I wanted to like The Incubus. I love throwing all good taste to the wind and sitting down to gobble up a slimy, gory, blood-drenched, perverted piece of horror/splatter. I'd seen at least portions of The Incubus as a teen, and I seem to remember some of its scenes with nostalgia. The title itself is enough to conjure images of sexual depravity and gratuitous nudity. Alas, this is one lousy horror flick.

The Incubus is set in what appears to be a small Wisconsin town (to judge by the license plates) that is suddenly victimized by a series of appalling rape/murders. A slumming John Cassavetes plays Dr. Sam Cordell, to whom falls the unfortunate task of examining the brutally murdered women. Meanwhile, at home, Cordell seems to hold an incestuous desire for his motherless 18-year-old daughter, Jenny (Erin Flannery). What else to make of his lingering reaction to Jenny's post-shower full-frontal nudity? As we're furrowing our brows over these developments, it also becomes clear that Jenny's decidedly strange and effeminate boyfriend Tim (Duncan McIntosh) is enduring ghastly nightmares that are somehow connected to the grisly crimes.

Unfortunately, the film's primary story—that of the horrible murders—is dead on arrival, combining ugly slasher conventions with a humorless inevitability that sucks the plot of any resonance. Tim's nightmares are repetitive and lead to little, if any, revelation. Character development among all the leads is stillborn, offering up tidbits that lead nowhere. What are we to make of Cordell's interest in local reporter Laura Kincaid (the overacting Kerrie Keane)? Their scenes together will provoke unintentional laughter sooner than they reveal any character insight. And what about Cordell's dead wife and the whispered-about circumstances of her demise? For much of the film's running time, you'll get the distinct impression that large chunks of footage have been sloppily hacked out for no good reason. And the ending is not only silly but renders the title meaningless. Which leaves the eerie flashes of incest as the most interesting and disquieting aspect of this film. And even that is frustratingly under-developed.

Elite presents The Incubus in an anamorphic-widescreen transfer of the film's original 1.85:1 theatrical presentation. The often-grainy image is nevertheless surprisingly detailed, with accurate (if not particularly vivid) colors. Given the film's age and low budget, I was impressed. However, be prepared for minor compression artifacts, a general jitteriness, minor specks and dirt, and aliasing along vertical lines. Also, darker scenes tend toward murkiness.

The Dolby 1.0 Mono track is a fidelity-suffering reproduction of the original theatrical presentation. Particularly when the soundtrack goes for the throat—as with its frequent screams—the highs tend toward distortion. I found myself turning the volume down to quiet the unpleasant sound. Otherwise, dialog is clear, if somewhat tinny.

All you get is the original theatrical trailer, presented in full frame. The trailer is in poor condition. Unfortunately, the trailer appears to be advertising a better, more horrific, and action-packed film than the feature that you'll find on the DVD.

Your cable-TV memories of this film, no matter how fond they are, will be more fulfilling that rewatching this frustrating horror flick. On the plus side, the image is impressive.