Almost playing off like a "high class" slasher flick, The Incubus comes as a refreshing change of pace when compared to the usual fare of the time. Highly underrated and most often unavailable in a superior edition than a murky out of print pre record, it's nice to see this fine genre film finally surface on DVD. Elite Entertainment provides us with a respectable transfer of a lost gem of cinematic terror.

Galen is a small and quiet New England town (where everybody knows everyone else's business, and then some), until now. A rash of grisly rape/murders is keeping the towns residents on edge. Dr. Sam Cordell (John Cassavetes of Rosemary's Baby) and his daughter Jenny (Erin Flannery) keep a very close relationship (perhaps too close?). Jenny's boyfriend Tim (Duncan McIntosh) suffers from traumatic nightmares that may be bizarre premonitions of sorts. Sam is soon called in to check on corpse after corpse after corpse (that's a lot of corpses) at the local hospital. With the help of police chief (John Ireland AKA my favorite sheriff from Satan's Cheerleaders) and a nosy (but sexy) reporter played by Kerrie Keane Sam tries to get to the bottom of things. The problem is that these fine folks have no idea of what's in store for them, and neither do we.

The Incubus is one hell of a sick little flick. Comic relief is pretty much nil, and the deadpan performances seem to always be effectively on target. They keep bringing us down, and there is nothing to bring us back up again (not that this is necessarily a bad thing mind you). Filled with disturbing and frank dialogue, at the time, I can see how upsetting this film could have been. By today's standards it may not shock nearly as much, however when put into perspective this film really does pack a mean little punch. Each of the poor victims is nearly filled to the brim with "fluids" of some sort and there is almost always talk of something being ruptured in a more than grotesque fashion. Some of the attack setups are truly frightening including a brutal rape in a museum of a (way too sweet looking) female curator and another young lady in a movie theatre bathroom. There are plenty of corpses in the morgue and some of the scenes involving said corpses are uh "interesting" to say the least.

Elite has done a fine job in bringing The Incubus to DVD. Despite a disclaimer on the packaging about film grain being inherent in the source material (I was therefore expecting the worst when I popped this disc in my player), I have to say that I've seen far worse. Colors are nice and solid with barely a hint of artifacting. Blacks are nice and deep and there are really only minimal amounts of print damage. There is some grain present in certain scenes, but nothing to be concerned about. The film looks great, plain and simple. Overall this is a fine presentation by Elite and a solid transfer of another horror gem from the 80's.

Audio is presented in a serviceable mono mix, which sounds just fine. There is really no distortion to speak of and dialogue is nice an clear. What do you expect from mono anyway? Sheesh!

Extras are limited to a theatrical trailer. That's it folks. It would have been nice to see just a bit more, but I'm not really an extras hog so it's fine with me. Those used to discs packed to the brim with still galleries and such may be a bit disappointed.

The Incubus is a fine fright flick that is sure to please fans of the genre looking for something just a bit offbeat. It's sleazy, but it doesn't bask in its sleaziness, which makes it all the more unsettling. With fine performances and set pieces The Incubus plays of as an effective chiller. Fans of the film should be ultimately pleased while newcomers should find themselves to be pleasantly surprised.