Leslie Stevens' "Incubus" is another one of those films that got rewarded with an immense cult-status way too easily! Simply because it was presumed 'lost' for over 30 years and, of course, because all the dialogue is in Esperanto (which sounds a little like Portuguese gibberish), many people wrongly acclaimed it to be a Gothic masterpiece that every cult fanatic should see. Well, all I can say is: don't let the this false reputation tempt you! The basic plot idea is original and ahead of its time, I reckon, and the filming locations definitely are astonishingly beautiful. Yet, these positive aspects nearly can't save "Incubus" from being a dull and poorly scripted film with too much confusion instead of action. The story is supposedly set on the spiritual island of Nomen Tuum (love the name, though!), where gorgeous female demons seduce and kill men who're already condemned to hell anyway. The blond incubus Kia (Allyson Almes) sees a tasty potential victim in Marc (William Shatner in his pre-Star Trek period) but, unfortunately for her, his soul is too pure and his loving personality even drags her away from her master; Satan. Normally, a horror premise like this makes my mouth water but "Incubus" simply is too inept. There's a lot of drivel about the sun and the moon; about shadows and darkness but really NOTHING happens. The Esperanto may be an appealing gimmick, but it gets boring rather quickly and it's actually still a mystery why Stevens chose to make his film in this fairly unknown language. All in one, you can find better things to waste you life on.
