the Incubus (1982)

A small New England town is rocked by an epidemic of gruesome rape-murders. With each brutal attack, the town’s doctor begins to suspect that something inhuman is stalking the women of Galen, a creature that may also haunt the prophetic dreams of his teenage daughter’s boyfriend.

There’s a pervasive weirdness to the Incubus that really sets it apart from other classic stalk-and-slash movies of the early 1980’s. The editing gives it an off-kilter feel; scenes end abruptly or breakdown into slow motion, and there’s a lot of interesting camera angles and voyeuristic POV shots that intensify the strangeness of the film. Some of the performances are also a bit off, but in a good way, like Kerrie Keane’s nosy journalist Laura Kincaid who says her lines like she’s an alien who’s just learning to imitate human speech.  John Cassavetes’ Dr. Sam Cordell, the film’s central character, lavishes affection on his daughter Jenny that seems borderline incestuous. There’s face stroking, kissing on the lips, and at one point Cordell watches his daughter as she gets out of the shower. His character is revealed to have had a prior relationship with an 18 year old woman that ended with her death, but it’s just one of several plot points that never seem to reach fruition. There also seems to be some sort of town conspiracy involving the mother of Jenny’s boyfriend and a series of rapes that happened thirty years earlier, and these are also never fully explained. 

Despite its inconsistencies, the film retains a creepy tone throughout, aided by some pretty harrowing and suspenseful sequences in which the townswomen (and at one point, an entire family) are attacked by an unseen force. The film is fairly devoid of cheese, with the exception of a scene in a movie theater where a music video featuring a pre-Iron Maiden Bruce Dickinson is being shown (and it is totally boss). And then there’s the dialogue. Oh god, the dialogue. Let's just focus on these cute kittens for a second.

 “The windpipe was torn out. Her uterus was ruptured, just like Mandy’s. What we had here was real intercourse with a hell of a lot of sperm…. Look there was so much sperm in her that the hemorrhaging itself couldn’t get rid of it. “

WHAT THE EFFING EFF? Look, I’m pretty used to hearing horrible details of rape/murders thanks to an undying love of Law & Order: SVU, but that has to be one of the most disgusting sentences ever. The words “sperm”, “dry intercourse” and (gah) “ruptured uterus” are used repeatedly throughout the movie, so if you were looking to finally fill out your "Disgusting Things Said By John Cassevetes" bingo card you’ll definitely hit gold with the Incubus.

Overall, the Incubus is a definite recommend for fans of early 80’s slashers and weird cinema alike. Plus it introduced me to fabulous song "Vice Versa" by Samson. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m in desperate need of a steaming hot shower.

Bruce Dickinson gives it two thumbs up.