Incubus

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.

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 saw this movie about three years ago on a defective rental tape, and I must say that I was shocked. I was shocked at how a film dealing with supernatural rape and mutilation can be so...conventional! Yes, you read it right. When the screen isn't gushing blood at regular intervals, the movie is actually a run-of-the-mill slasher-mystery, with stilted dialogue and unimaginative presentation (though the movie-theater sequence shows some flair). And talk about your surprise endings!

The acting is bland; even John Cassavetes (who I guess had some bills to pay that month) seems preoccupied. In fact, despite the aforementioned brutality, the production seems altogether too restrained. It's as if, despite the lurid subject matter, the filmmakers didn't want to make an exploitation picture--even though they can't make the material work on any other level. As a result, the more sensationalistic elements are balanced out by indifferent "human drama" involving a bunch of not-very-interesting characters. The occasional stabs at depth ("I don't WANT tenderness!") range from just plain ineffective to full-out laughable. But the final product (which cost more than you might think) isn't laughable, but merely mediocre. It did have potential, but instead it just sort of...is.

Shocking, well-made chiller is an undervalued tale of atrocious murder and evil forces.

Small town doctor tries to discover who, or what, is committing a series of violent sexual murders.

Incubus is a tight mystery, with some horrific murder sequences, that builds to an off-beat and eerie climatic twist. The murder scenes are intense and gory, so this isn't a film for the squeamish! The direction of John Hough, along with a bizarre music score, combine to create a dark atmosphere of dread that runs through out the film. It also carries a kind of Gothic vibe as well. Nice filming locations and some stylish camera work also highlight.

The cast isn't bad either. The great John Cassavetes does a solid performance as the new doctor in town. Also good are the performances of Kerrie Keane as the local reporter, Helen Hughes as the town historian, and Duncan McIntosh as a tormented psychic teen.

All around Incubus is a forgotten horror film that needs to be re-discovered and re-evaluated.

*** out of ****

There are many worse horror movies out there! Thank God most of them don't get saddled with John Cassavettes in the cast. This film suffers from his underwhelming acting. From his expression alone you are never sure if he is appalled by the bizarre violence that continues throughout the film or is just amused by it. The story itself is not a bad one but a better director could not have hurt.

I have to admit I was drawn back to this film after years of searching because the Library/Museum in the story, with it's Gothic look that might have come straight out of Lovecraft has always stuck in my mind. And there is enough true mystery involved to make you keep wondering who the culprit really is up to the final; moment. I wouldn't eat a lot of greasy popcorn while watching this one.