Incubus (1981)

User Rating:

4.3/10   

Director:

John Hough

Writers:

George Franklin (writer)
Ray Russell (novel)

Release Date:

27 August 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

The Incubus. He is the Destroyer.

Plot:

In the small New England town of Galen, a young teenage boy claims he has dreams of young women being brutally raped and murdered...

Plot Keywords:

Dead Woman In Morgue | Female Nudity | Librarian | One Word Title | Teenage Girl In Wheelchair

Cast

John Cassavetes	...	Dr. Sam Cordell
John Ireland	...	Hank Walden
Kerrie Keane	...	Laura Kincaid
Helen Hughes	...	Agatha Galen
Erin Noble	...	Jenny Cordell (as Erin Flannery)
Duncan McIntosh	...	Tim Galen
Harvey Atkin	...	Joe Prescott
Harry Ditson	...	Lt. Drivas
Mitch Martin	...	Mandy Pullman
Matt Birman	...	Roy Seeley
Beverly Cooper	...	Pru Keaton
Brian Young	...	Charlie Prescott
Barbara Franklin	...	Mrs. Pullman
Wes Lee	...	Mr. Pullman
Neil Dainard	...	Ernie Barnes
Jennifer Leak	...	Deena Ferrin
Denise Fergusson	...	Carolyn Davies
Jack Van Evera	...	Matt Davies
Helene Udy	...	Sally Harper
Lisa Bunting	...	Anita Barnes
Michelle Davros	...	Jane Barnes
Jefferson Mappin	...	Clem
James Bearden	...	Lacey
Alan Bridle	...	Interrogator
Jude Beny	...	Witch
Jeremy Hole	...	Torturer #1
Brian Montague	...	Swimmer
Dirk McLean	...	The Incubus
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bruce Dickinson	...	Samson lead singer
Mary Pirie	...	Marge
Paul Samson	...	Samson guitarist (uncredited)

Directed by
John Hough

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
George Franklin		writer
Ray Russell		novel

Produced by
Marc Boyman	....	producer
John M. Eckert	....	producer
Stephen J. Friedman	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Stanley Myers

Cinematography by
Albert J. Dunk

Film Editing by
George Appleby

Casting by
Deirdre Bowen
Clare Walker

Production Design by
Edwin Watkins		(as Ted Watkins)

Art Direction by
Elinor Fairless Hawksley
Susan Longmire

Set Decoration by
Hilton Rosemarin

Makeup Department
James Kielev	....	hair stylist
Katherine Southern	....	makeup supervisor
Maureen Sweeney	....	creature makeup artist
Maureen Sweeney	....	special makeup effects artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Louise Casselman	....	second assistant director
David Hood	....	first assistant director
Robert Wertheimer	....	third assistant director

Art Department
Dan Conley	....	property master

Sound Department
David Appleby	....	sound re-recording mixer
Brian French	....	sound editor
David Lee	....	sound recordist
Tim Roberts	....	sound editor (as Timothy Roberts)
Don White	....	sound re-recording mixer

Special Effects by
Colin Chilvers	....	director of special effects
Martin Malivoire	....	special effects
Neil Trifunovich	....	on set effects
Hans Metz	....	special effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Dwayne McLean	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Horst Ehricht	....	still photographer
Howard Galbraith	....	gaffer
Jonathan Hackett	....	key grip

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Erla Lank	....	wardrobe supervisor
Mary E. McLeod	....	wardrobe coordinator

Other crew
Simon Clery	....	assistant locations
David Coatsworth	....	location manager
Les Edwards	....	creature designer
Jeremy Hole	....	script consultant
Pat Whittingham	....	unit publicist
Lisa Wilder	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• John M. Eckert Productions Ltd.
• Kings Road Productions Ltd.
• Mark Films Ltd.

Distributors

• Artists Releasing Corporation (ARC) (1982) (USA) (theatrical)
• Elite Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Film Ventures International (FVI) (1982) (USA) (theatrical)
• Future Film (1997) (Finland) (VHS)
• Pan-Canadian Film Distributors (????) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Transvídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Vestron Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Vestron Video (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)

Also Known As:

The Incubus (USA)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 (video re-release) | France:-12 | Norway:18 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Guelph, Ontario, Canada

Company:

John M. Eckert Productions Ltd.

Trivia:

The production script consultant Jeremy Hole cameos in the film as one of the witch torturers.

Movie Connections:

References The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Soundtrack:

Riding the Thunder

Better than you might think

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.