Incarnate

Brad Peyton's exorcism-with-a-twist movie sat on the shelf for a few years (rarely a good sign) before being briefly released to theatres. The victim here is young Cameron (David Mazouz), whose divorced mother (Carice van Houten) calls upon Dr. Seth Ember (Aaron Eckhart) for help. Ember is an unconventional exorcist who relies on science rather than religion: he enters the subconscious of the possessed to “evict” demons that maintain control by keeping their hosts entranced with pleasurable hallucinations (Cameron's center on happy outings with his now-absent father). Ember is confined to a wheelchair as the result of a car crash that killed his wife and son—an “accident” that was caused, he knows, by a demon who possessed the other driver—but during his trips into victims' minds he has the use of his legs. Unsurprisingly, his old nemesis turns out to be the very demon that is possessing Cameron, and a life-or-death struggle between them ensues. Incarnate grows increasingly incomprehensible towards the end, but one has to admire the way that Eckhart flings himself into his role, although it hardly seems worth the effort. Not a necessary purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a “making-of” featurette (7 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are bonus DVD, digital, and UltraViolet copies of the film. Bottom line: a small extras package for an underwhelming horror flick.] (F. Swietek)