Customer Reviews

Incubus (Unrated Edition)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This movie started out like many other movies in this genre do; a group of students go to a big, creepy haunted place for some type of experiment or partying, or whatever, and wind up crossing paths with a deranged psychopath who resides there. However, there are some plot twists and surprises thrown in as the film developes, and it dosen't drag out because there is plenty of action and suspense. Tara Reid fits the role well (however she appears about five or ten years late for her last college class), but all age jokes aside, the film works because the cast is balanced, attractive, and believe it or not, convincing enough that this film kept me guessing throughout. Without a doubt, Reid's finest performance. If you like films that are not big-budget Hollywood predictable fare, than you will enjoy this gem of a horror flick. If you are a Reid fan, you will like it as well. If you don't like movies like "Saw" and "The Haunting" than this may not be for you. Entertaining, scary fun with a twist at the end - can't beat that.

Incubus (Anya Camilleri, 2005)

Oh, why do I keep torturing myself with Tara Reid movies? (Actually, I can answer that; I'm waiting for another Cruel Intentions.) I should know by now that as soon as I see Tara Reid's name on a flick, especially headlining, I'm in for a disappointment. That said, I'm going to register in the (very, very small) minority on this one; with a couple more rewrites and some better editing, this could have been a slick, intelligent horror movie with a great deal going for it. The fact that it turned out to be derivative schlock with one of the biggest plot holes I've ever seen in a movie ends up being kind of irrelevant, because I was dazzled (yes, dazzled!) by how good this movie could have been.

The setup is basic: a bunch of kids get into a car wreck, look for shelter, find shelter somewhere they shouldn't, and get killed. End of story. (Well, not end of story, 'cause there's always the final girl. The cast is Tara Reid and five other kids who had made two films between them. Who gets to be final girl? You tell me.) But within every cliched setup, there are thousands of ways to make it your own. The underrated Turistas has exactly the same setup, but Stockwell did good things with it. Camilleri had the chance to here, and she and freshman screenwriter Gary Humphreys gave it a go with Orin Kiefer (Mihai Stanescu, who looks like a rabid cross between KMFDM lead singer En Esch and Roberto Benigni in Life Is Beautiful), a psychopath who can... hrm. That would be a spoiler. Which is too bad, because I want to talk about this movie-- it has gotten so much bad press from so many sources that I have little doubt anyone who's read much of anything about this flick has to think it's one of the worst movies ever made. It isn't. It's not even the worst movie I've seen this month. I'm not sure I'd put it in the bottom ten, even. Yeah, the acting is standard at best, and usually sub-. And there's the whole huge-plot-hole thing (you'll know it when you see-- erm, hear-- it). But, man, this is a pretty movie. It's dark and brooding and all sorts of creepy, even when Tara Reid is trying to make like she's a medical student. (The plot outline says she's actually playing one in the movie, though I don't recall that being mentioned; I just assumed her character had watched a whole lot of ER.) And not all of the acting is awful; Christian Brassington, one of the two non-Taras from the young-and-beautifuls to continue on on the big screen after this flopped, made his debut here, then came back in his next role to play Tony Blair. I mean, come on, to go from serial-killer fodder to the Prime Minister of Great Britain? That's some good stuff, right there!

Anyway, to make an already-too-long story short, it's not as good as it could have been. But look at it the other way-- it's not nearly as bad as it could have been, either. ** ½

What if I had made a horror movie in high school? It would have gone something like this..

My best friend Tara, an aspiring thespian who can fake cry really well, would be my star. Before filming, we'd make sure to touch up Tara's delicious golden locks. Oooops, A little bit too much bleach!

My story would revolve around a group of teenagers trapped in a strange house where they'd stumble upon an eerie, comatatose man wearing a bathing suit (Tom from the swim team would be a perfect fit...of course we'd have to shave his head...I wonder if he'd be willing?). The strange house will be dark and water will be dripping from everywhere, maybe in slow motion. Tara and my other friends/actors will be extremely dim witted, and mostly deaf so that they can't hear each other very well. My characters will then die one by one in entirely standard an unoriginal death sequences. I'll think of some totally absurd story to tie everything together later, but it is sure to be absolutely terrifying. I'll save money by using a lot of stock footage, staging the car accident just "after" the accident occurs, and scoring the music myself on my Casio at home. Genius. I'm going to be the most popular guy in school!

According to the IMDB this movie is the first one specifically made for PC downloading...it shows. Without any creative vision at all; horrible lighting, acting and editing and a confusing, muddled storyline, INCUBUS is everthing a bad horror movie should be. Tedious. Stupid. And just not worth it, folks.

This is definitely under the category of "extremely cheesy" but I guess it was pretty good. Actually, there were a couple parts of Incubus that built up enough suspense that left you feeling uneasy as you sat there and wondered when that maniac with a knife was going to come out of nowhere and go crazy stabbing the teens to death. It does happen eventually, but not as soon as I thought it would. That's a GOOD thing, because the suspense built-up was definitely there.

Other times, the acting skills by the teens and their choice of words really made this feel like one of the more laughable horror flicks out there. The way the movie started was rather predictable too, and I was wondering after the first five minutes of the film if it was even going to be worth my time. Luckily, the quality of the writing and the storytelling did improve.

Just a little thing, but one of the girls had a dash of paint across her face indicating blood, but to me, it was one of those small things I couldn't help but notice that indicated to me that the writers of the film didn't intend to go out of their way to separate the movie from all the other similar ones out there. A little more creativity would have been nice. On the flipside, the emotions of the teens when their friends were being killed was REALLY good and believable.

Still, not a bad movie, and the ending was pretty good. I liked the maniac who was going around slashing peoples brains out. The reason he was acting that way was given a lot of attention, and I liked that. Good movie.

"Incubus" sports an actually interesting story, a big time celebrity, and a bit of gore, what not to enjoy?! Really the sum up proceeds the films rather sluggish pace. Acting department, as we learned many can fake a cry...and some just make it laughable (can you guess which one this is?). We sometimes have also come to terms with the mediocre slasher film, poor effects relying on strong contrasting lighting, and cheap scares brought on by adrenaline pumping music.

What makes us remember these kind of films then? Some actually do have an interesting but rather bizarre plot, I think we nailed this one. "Incubus" does have its scary moments, but in all honesty the killer featured is more or less a secondary character. Although shown frequently, and mentioned he 'himself' does little. Without spoiling too much of the film, (spoiling may actually be a saving grace) a killer was deemed psychotic thus being locked away (watch and learn why). Stranded teens come upon the killers sanctum (surprise!!!), uh yeah sorry our psychopath is actually asleep. He'll remain that way for quite awhile, hey that's a forced coma for ya. Ironically sleeping is his favorite way to kill. Great method but,How just how?!


Wow again I made it seem better...Anyways, watch this film for the story (many will disagree with me), the few scares it holds, and for being a Tara Reid fan. I may be guilty of purchase, but verdict? This films guilty of cheap tactics and for not pushing the a great idea further.Rental or catch it on a premium movie channel.

I try very much to be openminded when it comes to horror movies, but this? It's so bad my eyes started to hurt, bad idea and very bad acting.It's so bad I barried it deep deep down in my garden so no man could ever reach it again.

there is nothing redeeming about this movie aside, from offering genuine backing to any harsh criticisms to Mrs. Reid's akting chops. more like axing, with the emotional depth of paper. even her moderately acceptable figure offered no pull in this worst way to spend an hour and a half of your life. learn from me if you care for your mind. leave now. watch something good. you will thank me for it.

this movie sucked really bad. its not weird, its not scary, the acting is terrible, and the plot is really dumb. dont waste your time on this, i really wish i hadnt

Tara Reid and friends have a car crash. They're on a back road, none of their cell phones work, so they decide to hike back to the highway. On the way, they find an industrial building, and decide to break in by climbing on the roof and opening one of the skylights. You see, it's getting dark and it's a little chilly outside, so they brilliantly come to the conclusion that breaking and entering is their best bet. Once inside they immediately find some dead bodies, laying in pools of blood. So they spend a while trying to get out (apparently the front door is locked and there's not a window in the place?), then they find a guy sitting in a glass cube in one of the rooms. Turns out he's a murderer, and can turn other people into psycho murderers just by using the power of his mind. Will Tara and her friends escape this really scary situation?

The good: Excellent atmosphere. The inside of this building is just naturally scary, the perfect place for a horror movie. The central concept of the guy with mind control powers is at least somewhat interesting. The acting is okay, not especially bad at least. And Tara Reid is pretty easy on the eyes.

The bad: Ham fisted, really awkward and downright stupid screenplay. To give you an example, at one point all the light in the building go out. They try to find the utilities area, and one guy announces that the place must run on generators. His reasoning? The building uses a lot of electricity, and if it was hooked up to the electrical grid, the cops would notice the high electrical usage and think they were growing pot or something. Yeah, um, maybe if it was a house, but it's a big industrial building. I mean, DUH. There are plenty of other silly problems like this, but the worst part is that the whole plot is just handled really clumsily. They try to find a way out, they discover the secret of the guy in cube, they start going psycho after one another, but somehow it all just ends up seeming like a bunch of people sitting around and talking, then standing around and being really freaked out. there's no logic, smoothness or general flow to the story. It's just a big amateurish mess. The movie could have easily gotten three stars with a descent script, and maybe even four stars with an excellent one. But no, they get this crappy thing and it brings it right down to two stars.

It's really too bad these people all put so much work into this thing, the directing, production values, etc. are all really good. But it's all ruined by one guy and his third rate screenplay.