1975 Film: Incubus

For our 1975 film, we created Incubus. This film begins with a family traveling through the woods in northern California and they get a flat tire. The family dog then proceeds to jump out of the car and wander into the woods, with the family following close behind. The dog leads them to a cult, which the family had been warned to stay away from because of the cult's crazy and satanical practices. With no where else to go for help, the family approaches the cult. The cult members are very nice to the family and offer them food and a place to sleep for the night. The family graciously accepts the offer and spends the night. This cult is an all male cult and the father and son in the family are treated well by the cult members. The women, however, not so much. The family spends more time in the cult then they were expecting and the women get ultimately raped and killed. The father and son get trapped in the cult and are forced to join.
We chose to do a horror movie for our 1975 film because horror was a very popular and successful genre during this time, for example The Exorcist. Movies during this decade were also known for "pushing the envelope," which we think this movie certainly does.
Our cast consists of Dustin Hoffman as a cult member, Clint Eastwood as the leader of the cult, Richard Dreyfuss as the Dad, Julie Christie as the Mom, Melissa Sue Anderson playing the 12 year old daughter, and Jason Bateman playing the 6 year old son. Dustin Hoffman was a prominent actor during this time and was known for playing the roles of anti-heroes and vulnerable characters. Clint Eastwood was a very famous actor at this time and played many serious roles (Dirty Harry films), and I think he would be perfect for the leader of the cult. Richard Dreyfuss and Julie Christie were two very successful and established actors/actresses during the 70's and had leading roles in movies such as American Graffiti, Jaws, and Don't Look Now. Jason Bateman began his career at a very young age playing an orphaned boy in the show "Little House on the Prairie," and he was 6 years old in 1975. Melissa Sue Anderson also starred in Little House on the Prairie at the age of 11 and was a child star. She was 13 years old in 1975.
For our studio we chose Laurel Group Inc. who produced several horror films including one of the most famous horror films of all time, Night of the Living Dead. We thought this studio with their horror film-making experience would be the best for us. It is also an independent and pretty low-budget film studio. For our distributing company we chose Bryanston Pictures due to their great horror film experience with movies such as Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and the Devil's Rain.