Incarnate: Non potrai nasconderti

It started with an interesting twist on the concept of demons and possession:

What if demons are actual creatures? Only they're mental parasites that feed off the energy of their hosts. They pass to new hosts through touch and, having no body of their own to die of old age, are immortal as long as they jump to a new host before their old one dies, or are without a body for too long. To keep their host from ejecting them, they create an idealized inner fantasy to trap their victims in their own minds, distracting them from the fact that they've been invaded by a parasite. Based on this premise, any act that brings awareness to the possessed empowers them to dispel their demons. So, traditional exorcisms work, but therapeutic, scientific treatments are also effective.

Unfortunately, the execution of this concept is fumbling.

Stereotypical in a not-fun, but predictable and riddled with plot-holes way, the film tries to be action-y, but is too dull, and tries to be a horror, but isn't scary at all.

While not a truly horrible movie, most of the acting is over-done and the pacing thick with "hurry up and wait".

Enter Dr. Ember, our hero.

He's the surly, unwashed, Constantine-wannabe who uses science and a bad attitude to "evict" demons by entering their host's minds Inception-style and attempting to wake them up. Demon's know Dr. Ember by name and are out to get him personally.

For some reason.

I call Dr. Ember a Constantine-wannabe since his character is a pale copy of the iconic supernatural anti-hero, with all of the disgruntled grumble, but none of the charm or flash. The audience is left wondering why on earth demons think he's worth the time to bother.

The actor was going for gritty, but ended up seeming homeless.

The film's promises of scientific means for exorcism cop out when, though eased by the elaborate tech setup, Dr. Ember mainly relies on inborn supernatural talent to visit other's minds.

Once there, viewers will be disappointed in the mediocrity of the dreamscapes he visits.

In short, there are far, far better action, horror, and action- horror films to waste you time on, but if there is absolutely nothing else on, or you're intrigued by the unfulfilled concept, watching this won't be too painful.

I'll simply say this about Incarnate, if you're looking for a film that is in the vein of Insidious or some other horror film that relies on the viewer actually paying attention to the story over the typical guts and gore, then you're in luck. However, if you're looking to just kill an hour and a half with something mindless, look elsewhere. This movie, while by no means perfect, is also highly underrated and at least tries to put its' own twist on the whole possession sub-genre. Don't let the negative rating or reviews put you off, this is one film that you'll regret not viewing several years later. In this viewer's opinion, this is a future cult classic.

I'm a fan of Aaron Eckhart so that was my main draw to see Incarnate.

The good: The film doesn't insult you by explaining everything at once, it does this through the action and dialogue sequences which are OKAY. Aaron delivers a solid performance here, and so does David Mazouz, the kid that plays Bruce Wayne in the Gotham TV series. The story is moderately interesting and reminds me a bit of Inception.

The Meh/Bad: The directing is often a bit ham-fisted and clunky. The script wasn't particularly brilliant but was OKAY. Didn't care much for the cop-out ending although that's a minor complaint.

Bottom line is, don't expect a masterpiece or above average film. Its a nice film to kill an hour and a half with.

The plot: a bitter scientist who can enter other people's dreams becomes an exorcist to hunt down the demon that killed his family.

If you're a fan of Aaron Eckhart, how could you not find this concept exciting? The problem is that the film gives you all kinds of promises and fails to deliver on any of them. Every step of the way, you're left thinking to yourself, "This movie could have been awesome." With such an over-the-top, absurd premise, you could have really gone crazy. Instead, it's by-the-numbers.

The dream sequences in particular could have been memorable. Remember The Cell by Tarsem Singh? That wasn't a great movie, but the dream sequences were great. Imagine what someone like David Cronenberg could have done with this concept! Instead, what do we get? A generic nightclub. A generic carnival. A generic park. When music videos from the 1990s look more visionary -- and disturbing -- than your horror movie, that's a problem.

Perhaps one of the more perplexing aspects of the story is that our hero rejects spiritual mumbo jumbo when it comes to demons, but he uses psychic powers to fight them. I suspect this was done to explain why he must fight the demons personally. But given that he's already obsessed with vengeance, why can't that be enough? Why does he also need superpowers?

The story is OK, but it often feels like it could have been so much more. Despite throwing several interesting ideas at you, it never rises above the pedestrian elevator pitch: "Fallen meets Inception". However, it's not boring, which is truly the only unforgivable sin in a horror movie.

As a die-hard horror fan, a fan of Demonic Possession films, and a fan of great acting, I immediately wrote off this movie as being another Hollywood cash grab. Blumhouse is the worst thing to happen to horror since Rob Zombie started making movies, so seeing as this is another bullet to add to their arsenal in murdering the horror genre, I was weary about watching it. Couple that with the film not having any marketing up until a few weeks before it was released, and all of the signs pointed to a very half-a$$ed film to join the ranks of all of the other failed horror films of the last 10 years. After watching it, however, I am very glad to have been proved wrong. Incarnate ended up being original, entertaining, and the acting was really top notch, especially that of the three leads.

The problem I have with Possession films is that they rarely deviate from the formula; girl is possessed. Family calls priest. Priest needs okay from Vatican. Priest battles demon. One of more people die. The end. That has been the premise of every possession film of the last few years. Surprisingly, this movie goes completely left field, not adhering to any of the clichés that make the genre so deathly stagnant. The demon is now a "spirit parasite", the girl is replaced by a boy, there is no Catholic priest in sight, and the people who die actually deserve it this time. The movie does so many things right that it is really easy to overlook the things is gets wrong, and everything from the special effects to the script is written with an actual appreciation of what makes these movies entertaining in the first place. Sure, some parts are cheesy and straight out of the horror handbook, but when they are handled this well, does anyone really care? It's much better than the abominations we have gotten in the past, like The Last Exorcism or The Vatican Tapes.

Overall, if you like Possession films, good acting, and movies that are not made for children and teenagers, give this film a shot. You just might like what you see. I was thoroughly impressed by this, and although Blumhouse has a long way to redeeming itself, this is a great first step. A solid effort all around.