Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Incarnate Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman March 6, 2017

Incarnate, which comes from San Andreas Director Brad Peyton (here taking on a movie that's completely different in tone, structure, and demand...kudos to Peyton for branching out so far), offers a new spin on the "Exorcism" genre that took off with the classic The Exorcist and has since spawned countless retreads of varying degrees of success, particularly in recent years when, for whatever reason, exorcisms have even become fairly regular staples not only of cinema, but also of mainstream news. Rather than the usual flashes of crucifixes and splashes of holy water and readings from Scripture, Incarnate is sort of like The Matrix of the exorcism world, telling the story of a man who, with the help of science, travels into the minds of the possessed and forces the spirit out not through the compelling power of Christ but rather his own unique methods of battling demons on their own turf. The movie is hardly memorable, but it's more than capable and balances a blend of familiar genre flavors with a sprinkling of new and unique content that, along with Peyton's keen eye for the material, elevates it comfortably above so much of the similarly themed dreck flooding the marketplace.

After personal tragedy has reduced him to a shell of the man he once was, Dr. Seth Ember (Aaron Eckhart) has become a professional exorcist, of sorts. Rather than call upon God, he calls upon science. With a little help from his colleagues and machinery, he's able to enter the possessed individual's mind and, as he calls it, "evict" the unwanted guest. One day, Ember is visited by a woman named Camilla (Catalina Sandino Moreno). He's offered a boatload of money to try and extract a demon that the Vatican has been unable to chase. Ember is reluctant until he's told the demon may be one for whom he has been searching his entire career. The victim is a young boy named Cameron (David Mazouz) who lives with his mother, a recent divorcée named Lindsay (Carice van Houten).

Incarnate deals in some typical Sci-Fi/Horror mumbo-jumbo that allows characters to enter the possessed individual's mind. It's in some ways as much Insidious (Inside Us...apropos for Incarnate) as it is The Matrix, and the film manages to blend its styles, influences, and repetitive core with enough momentum to keep interest up and differentiate it from its peers. There's the obligatory possessed individual (more than one, actually) defying gravity and forced up against the ceiling, a few cheap jump scares made of flashing imagery and sharp musical cues, and a selection of demonically possessed characters who look human beyond blackened eyes. But Peyton and screenwriter Ronnie Christensen make all of that ancillary support, not the focus. The focus is on the characters, less even the possessed and more the protagonist who is battling his own demons, which are not exactly all that dissimilar from those he battles in others' minds. His are just manifest in a different way. Indeed, the film is as much about his own battle with his own demons -- a haunting life-changing event in his past -- as it is his fight against those that possess his "clients." It's an interesting dynamic that develops the character in a different context and offers some nicely realized juxtapositions along the way. Many of these films try to be clever; Incarnate doesn't try: it's naturally sharp and, even if the entire film isn't as engaging as its highlight moments, the underlying current of success stays with it for the duration, a rarity to be sure in the age of recycled Horror cinema.

The film's Matrix-esque approach to exorcism is its main selling point, but it does offer more in the way of good craftsmanship and solid performances to help to further distinguish it from the field. Aaron Eckhart has an interesting challenge of playing not dueling characters, or even one person with a split personality, but an individual who can be, essentially, two versions of himself: the "real world" version who is scraggly, wheelchair bound, and prone to drink, and the clean-cut, mobile, and not-so-internally scarred version when he's working a possession within another individual's mind. Elkhart gives the part, and the movie, some needed weight that the script and Peyton's craftsmanship alone cannot offer. He makes the movie's admittedly silly premise feel real, important, and dangerous, and not just when some of the wounds he receives in the mind begin to manifest on his real body. He makes the audience believe the character's tragic side, the empty side, and as the movie plays into his past Eckhart finds the deeper character qualities to advance his story parallel to the main story, leading them to intersection and giving the audience reason to care beyond the story's crude maneuverings. As mentioned earlier, this is hardly classic filmmaking or anything all that memorable, but Incarnate works hard to work well enough and elevate its novelty gimmick and stale core into something that plays as a satisfying time killer.

Incarnate Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Incarnate was shot digitally but, beyond some source noise -- light in most places, a bit more intense in lower-light conditions (much of the film, really) -- it enjoys a healthy film-like texture and, technically, is good-to-go. Detailing satisfies across the board. Even as the film is fairly dark and drab, facial textures are nicely revealing, particularly Ember's scruffy beard and shaggy hair. Clothing lines are adequately crisp and well defined, though the transfer never quite reaches the point where the Blu-ray approaches real life. Colors are kept in check, not by any contrast manipulation or desaturation but only because the movie is fairly dark. A carnival about an hour into the movie offers one of the more diverse and robust examples on offer, with brighter colors pushing hard enough to stand apart from the surrounding darkness and offer an insight into the transfer's ability to reproduce them with pleasing accuracy. Black levels, critical to the film, hold deep and true. Skin tones appear accurate. Beyond the noise, there's not much in the way of eyesores; there's hardly, if any, banding, macroblocking, aliasing, or other trouble areas. This is a solid all-around Blu-ray presentation from Universal.

Incarnate Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

If nothing else, movies like Incarnate can be counted on to deliver fairly dynamic listens, and this film's sound design is no exception. Universal's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack begins with full, lifelike, and well-spaced city ambience. A haunting, foreboding sound of a heavy blind tassel knocking against the wooden frame plays with a positive low end thump, followed by a wrestling match and a neck snap. The track's low end depth is a prominent fixture throughout the film; bass is balanced and engaging, whether from heavyset thumps and crashes and musical strikes or throbbing club beats in chapter three. Music is crisp and well spaced, generous in surround usage and, again, making good use of the low end. Surrounds carry plenty of discrete and diffuse effects; the track is very well spaced and open throughout, evident even in hushed scenes. Dialogue is clear, well prioritized, and grounded in the front-center portion of the stage.

Incarnate Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Incarnate contains one supplement. The Making of 'Incarnate' (1080p, 7:11) explores basic story structure, actors and performances, characters, thoughts on real-world exorcisms, the quick shooting schedule, Brad Peyton's work, and more. This disc also includes two versions of the film: the Theatrical Version (1:26:36) and the Unrated Version (1:27:03; note that the DVS soundtrack is not available with this version). A DVD copy of the film and a voucher for a UV/iTunes digital copy are included with purchase.

Incarnate Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Incarnate is the sort of movie that could understandably see a wide spread of responses, ranging from "poor" to "pretty good," skimming above the bottom of the barrel but not reaching high enough to get to the top of the movie mountain. On the down side, it's fundamentally the same thing that's been released fifty different times, it seems, in the last two decades. On the plus side, it tries to bring something new to a stale genre. Performances are solid, Peyton's craftsmanship is strong, and even if the movie can become a little too reliant on visual and aural cliché, it ultimately proves more engaging than many others of its kind. Universal's Blu-ray is sadly devoid of much in the way of supplemental content, but video and audio both satisfy. Recommended.