Incubus (1965)

Director:

Leslie Stevens

Writer:

Leslie Stevens (writer)

Release Date:

November 1966 (France)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

On a strange island inhabited by demons and spirits, a man battles the forces of evil.

Plot Keywords:

Incubus | Succubus | Demon | Nudity | Drowning

Cast

William Shatner	...	Marc
Allyson Ames	...	Kia
Eloise Hardt	...	Amael
Robert Fortier	...	Olin
Ann Atmar	...	Arndis
Milos Milos	...	Incubus

Also Known As:

Incubus (France) [fr]

Runtime:

78 min

Country:

USA

Language:

Esperanto

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Big Sur, California, USA

Company:

Contempo III Productions

Trivia:

In his commentary for the DVD, William Shatner recalled an incident that occurred when the cast and crew first arrived in Big Sur, California. He remembers who he thought of as a male "hippie" approaching the company, and inquiring into their endeavor. Shatner says that the cast and crew reacted with some hostility to his interest, which angered him in turn. The "hippy" then loudly put a curse on their production, which some people believe came in effect.

Goofs:

Continuity: As Arndis wrestles the demons her pure white nightdress is torn down to her waist. In the following scenes it is buttoned up to her neck again.

Quotes:

Amael: He has faced death, Kia.
Kia: They all face death, all of them.
Amael: He was unafraid!
Kia: Is that so pure and noble? The beasts in the fields have courage. The smallest bird will beat its wings and claw a weasel in its nest.
Amael: But his courage went beyond self-preservation.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Blade: Trinity (2004)

Ingmar Bergman Meets `The Outer Limits'

It's tempting to jokingly call this the best William Shatner movie in Esperanto I've ever seen, but it deserves better than that - it's a delightfully weird low-budget horror film that might best be described as "Ingmar Bergman Meets `The Outer Limits.'" The reference to the 60s TV series is apt, since several of the creative forces from that show were behind this film: writer-director Leslie Stevens; future Oscar-winning cinematographer Conrad L. Hall, and composer Dominic Frontiere (although I suspect they simply borrowed his "Outer Limits" themes to score this film). In fact, "Incubus" looks, sounds and feels so much like an episode of the "The Outer Limits," there were times I half-expected it to fade to commercial; a flash of nudity reminds us this isn't a TV show.

In "Incubus," a seductive female demon - a succubus - named Kia becomes bored with luring morally corrupt men to their eternal doom and sets her sights on a virtuous soldier named Marc, played by a pre-"Star Trek" Shatner (who guest-starred in an "Outer Limits" episode titled "Cold Hands, Warm Heart"). The bucolic out-of-time setting reminds me of the medieval Sweden of Bergman's "The Seventh Seal," and Hall's black & white cinematography is starkly beautiful. The Esperanto dialogue lends an exotic flavor with its vaguely recognizable European word roots. It also dresses up dialogue that might have been too over-the-top in English (in his DVD commentary, Shatner can't help chuckling when Kia declares, "There are no heroes burning in the fires of Hell!"). I'm reminded of the old joke that a movie seems more "artistic" if it's in a foreign language with subtitles - I guess Esperanto, originally intended to be a universal language, effectively makes "Incubus" a "foreign film" to just about everyone.

Shatner, as the young, handsome, dashing hero, is unmistakably Shatner, even in Esperanto. Allyson Ames is frostily beautiful as the evil Kia, while Ann Atmar is sweetly vulnerable as Marc's sister, Arndis.

I don't mean to over-praise "Incubus." It's a very well done little film, comparable to the original "Carnival of Souls" - if you don't expect too much, you may be pleasantly surprised at how much there is. It's definitely worth a look.