INCUBUS/1982/Canada/93 minutes

Incubus is a low budget Canadian supernatural horror movie in which a small New England town called Galen is plagued by several rapes and murders of women by an unknown assailant. The rapes are so brutal that the uteruses of the victims are torn apart and in one case the windpipe is also crushed, which is described by the doctor as 'full intercourse'. In other cases where no semen was discovered, the doctor flatly comments that there was ‘dry intercourse’. As the title suggests, the perpetrator is a mythical creature of lore, the Incubus, who is presented in the film as having the ability to transmute into any form, and who rapes witches in order to impregnate them. The central characters of the film are Doctor Sam Cordell, his daughter Jenny, local reporter Laura Kincaid, Sheriff Hank Walden and Jenny’s boyfriend Tim (whose ‘grandmother’ Agatha Galen hides a terrible secret about the town).

 

It is not uncommon for films of the supernatural or mystery genre involving small towns to hold the premise that the townspeople are aware of the events narrated and have been hiding a secret out of fear or guilt. In this movie too, it is shown that the town had a rash of similar bizarre rape-murders 30 years prior to the main events, that were unsolved and suppressed by prominent town residents and the law enforcement officers. Galen reveals that she is a witch-hunter who protected Tim when his mother was driven to her death after being branded a witch, and further it is also shown that she knew of the existence of Incubus and its heavy curse on the town. Instead of believing in the supernatural, the sheriff and attorney general’s deputed officials turn the focus on a gang of people based on the amount of semen found and the unusually violent crime scenes, against the medical opinion of Cordell who still believes the involvement of a single culprit.

 

Cordell is a new resident to town, and as he draws closer to the truth behind the cases, his personal life comes under stress. His young daughter is dating a boy Tim who has premonitory visions of all incidents, and begins to think he is the incarnation of the sexually voracious Incubus responsible for the bloody carnage. Though he is cleared of the murders as his semen is not matched to the one found on a victim's body, his dreams prove crucial in revealing the true identity of the sexual demon. Speaking of the demon, it puts in appearance briefly only twice in the movie, and it looks like an overgrown gargoyle with bad teeth. Kincaid is portrayed as a relentless reporter who may know more about the killings than she reveals, and the actress Kerrie Keane puts in a truly weird and creepy performance as a woman with diabolical intentions.

 

The entire movie has an atmosphere of dread and unease, which slowly builds up to an abrupt and scary finale that was quite startling, if not unpredictable. The one complaint I had with the movie was its editing, which seemed jumbled and gave many scenes a rather rushed appearance. For instance, in the middle of the movie, Jenny is recounting to her father about Tim's delirious state of mind and how he views himself as the Incubus due to his disturbing death visions. However, the conversation is cut-off in the middle and in the next instant, Cordell is seen getting off his car as he rushes towards Jenny and help her and Tim. It seemed to me that either few scene portions were missing from the print source and thus could not be included in the Blu-Ray, or that the film was deliberately edited to reduce verbosity and focus on action, a definite requirement for the horror genre. But in this case, the editing made the scenes feel incomplete and added confusion to the narrative.

However, the movie maintained a grim and mean-spirited outlook throughout its running time with a steady and under-stated emphasis on expressions of torment and nauseating direct dialogue related to the rapes. For instance, in one early scene, Cordell informs the sheriff that such a large amount of semen was found in a victim’s body that the hemorrhaging could not get rid of it ! He also mentions that the substance appeared red under a microscope and moved at a different rate that that of humans. The grim atmospherics of the film are ably supported by stark and gloomy Canadian landscape, the gothic designed houses and a curious cobweb ridden library where Galen reads an ancient text on demons and the Incubus. In summary, this was not an entertaining film to watch, but as a horror story it lived up to expectations by creating images of tension and palpable fear during the resolution of the mystery. An effective torture scene appears towards the beginning of the movie, where a library curator is ravaged amongst shelves of falling books and empty faced mannequins who stare eerily while the poor lady is brutalized and left for dead. While there are long interludes where there is either a lot of dialogue or empty hard stares by the characters, the film is not dull because of the suddenness in which cruel deaths and rapes appear on screen and the crude manner in which they are depicted.

The Vinegar Syndrome release comes in a dual Blu-ray and DVD format, with a clear print and strong colours throughout the presentation. Objects, facial textures and small details are also well defined and the film grain is natural and not too heavy. However, the studio gives a disclaimer at the beginning of the movie that they could only locate a theatrical pint for Reel 4, which becomes noticeable with a few scratches and speckles in some scenes. However, these are small faults and do not hinder the viewing experience in any manner. Both dialogues and sound effects are satisfactorily presented. The disc contains a commentary track by Hysteria Continues, interviews with the director John Hughes, lead actress Kerrie Keane and cinematographer Albert J. Dunk, and a bunch of TV spots, alternate takes and trims, plus a theatrical trailer. The director in his interview praises Cassavetes and comments on his improvisational style of delivering dialogues. He also states that the cast had to take three shots for each scene, and further he praises the standard of acting, lighting, cinematography, and technical aspects of the film production. Keane puts in a cheerful appearance in her interview, where she fondly talks about being cast opposite Cassavetes and John Ireland in her debut film and the support she received from the director and cast members during shooting.