Summary
This black and white horror movie, filmed in California but with dialogue in Esperanto, is unlike anything you've ever seen. "Incubus" inverts the usual moral battle of a good person tempted by evil. When a headstrong, blond, young succubus named Kia (Allyson Ames) becomes bored with luring the corrupt and sinful to their ultimate demise, she decides she's going to tackle a truly good man (in the form of a very young William Shatner, of all people). An older, wiser succubus warns Kia that the good have an uncanny power called love, but Kia recklessly dives in, confident in her seductive powers--until she finds herself spiritually defiled by goodness and must summon an incubus (Milos Milos) to enact revenge. The pacing is slow but eerily effective, as are the stark cinematography and low-budget effects. Shatner's intonations are just as distinctive in Esperanto as in English, but that only adds to the movie's overall stylization. "Incubus" shares a kinship with "Carnival of Souls", another low-budget black and white horror film that has more going on than buckets of gore. Though "Incubus" would seem to be heavily influenced by Ingmar Bergman, director Leslie Stevens has said he was more affected by Japanese samurai films. A strikingly unique and beautifully creepy film. "--Bret Fetzer"