Somewhere on an island, the forces of good and evil meet when a man meets a beautiful young woman who may have plans for him.
Written and directed by Leslie Stevens, this film is 100% in Esperanto, something of a feat and of itself here. It’s also one that is both beloved and hated, and sometimes both at the same time, by lovers of films and of bad cinema at times. It’s a film that has a lot going on and still feels like not a ton happens. Yes, there are a lot of contradictions here, but that is part of Incubus’ charm. The story is somewhat simple and deals with folk or cult horror, the fascination with the devil and the powers of God as well as the power of love. Yes, this is a film that is ultimately about the power of love. The writing here is interesting and so is the direction, creating a rather memorable film one way or the other.
The cast here is led by William Shatner who is, well, he’s William Shatner but in his younger days and thus the performance is closer to that of an actor finding his footing and his style than the Shatner we are used to these days. His work here is fascinating in a very particular way that is hard to explain, but those who know, know. He is joined by Allyson Ames as Kia who does her best to sell her part, the cult, the belief system her character is in, and her sudden love for Shatner’s Marc. She’s good here, as good as can be in the situation of having to act in a language she likely didn’t speak, sharing scenes with an actor known for his peculiar acting now, and dealing with subjects that call for depth of character while being given limited space to explore this. The acting in general here is ok to good, it’s not bad, it’s particular to the film’s needs and it mostly works.
The look of the film is where the main interest for this viewer, with cinematography by Conrad L. Hall and the uncredited William A. Fraker, Incubus looks great. The black and white is beautiful and romantic, the framing keeps the action centered while bringing pretty images to the screen, and it all works well with the story while perhaps transcending it. The look of the film is possibly its main positive aspect.
Incubus is an oddity of a film, one that one must watch at least once in their life with full focus to truly take it in and appreciate it. The film is beautifully shot with performances that are uneven yet mostly work for the content of the story. It’s slightly uneven throughout while remaining an easy watch.
This new release is packed with extras with the most interesting one being the interview by David J. Schow with producer Anthony Taylor and both cinematographers Conrad L. Hall and William A. Fraker. This leads into the next extra of interest the audio commentary by David J. Schow. Of course, the archival audio commentaries, one with Shatner and the other with Taylor, Hall, and Fraker, are of particular interest as well. There is a ton more on here of course, so digging through all of these extras is one of the big selling points of this new re-release. Also, as is usually the case with Arrow Video releases, the image transfer looks fantastic and the sound is as good as it gets from the source material available.