2/24/2017
Review for the Horror Movie “Incall’
I just had the pleasure of viewing the cult movie “Incall” written and directed by Brock RIebe. For those unfamiliar with this underground flick, it’s a homoerotic horror thriller. Throughout its 2hr + runtime, it stands alone as its own movie while honoring presiding cult classics. Multiple elements within its production, acting and writing reflect the styles of indie masters such as: Paul Bartel, Roger Corman, and David DeCoteau.
Incall opens with the lead character, Kasey, visiting his mother’s grave. Kneeling before her tombstone, he speaks of frustrations regarding work, finances, and the general public. After relaying his troubles, he prays to her spirit, asking her to provide him with a means of escaping the rut he has become trapped in.
Upon walking home, he crosses paths with a charismatic man who we later discover is a thief named Marco. Aft first, they continue opposite ways, until a shared chemistry stops Kasey who admires Marco walking away. In response, Marco stops, turns, and smiles at Kasey. By how this is orchestrated, we can conclude their passing is caused by fate, or a supernatural force.
The next 30 minutes, or so, delivers character development and a background story. By day, Kasey is a bill collector. At night, he is an in-house massage therapist who is frequently propositioned by horny, old men. Remaining professional, he declines their advances despite the money being offered.
In his private time, he journals in a back room at a coffee shop. Although he intends to stay antisocial, a character named Beth frequently interrupts his secluded visits. By little screen time, we can see her character is built to have a pestering, noisy disposition, which lacks in communication skills. An example of this can be seen as Kasey clearly wants to be left alone, yet she continues talking about herself. Rather than being cruel, Kasey tolerates her company.
Now with an emotional platform established, the action begins. One night, Kasey is propositioned by another elderly client. Trying to remain business professional, he attempts making excuses so the client will leave. The man, who won’t take no for an answer, pushes himself onto Kasey, causing a scuffle. During their struggle, one wrong move results in the client’s accidental death.
Uncertain of what to do, or how to react, Kasey is overcome by a numb aftershock that causes him to drink himself to sleep. The next morning, he goes to work, leaving the corpse where it lay, until he can decide on its disposal method. Meanwhile, Marco breaks into Kasey’s apartment, finding the dead body. Instead of letting sleeping dogs lie, Marco later confronts Kasey with an irresistible proposition.
Overall, I enjoyed Incall. What made the movie stand out for me were the mixture of diverse psychological and spiritual components. The most fascinating aspect was how Incall commented on emotionally broken characters coming together. Example: dialogue reveals Kasey’s father is a felon and Marco’s father was abusive. Although it’s not blatant that Beth has daddy issues, she shows characteristics by how she pushes herself on guys and her inability to walk away from her cheating, abusive boyfriend. Perhaps one of the conveying messages in Incall remarks on the father figure? However, I believe the main reason for them being acquainted is due to Kasey praying to his mother’s spirit. I speculate this because Marco and Beth eventually provide the necessary tools that Kasey prayed for.
A final aspect I enjoyed was the gray character development. No one in the movie is truly good or evil. Rather they are human, trying to survive a day at a time. Because of their complexity, and ability to have viewers empathize or sympathize, the creator has provided his audience with emotional gold.
From a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the worst and 10 being the best, I rate this an 8. Incall is a speculative piece that pays homage to B movie classics, the characters have synchronicity, and the director has a photogenic eye. When Incall receives a DVD release, I plan to include it to my library.
Alexander S. Brown
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