Incubus (1982)

Cassavettes must have been hard up for cash to star in this film. The emphasis is on shock effect with rape and murder the recurrent theme, but poor scripting and muddled focus make it more of a bore than a gore flick. Resorting to a number of unimaginative plot devices, the story points the viewers toward early clues as to the outcome. The ending arouses little more than an "Uh?" Poor editing, camera work and direction make this movie very unsatisfying. There is a constant din of screeching violins for a soundtrack which are (poorly) calculated to raise tension, but after a third of the film the effect is lost. Oh yeah, and by the way there's not a substantial amount of graphic violence if that's your thing. Forget it!

Seriously, I can easily stomach a lot of on screen blood, gore and repulsiveness, but what really makes this film disturbing & uncomfortable to watch is how the doctor character keeps on rambling about the physical damage done to raped women. He, John Cassavetes of "Rosemary's Baby", talks about ruptured uterus, dry intercourse and massive loads of reddish (?) sperm like they are the most common little ailments in the world of medicine. That being said, "Incubus" is an ultimately STRANGE horror effort. It isn't necessarily awful – although it isn't very good, neither – but just plain weird. The muddled & incoherent script initially revolves on the hunt for a rapist-killer of flesh and blood (even though the title clearly suggests the involvement of a supernatural creature) and it never seems to stop introducing new characters. None of these characters, especially not the main ones, come across as sympathetic and for some never-explained reason they all seem to keep dark secrets. The aforementioned doctor has an odd interpretation of daughter-love and continuously behaves like he's a suspect himself, the town's sheriff (John Ireland) appears to be in a constant state of drunkenness and doesn't even seem to care about who keeps raping & killing the women in his district, the female reporter is even too weird for words and the Galens (an old witch and her grandson) are just plain spooky. All together they desperately try to solve the mystery of whom or what exactly is destroying the towns' women reproducing organs. The sequences building up towards the rapes & murders are admirably atmospheric and the vile acts themselves are bloody and unsettling. Basically these are very positive factors in a horror film, but the narrative structure is too incoherent and the characters are too unsympathetic for "Incubus" to be a really good film. Also, there are quite a few tedious parts to struggle yourself through (like footage of a Bruce Dickinson concert!) and the usually very reliable John Hough's direction is nearly unnoticeable. The final shot is effectively nightmarish, though. For me personally, "Incubus" was a bit of a disappointment, but there are still several enough reasons to recommend this odd piece of early 80's horror to open-minded genre fanatics.

*SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT*My friend and I were out at a used video store when "The Incubus" caught my eye. There was a demon creature on the front of the video box staring at me with his little red beady eyes daring me to buy the movie. Next to the creature was his tag line: He is the Destroyer. "The Incubus" for only three bucks eh? What a deal! We bought the scary demon movie right away.Well, this movie stinks. "The Incubus" is another rotten bargain bin disaster. His tag line was correct. He destroyed the VCR with great speed and efficiency. So there's a doctor running around town trying to solve a series of brutal murders. A lot of women are getting raped and killed. The doctor thinks it's a monster. The cops thinks he's nuts. I think this movie stinks.As a fan of monster flicks, I have but one question. Where's the monster? Why is the Incubus hiding? The Incubus is hiding because the movie doesn't care about him. So why is he plastered on the front of the video box? It's another bait and switch scam from the pits of B-movie making. The movie is really more interested in the mental health of the doctor, who makes eyes at his daughter and worries a little too much about which guy she's dating. "The Incubus" has a few gory scenes but not nearly enough to justify watching it. The only time you'll see this Incubus is on the front of the video box. If you see this demon looking at you from the video box cover, turn your head and run away before he sucks you in.

A young couple Mandy Pullman (Mitch Martin) and Roy Seeley (Matt Birman) are relaxing on a beach in the small town of Galen. They decide to start playing practical jokes on each other. Mandy hides in an old run down cabin, she is attacked and raped by an unknown assailant. Roy tries to help her after hearing her screams but is killed. Dr. Sam Cordell (John Cassavetes) and his daughter Jenny (Erin Flannery) are both new to Galen after the death of Sam's wife. Sam is called into action by Police Chief Hank Walden (John Ireland) when Mandy and Roy are found. He performs the autopsy on Roy and treats Mandy for her horrific injuries. Soon after a curator at the local museum named Carolyn Davis (Denise Furgusson) is also attacked and raped. A local journalist named Laura Kincaid (Kerrie Keane) reports the events and suggests to Sam that a similar string of rapes and murders occurred in the town 30 years earlier. More rapes and murders occur. Meanwhile Jenny's boyfriend Tim Galen (Duncan MacIntosh) has been having strange dreams and nightmares and is convinced that he has something to do with the horrific acts. Tim's story and digging into the towns past makes Sam become convinced of the existence of a creature known as an Incubus - a shape-shifting demonic entity that exists only to reproduce! Directed by John Hough this is one seriously dull horror film. The script by George Franklin based on the novel by Ray Russell is slow to say the least. Nothing interesting or exciting happens and it finishes with one of the most boring none event of a twist ending I've ever seen and frustratingly it just finishes suddenly. As the story plods along at a snails pace there are a few rapes, but none are shown on screen. There is only one gore scene in the entire film too. The monster itself is only shown at the very end and has all of three short scenes. Everything about this film production-wise is very static and flat, the film has no energy or pace. The acting is dull and you don't feel or care for anyone. Check out the scene in the autopsy room where you can clearly see the boom mike at the top of the screen on several occasions. The type of rubbish horror film making that you'll forget within a day. A real waste of time, don't bother.