Incubus
by Leslie Stevens
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Milos Milos, William ShatnerDirector: Leslie Stevens
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Unknown)
Format: NTSC
Running Time: 93 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-02-02
Studio: Miracle Pictures
Movie Reviews of Incubus
Movie Review: La Unusola Filmo Usona Iam Farita Tute en Esperante
Summary: 5 Stars
For many years, 1965's legendary horror opus INCUBUS was thought to be a lost film. Some years after its production, the original negatives and prints were carelessly discarded or destroyed by the film lab entrusted with their preservation, and knowing of no other extant copies, the filmmakers resigned themselves to the idea that their award-winning work was forever gone. But in the mid-1990s, INCUBUS producer Anthony Taylor learned that the Cinémathèque Française in Paris had discovered a copy of the film in their archives. He subsequently negotiated to have a high-quality copy made, and from this a digital master was created. And now, after missing for more than 3 decades, INCUBUS is again available to eager genre fans.
INCUBUS is set in Nomen Tuum, a village on an idyllic island that also happens to be the hunting grounds of two succubae (beautiful female demons that seduce human males and lead them to ruin). One of these demons, Kia (Allyson Ames), has lured countless IMMORAL men to their ultimate doom, but she is growing bored with beleaguering those who are already marked for damnation. She yearns instead for the challenge of seducing and corrupting a man of noble character. However, her mentor, Amael (Eloise Hardt), warns that toying with saints is a dangerous game, as they wield a strange power that can corrupt even a demon's heart--a power called LOVE. Rejecting this advice, Kia sets her sights on Marc (William Shatner), a respectable young war hero who lives with his sister, Arndis (Ann Atmar).
In the guise of a weary traveler, Kia accosts Marc, and he is immediately attracted to her. She feigns mutual interest, of course, and when Marc kisses her, she tempts him with the suggestion that they make love. But being of good character, Marc insists that they first do the "right thing" and marry. Such principled moral restraint intrigues Kia, and she begins to fall in love with Marc.
Outraged by Marc's "corrupting" influence, Kia's mentor, Amael, summons the titular incubus (the male counterpart to the succubus) and sends him out to avenge Kia by defiling Marc's sister. But as Kia's love grows, Marc wins her over completely, and this turn of events only further enrages the incubus and thereby places both Marc AND Kia in peril.
INCUBUS is an excellent horror film that belies its meager budget. Neither sensationalist nor exploitative, the simple tale of good-versus-evil is accessible to an audience of almost any age or nationality, yet it is not a shallow or boring film. Indeed, the excellent acting, the beautifully aesthetic cinematography, and the eerie religious symbolism and psychological subtext keep the viewer continually engaged as the narrative unfolds. And even after 40 years, the film does not seem the least bit dated. Natural settings, rural architecture, and simple wardrobes give the film a timeless, fairytale-like quality.
INCUBUS is often cited as a mere curiosity because it is the only film to date in which the characters speak solely in the artificial language of Esperanto. (Created in 1887 by Ludovic Zamenhof, Esperanto is based on the common elements of the European romance languages, which are themselves rooted in Latin. A relatively easy-to-learn language, Zamenhof naively hoped that Esperanto would become a universal tongue that would promote world peace.) Limiting the film's significance to this one characteristic, though, is both inaccurate and unjust. It can easily be argued that, along with its contemporaries like CARNIVAL OF SOULS and NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, INCUBUS is one of the watershed horror films of the 1960s that greatly influenced the evolution of the genre. Although containing a certain level of creepy imagery, these films contain relatively little blatant gore. Instead, the primary horror element of each is an eerie ambiance created via symbolism; atmospherics such as lightning, thunder, and fog; copious nighttime photography; unusual lighting and camera angles; odd musical scores; and the use black-and-white film. And rather than being a mere curiosity, the use of subtitled Esperanto-only dialogue in INCUBUS is an additional aesthetic masterstroke. It provides a certain foreign flavor that, regardless of the nationality of the audience, contributes to the film's ethereal atmosphere by making it seem as if all takes place in an unfamiliar or alien realm.
INCUBUS was the brainchild of Leslie Stevens, a producer, writer, and director for the classic 1960s sci-fi TV series THE OUTER LIMITS. Leslie wrote and directed INCUBUS himself, and he assigned the primary camera duties to another OUTER LIMITS alumnus, future-award-winning cinematographer Conrad Hall. The influence of the TV show is recognizable in several elements of the film, the most obvious being the theme-music pastiche. Surprisingly, this musical style works even better in INCUBUS than it did on TV, as the bizarre sound of the theremin on which it is played sharpens the otherworldly quality of the film.
Overall, INCUBUS deserves its legendary status. It's a must-see for any serious fan of the horror genre or for fans of STAR TREK's William Shatner, and with DVD technology, such fans now have the opportunity to own a copy of a great film that was once thought to be forever lost to the dust of history.
NOTE: For serious film collectors, the authorized (by the film's producer, Anthony Taylor) DVD from Winstar (click Incubus for amazon's product page) is probably a better option than the DVD offered here. The Winstar edition offers a restored version of the film, two audio commentaries--one with star William Shatner; one with producer Anthony Taylor and cinematographers Conrad L. Hall and William Fraker--and other interesting bonus material.
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