MOVIE REVIEW : ‘Incident’ Plays Politics With Horror

Nowadays, when we watch a group of young people take off for an outing in the woods we can be pretty certain that what’s in store will be more along the lines of “Friday the 13th” than Jean Renoir’s “Picnic on the Grass.” “Hadesae: The Final Incident” (at the Monica 4-Plex) is no exception, but the source of the horror in this ultra-low budget Iranian emigre production is political rather than supernatural.

An attractive group--three men, two women and a little boy--leave in a van for an overnight stay in a rural area somewhere in Southern California. Sure enough: They have car trouble, and the youngster injures his leg. By an exceedingly long arm of coincidence, they’re trespassing on the property of a fellow Iranian (Bahman Mofid), who is oddly reluctant to offer them help and shelter.

His hesitance is understandable: He has just successfully kidnaped his teen-age daughter (Sepideh Mashiah) from a mental institution so that he and his wife (Soraya Mofid) can care for her themselves. She had been left with an aunt when her parents fled to the United States in the wake of the downfall of the shah; through flashbacks we see how she had suffered as a child at the hands of Iraqi soldiers.

Such a plot is not necessarily that far-fetched, but to make it work would require the talent, experience and resources that seem currently beyond director Kayvon Derakhshanian and writer Ali Emami. Wildly uneven and shapeless, “Hadesae” is further hampered by inadequate lighting and by having been shot on short ends of film stock of varying quality. (Such technical deficiencies might not have been such a severe liability in a more personal and less genre-like film.)

With few exceptions, Iranian emigre films have been seriously flawed, but all have been charged with passionate, often conflicting, emotions about Iran past and present. In this, “Hadesae” (Times-rated Mature for considerable violence) is no different, but sad to say, it is the poorest of the lot. Even so, its largely professional cast boasts Bahman Mofid, a star in his native land, returning to the screen after a 14-year absence.

‘Hadesae: The Final Incident’

Bahman Mofid: Mr. Nori

Soraya Mofid: Mrs. Nori

Babak Habibifar: Ahmad

Andy Bagheri: Mohummad

Sohaila Rahmaney: Mondona

A Scoplin Pictures presentation. Director Kayvon Derakhshanian. Producer Jack Kaprielian. Screenplay by Ali Emami; from a story by Derakhshanian. Cinematographer Del Chouia. Editors Derakhshanian, Kaprielian. Music Kam Nejad. Sound Sana Al-Qumlas. In Farsi, with English subtitles. Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.

Times-rated Mature (for considerable violence).