→ A Movies By Women.com Article

→ Anya Camilleri

The Director of the thriller Incubus

by Heidi Martinuzzi

Incubus premiered on October 31, 2006 on a website called AOL Red. So, what the hell does that mean? Aol Red is a website/channel that is testing out the "straight-to-download" concept of film distribution. Rather than put the film in the theaters, AOL RED is totally skipping that part, and for 30 days you'll be able to download a film for $7.99, or rent it for 5 days for $3.49, all by leftclicking. Unless you have a Mac. Then you'll do whatever Mac users do. After that, Incubus has been available on DVD. Sony owns the film and hopefully we'll see it get its run on television. AOL will gauge whether this type of distribution makes sense (money) or not. If it's successful, this may mean a great big huge change for the way films are distributed. It'll mean that there's an online market for horror films, and theaters will start to feel the pressure. It's doubly cool that the film they've chosen to start off this new experiment is a feature directed by a woman. Anya Camilleri is an experienced director who suddenly found herself directing party-girl Tara Reid in a science-fiction inspired story.

"INCUBUS - A group of friends are forced to go on a voyage of self discovery. Unfortunately for most of them it comes too late." - Anya Camilleri

"I thinks it's unusual that the film is being released in this way, but I am excited about it," says Camilleri. "Every film has a life of its own. I know the producers have all sorts of plans but I am not at liberty to discuss this right now."

Not only was the film's distribution plan something Anya had never dealt with before, so was the script. The plot? It centers around a character named Jay, played by Tara Reid. It involves a man in a cube with psychic powers known as "The Incubus". There are probably lots of dream sequences and strange telekinetic, Extrasensory Perceptive, and scary CGI sequences. Maybe with a touch of Lovecraftian "Netherworld".

"I turned the film down at first as I thought it might be a predictable horror movie. The producers really wanted me to do it, so I reread the script several times and when I thought about the Incubus and the world he inhabited, I realized it could be an interesting opportunity to explore an "other" world." She says. "Also I really wanted to work with Tara Reid and the producer Adam Shapiro, who had a very interesting take on the movie."

Tara Reid: she of Alone in the Dark, the greatest modern actress of our day. Second only to Kate Hudson, her acting talent is unparalleled.

"Tara Reid was chosen because the part of Jay required strength and vulnerability. Also Tara has the ability to let her inhibitions go and experience a very difficult emotional and physical journey." Tara has been through a lot these past few years; horrifying plastic surgery gone awry, an involuntary topless scene at P. Diddy's party, and the press loves to make fun of her and talk about her drunken "party girl" image. As you can clearly see. I'm really being mean. Tara was great in The Big Lebowski, and I really do feel for her. The press tends to persecute free-spirited women who think for themselves and who party like men. No one criticizes Colin Farrell for his partying and binge drinking, though it's much worse than anything Tara has ever done.

"I think she did an excellent job. All the other cast members were newcomers and each was chosen because they were right but also because they fit together well. In fact, they all became great friends during the shooting of the film."

So, Tara's character, Jay, is a strong lead who carries the film. Like Scream and Ginger Snaps, it presents women as articulate and feeling human beings.

"I think the characters in Incubus are real, not functions of the plot. A strength of the film is that it has at its center a young, intelligent woman, Jay, who drives the film and with whom we can identify."

The two coolest things about Incubus seem to be the setting (creepy hospital basement in Romania) and the title character (a man in a coma who can use his psychic powers to torture those around him.

"We shot a lot hand held so that the audience feel as if they are trapped in this eerie place with the characters. This makes the film genuinely scary. Also the world of the film, the chamber where the sleeper is in a coma is unusual and compelling, and though the film was low budget, we went to great lengths to give it a large scale, to help the sense of the characters being lost in this strange environment.

Incubus was actually filmed in a mix of studio and location in Romania. Partly because its cost effective, partly because Romania has the greatest horror locations. We actually used the basement floor of a really creepy disused hospital for a lot of it. There was such a weird atmosphere on set - all the crew was freaked out most of the time".

Though it was shot in Romania, and stars American actors, Camilleri insists, "Incubus is a British film, produced by Americans".

For any women who might consider watching/renting this film:

"Incubus was directed by a woman and has at its center a complex, strong, yet vulnerable female lead character that manages to use her intelligence to defeat the evil force at the end. You can't describe many movies like this...!! I hope this film will appeal to women in that they will like Jay and empathize with her".

Go back to the rest of our articles.