With the horror genre running on a low tank of original ideas, this film continues on a string of uninspiring horror flicks with nothing to grant beyond formula and rundown clichés. That is not say to director Brad Peyton could not have made this idea work, even if it involved retreading a few seen-it-before elements. Unfortunately, his execution and the competent performances by the cast including Aaron Eckhart fail to save this movie from falling to a drivel. The only thing keeping this movie from falling into absolute obscurity maybe Peyton's small delivery of thrills that manage to once or twice and the performances the cast manages to dig up. Nonetheless, it is a thoroughly forgettable ride from nearly start to finish. So what is the story here? Aaron Eckhart plays Dr. Seth Ember, a paranormal scientist with the ability to enter inside other people's minds and cast out the demons that plague them. Ember himself suffers from a troubled past with the death of his wife and son in a car accident. When a young boy named Cameron Sparrow (played by David Mazouz) is unexpectedly possessed by a demonic entity, his mother (played by Carice Van Houton) must enlist the help of Ember and his colleagues Camilla (played by Catalina Sandino Moreno) and Oliver (played by Keir O'Donnell) to journey inside Cameron's subconscious mind in order to fight off the demon that possesses him.
The movie is not completely devoid of scares, at least after the first third when the plot finally kicks in. Sadly, the scares come very few and far in between to the point where it hammers you with the urge to check your watch multiple times before the end credits appear. The film spends most of its time borrowing elements of films like 'Insidious' which follows a concept nearly identical to this one with a child being possessed and another human forced to enter through their mind to save them. In the process, it wastes its already-short potential on cheap jump scares and creepy imagery that never quite lands. Is the sight of people turning their eyes black and morphing into demons supposed to be scary? Is adding enough blood and gore to push the PG-13 rating to the brink supposed to add a sense of tension? If so, Brad Peyton certainly fails to make both of these work here. The film also has some half-successful attempts at emotional resonance which is greatly incorporated in Dr. Seth Ember's background dealing with the loss of his wife and child in a car wreck, and Ember hoping to gain redemption from performing this experiment on Cameron. In terms of acting, Aaron Eckhart does okay but clearly seems bored in the role. Carice Van Houton does her job in the role of the child' mother as does David Mouzez as the creepily possessed kid. But it is enough to raise spend chills down your spine? Unless you are easily scared back by a child talking in a demonic voice, there is nothing to be truly startled about.
Incarnate is a disappointing supernatural horror piece that offers more of a snoozer than a satisfying scarefest. By the end, it is very easy to forget about that. Brad Peyton tries to invent a good horror picture, but his efforts come to frail results.
The movie is not completely devoid of scares, at least after the first third when the plot finally kicks in. Sadly, the scares come very few and far in between to the point where it hammers you with the urge to check your watch multiple times before the end credits appear. The film spends most of its time borrowing elements of films like 'Insidious' which follows a concept nearly identical to this one with a child being possessed and another human forced to enter through their mind to save them. In the process, it wastes its already-short potential on cheap jump scares and creepy imagery that never quite lands. Is the sight of people turning their eyes black and morphing into demons supposed to be scary? Is adding enough blood and gore to push the PG-13 rating to the brink supposed to add a sense of tension? If so, Brad Peyton certainly fails to make both of these work here. The film also has some half-successful attempts at emotional resonance which is greatly incorporated in Dr. Seth Ember's background dealing with the loss of his wife and child in a car wreck, and Ember hoping to gain redemption from performing this experiment on Cameron. In terms of acting, Aaron Eckhart does okay but clearly seems bored in the role. Carice Van Houton does her job in the role of the child' mother as does David Mouzez as the creepily possessed kid. But it is enough to raise spend chills down your spine? Unless you are easily scared back by a child talking in a demonic voice, there is nothing to be truly startled about.
Incarnate is a disappointing supernatural horror piece that offers more of a snoozer than a satisfying scarefest. By the end, it is very easy to forget about that. Brad Peyton tries to invent a good horror picture, but his efforts come to frail results.