This work of Leslie Stevens was brought to my attention by the fact that this was one of William Shatner's lesser known works. Strangely enough, the Sci-Fi channel was responsible for re-releasing this film. However, viewing this movie gives an almost surreal hypnotic effect. It reminded me of Rod Serling's classic Twilight Zone except much darker.The story is easy to follow yet Incubus has an other world-like quality. Perhaps due to Stevens' experience with the Outer Limits? In truth, the The cinematography shines throughout the film and I was surprised to find that this was shot in California. A simple effect as a rustling breeze through a field is stunning to watch. It's a real kick to watch Shatner speak Esperanto since I've never had to read subtitles for his films before. Bill does a great job as Marc and never really goes over the top. You really feel for the guy as the story progresses and his fate awaits. The chemistry is fine between Marc and Kia and an interesting secondary theme is the relationship between Marc and Arndis. Incubus is a great example of the benefit of shooting in black and white as opposed to color. I had expected to see a performance similar to Shatner in Impulse and was pleasantly surprised to discover one of his finer performances.

Incubus is my new Gold Standard of bad films. I used to think "Robot Monster" was the worst film ever made until I saw "Plan 9 From Outer Space". I used to think "Plan 9 From Outer Space" was the worst film ever made until I saw "Manos – Hands of Fate". I used to think "Manos – Hands of Fate" was the worst ever until I saw - - "Incubus". "Incubus" has what is needed for a fun bad film - pretentious photography, silly plot line, bizarre acting, Junior-High-School-profound dialog. But mainly – William Shatner! William Shatner, overacts with inappropriate pauses and emphasis, in a language he is speaking phonetically (barely). Gather your friends and have a good time laughing and shouting "MS3TK" style insults at "Incubus". You…will have…a GOOD time!

Esperanto, a nineteenth-century "all purpose"/international language, almost made a comeback with this stark, moody thriller--thought to be lost for many years until a surviving print resurfaced. Leslie Stevens wrote and directed this tale of a beautiful but soulless female demon, working for the God of Darkness, who tempts and lures men with tortured souls to their deaths in the ocean; tiring of her unchallenged routine, she sets out to destroy a pure, heroic man whose only defense is the power of love. Stevens seems to have overdosed on Ingmar Bergman movies, and is too enamored of Conrad Hall's artistic black-and-white cinematography to really get a grip on his narrative (certainly the editor could have cut back on the many shots of William Shatner wandering...wandering...). However, the ambiance of this film is startling and intriguing, Stevens writes some literate dialogue, and several of Hall's visual compositions are haunting. ** from ****

The concept for this full-length film as well as its genesis are truly weird. The guiding force behind the television show "The Outer Limits" (Leslie Stevens) decides to produce the first (and probably only) full-length American-made Esperanto film--with a plot that is strongly influenced by his TV show as well as Ingmar Bergman's THE SEVENTH SEAL! Talk about strange! Yet, oddly, the experiment works, though in hindsight I am glad the idea never really took off and resulted in further films in this so-called "international language".The film begins with a Satan worshiping siren who has delighted in luring people to their deaths. However, apparently this is getting rather old and this lady confides to an older Devil-loving lady that she wonders what it's all about, why they only take the souls of evil ones and why the Lord of Darkness, if he's so powerful, needs their help anyway! And, in fact, she'd like to try battling against a righteous soul instead of the typical damned ones! Well, the older lady will have none of that and counsels her to do her job and get such foolish ideas out of her head. But, given that the younger lady is apparently quite stupid, she sets out to seduce a "nice guy"--who turns out to be a young William Shatner. The problem is that once the evil incubus (a soul-stealing demon) is summoned to take Shatner, the siren has fallen in love with him and is torn between her duty and doing what is right.While all this probably sounds a bit silly to someone who has never seen the film, it somehow works--mostly due to the efforts of Stevens. An old score from one of the "Outer Limits" shows is recycled and sounds very, very eerie--fitting the action quite well. In addition, the black and white cinematography is lovely as well as the odd yet appropriate camera angles. These work together to make the film seem other-worldly--like it occurs perhaps on another world or in another time.As for the actors, they did a pretty good job and I was amazed at their speaking this odd language. In particular, it was a bit jarring to see Shatner both speak the language AND actually do a competent job acting. In some shows and movies, he has a tendency to way over-act--and especially to over-emote. Here, however, he seems quite capable as the nice guy who cannot allow himself to give in to temptation. Sadly, however, according to IMDb and interviews with surviving film crew, two of the main actors would be dead within a year of the completion of the film--one due to suicide and another to a murder/suicide! As they said, the film had the "curse of the incubus" on it! While I am sure this film would not interest most people due to its artsy style, it is entertaining and worth seeing if you are a patient person. Spooky, strange and amazingly successful for a project that reportedly cost less than $100,000 to produce. And, of all the many, many Esperanto films out there, this one is surely the best!