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Incubus

Incubus

List Price: $7.49
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Incubus
Review: I saw this by accident one night on the SciFi channel, and found it to be surprisingly good.. It certainly made me have more respect for William Shatner. He plays a wounded soldier coming home to live with his sister in their little cottage in the countryside. He catches the eye of a female demon, who schemes to win his soul as a gift for the devil. Her reasoning is that a pure and good soul is better than the corrupted and evil souls she collects everyday. But, the task is more than she bargains for when he falls in love with her. The ensuing events anger her demon comrades who summon up an incubus (played by Milos Milos) to wreak revenge. I won't ruin it anymore, but there is more to the story. A story of the fight between good and evil. The direction in terms of camera angles and cinematography is really beautiful. Shot in Esperanto!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A strange dark legend
Review: I shudder to think what a bad director and bad cast might have made of this film, but as it happens, director and cast were not only good but great. "Incubus" is one of those films that don't seem to fit in anywhere and yet fascinate. It is no horror movie, yet it is frightening. It is, in fact, a pious legend - the story of a demon from hell converted by the power of pure love (theologians may frown a little at is, but there are many similar legends). The images are strange and dark and haunting, and William Shatner radiates a purity und untainted, virtuous virility that shows there is (or was) more in him then just Captain Kirk. It's a film you'll either love dearly at first sight or put aside to never look at it again.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Good script, good acting, good directing equals good film
Review: Incubbus is a classic story about the conflict of good vs. evil. William Shatner plays the good protagonist that is confronted by a woman demon that entices weaker men into the sea as an offering to the dark lord. I think fans of the Twighlight Zone and fans of early Polanski films will really enjoy this low budget thriller. This was also one of the scariest films I've seen. The film is shot in Ingar Bergman style black and white, and the soundtrack accompanying the films is really a nice touch. The use of Esparanto gives the film even a more chilling effect. Also, if you read about the curse of the film that affected the actors and the crew after this film wrapped it really leaves you feeling a little bit unsettled. I strongly recommend this film.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: A howler
Review: Incubus belongs to the same genre as Plan Nine from Outer Space. It is screechingly, howlingly, unintentionally funny with poor everything - plot, pacing, acting, and filming. This movie offers truly off-beat humor and would be well paired with Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: FLY, DON'T RUN, TO BUY INCUBUS
Review: INCUBUS displays the sort of combined taste and discrimination that is these days so often lacking, especially for fantasy and horror films. Credit Dominic Frontiere (music), Leslie Stevens (story and direction), and the exceptional Conrad Hall, who provided what may be the best argument ever for the necessity of using black and white for "le cinema de fantastique". A morality play, yes, as one of the other critics mentioned. But each frame and sequence is a new startlement of shadowy textures and pearly, glowing highlights under Hall's photographic wizardry, and the Esperanto language, as musical at times as Italian or Spanish, lends a poetic music to even some of Stevens's most declamatory interludes of dialogue. A young William Shatner plays the Stoic hero of quiet valor as a foil to Allison Ames's rapacious demon hunting for a "good soul" to corrupt; the result is an unexpected love story with an apocalyptic ending. This is a film in the first order of magnitude, with those such as THE INNOCENTS, SECONDS, and PSYCHO, abetted by Hall's photography, but also, with Frontiere and Stevens, textured like one of the better episodes of THE OUTER LIMITS (from which most of the talent came). INCUBUS argues for the need of movies to be more than just widescreen television. Without modern CGI effects and, it should be added, contemporary vulgarity and paltry aesthetics, INCUBUS reminds us all what sublimity can be reached through stories of the fantastic. Unquestionably, INCUBUS is worth the price of purchase. Those that found and restored this film have brought back an important cinematic artifact of 20th-century film.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A great story, but the language could use revision
Review: Incubus is a chilling, riveting story in any language. The only disappointment is the quality of the Esperanto used. There are mistranslations and misusages, and sometimes some very bad pronunciation. One of the female actors in particular uses a flat, U.S. accent. And in one instances, she asks Shatner "Chu chi tio estas via lando?" to mean, "Is this your land?" What she was actually asking is, "Is this your country?" If she wanted to know if it was his property, she should have said something like, "Chu chi tio estas via terpeco?" (literally, "piece of earth.").

I have been tempted to redo the Esperanto dialogue for this film, and someone could really have done so as an alternative audio track on the DVD. Supply better translations in certain parts, and speakers who have a good international pronunciation with pure vowels and melodious intonations. Maybe the DVD can be released again later with these improvements? It was very obvious to Esperanto speakers that the actors themselves were not fluent users of the language, but then watching the film did supply a source of amusement.

Meanwhile, we should give praise to the bonus interview (in English) attached to the DVD. It is very informative and enlightening about the ongoing history of this film.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Lost Arthouse Shocker
Review: Incubus is a unique horror movie that has long been lost due to a peculiar chain of events that are worthy of their own film.
The only movie ever filmed entirely in Esperanto, Incubus inverts traditional horror sensibilities, presenting our world from the point of view of a group of demons. The linguistic device might have hampered lesser efforts, but here, it succeeds in conveying a parallax nightmare atmosphere. Filmed in Big Sur circa 1965, Incubus used much of the crew responsible for TV's Outer Limits. The only problem with the DVD presentation (and the reason for 4 stars instead of 5) is that the transfer source is a worn french theatrical print (the only print currently known to exist). While restored nicely, the print has irremovable french subtitles. This isn't too obtrusive on its' own, but it presents an obstruction problem when english subtitles are superimposed over them. Also, the DVD is full-frame not widescreen. However, due to the strange circumstances that have followed the films production, this is likely the only way we'll ever get to view it. Despite any flaws in presentation, Incubus will prove a revelation for fans of unusual horror films like 'Carnival of Souls', 'Daughter of Horror', or 'Night Tide'.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Artsy Meets Creepy
Review: Incubus is a well done art film with a creepy edge. This is evident both on and off screen. The film is an interesting approach to good vs. evil, but with a scary representation of the occult. It is interesting to note that Ann Atmar and Milos Milos both committed suicide in after appearing in Incubus.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: INCUBUS is a haunting morality play--good versus evil.
Review: INCUBUS, a 1965 B&W film filmed in Esperanto, was thought lost until just recently when producer Tony Taylor found the only surviving copy in France and managed to make the movie available on video. I was one of the first buyers, and I absolutely love the video.

The basic plot line is the eternal struggle of good versus evil, so even though the movie is old it's not dated.

It's extremely well done with great acting, interesting music, and wonderful photography. Conrad Hall, who is an Oscar winner, was the cimematographer. William Shatner is the only big name actor in it, but all the cast is excellent. (And, no, Shatner doesn't do the dialogue with his trademark Kirk mannerisms.) Shatner protrays Marc, a man tempted by a beautiful succubus (female demon ). The incubus, the male demon, comes into the film later.

The film looks like a classic foreign film, especially with the Esperanto and subtitles. The fact it's in B&W gives it an ageless quality. It can be called a horror film, but the film is more than just demons giving humans problems. I'd call it a classic morality play about good and evil.

I think anyone who likes movies will enjoy this, and anyone who is a movie buff definitely needs to add this one to his collection because it is a special film, if only because it's the only film I know of made in Esperanto ( a made-up language some people actually do speak as a second language).

The only drawback to the movie is that the subtitles take up too much space on the screen at times. But this was because the only surviving copy with French subtitling was done that way and the subtitles couldn't be moved--only changed to English.

INCUBUS is one of my favorite videos, and I've shown it to several friends already. So buy the video, invite some people over, pop some popcorn, and enjoy it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: INCUBUS is a haunting morality play--good versus evil.
Review: INCUBUS, a 1965 B&W film filmed in Esperanto, was thought lost until just recently when producer Tony Taylor found the only surviving copy in France and managed to make the movie available on video. I was one of the first buyers, and I absolutely love the video.

The basic plot line is the eternal struggle of good versus evil, so even though the movie is old it's not dated.

It's extremely well done with great acting, interesting music, and wonderful photography. Conrad Hall, who is an Oscar winner, was the cimematographer. William Shatner is the only big name actor in it, but all the cast is excellent. (And, no, Shatner doesn't do the dialogue with his trademark Kirk mannerisms.) Shatner protrays Marc, a man tempted by a beautiful succubus (female demon ). The incubus, the male demon, comes into the film later.

The film looks like a classic foreign film, especially with the Esperanto and subtitles. The fact it's in B&W gives it an ageless quality. It can be called a horror film, but the film is more than just demons giving humans problems. I'd call it a classic morality play about good and evil.

I think anyone who likes movies will enjoy this, and anyone who is a movie buff definitely needs to add this one to his collection because it is a special film, if only because it's the only film I know of made in Esperanto ( a made-up language some people actually do speak as a second language).

The only drawback to the movie is that the subtitles take up too much space on the screen at times. But this was because the only surviving copy with French subtitling was done that way and the subtitles couldn't be moved--only changed to English.

INCUBUS is one of my favorite videos, and I've shown it to several friends already. So buy the video, invite some people over, pop some popcorn, and enjoy it.


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