanted to see his story explained.Maybe the minimalistic approach of the plot is not for everyone.And normally I don't like that either.But in this case I did.For ones who still aren't convinced I think it is best to view this as a slasher with Gothic elements.Definitely worth your time.