Inkubus

Inkubus (2011) is a movie I recently watched on Tubi. The storyline follows the last night a police station is open when a gruesome murder takes place and the man responsible turns himself into the station. Little do they know the killer is the demon Inkubus who can make humans do his bidding. He's about to use the police station for his own personal amusement.

This movie is directed by Glenn Ciano (Infected) in his directorial debut and stars Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street), William Forsythe (Raising Arizona), Joey Fatone (Bring it On), Jonathan Silverman (Weekend at Bernie's) and Michelle Ray Smith (Salt).

This is only worth watching because Robert Englund is awesome, and he's well used in this. His grand entry was awesome. The opening birth sequence is solid, but the kill scenes are average and the corpses are better than the actual murders. The sex scenes in this definitely could have been better. I will say the cast overall is better in name than execution due to poor writing. The ending does have a nice twist but also could have been better.

This is one of those almost good movies, as in it could have been good but isn't. I would score this a 3/10 but still recommend watching it once.

"Inkubus" tells the story of a skeleton crew working the final shift at a soon to be demolished police station. The night takes a gruesome turn when the demon, Inkubus (Robert Englund), calmly walks into the station holding the severed head of a murdered girl.

I found this film to be based on an interesting concept; not so much the idea of an incubus who is reborn every hundred years, but of one who actually shows up to confess his crimes, knowing full well there is not much the police can do about it. Another reviewer complained that "nothing happens" in this film, but that is just plain wrong. The film is slow, yes, but not without a plot.

What is the deal with Joey Fatone? This is the second horror film I have seen him in this week (the other being "Jersey Shore Shark Attack"). Is he following the route of the Wahlberg brothers and trying to climb his way up the acting ladder? I will say he was much better here than in "Shark Attack"... and I am still trying to find out how an obnoxious, ugly, overweight man like Fatone was part of a boy band -- and is one of the more successful members after their dissolution.

I had been looking forward to this movie sadly for over a year. I am a big fan of Robert Englund. The trailer to the movie looked interesting. Me and my buddy sat down to watch this film together. I was just wondering how the film makers ever thought during production that this was going to be a good end product? The acting (Englund aside) was dreadful. The CGI that was inserted in the film was very bad. The movie seemed to drag on with nothing interesting ever happening. My friend was begging me to turn the movie off, or fast forward to the end. We watched it beginning to end. What a mistake... it was never able to redeem any of its horrible bland qualities.

I felt as though I were watching a student's film project. I like Robert Englund (and William Forsyth). I'm wondering what they were doing in this movie and were they helping someone by being in this movie project. It was a real novice horror film. I can watch almost anything but this was just crazy bad. And very amateurish. And I wondered whether it not this was filmed on someone's iPhone... jes sayin... I will say it was entertaining. And we all know you can watch a bad, yet entertaining film. And Joey Falcons was in it - I forget which boy band he was in but, and God bless him, he should stick to singing/dancing.

Serves me right. Usually before I order something through Video On Demand, I do a little research. After all, why would someone give their money away? If you wanted to make an investment, you would first research the venture, wouldn't you? So, I take time to research a desirable title and then watch a trailer or head to the usual internet staples such as IMDb or rottentomatoes just to make sure I know what I am about to get myself into.

But here I was on a quiet Sunday afternoon flipping through the VOD options when I stumbled across the icon for Inkubus. I thought it was a safe bet. After all, it listed Robert Englund (Nightmare on Elm Street), William Forsythe (Dear Mr. Gacy, Boardwalk Empire) and Jonathon Silverman (Weekend at Bernies) on the one-sheet. Surely there must have been something there to lure three known B-actors to the project. Surely.

Inkubus takes place in an old police station about to be demolished. The police have a man wanted for a woman's murder handcuffed inside when Inkubus (Englund) appears at the station holding the head of the deceased female. Inkubus is calm and confident and the police immediately misrepresent his 'turning myself in' intentions. As the police begin to interrogate the Inkubus, he confesses to crimes that date back centuries. That is when retired detective Gil Dimante (Forsythe) is called in to help with the interrogation. Seems the Inkubus and Mr. Diamante have some history that Inkubus is eager to settle. Unfortunately for the remaining staff of the police station, the journey to the film's conclusion will be filled with gruesome displays of murder and magic that leave not only the characters, but also the audience, scratching their heads.

Inkubus was a straight to DVD/VOD release and it is clear why it was not given a chance to disappoint theatrically. The whole piece from beginning to end was a mess. The story was as weak as an Olson twin on a hunger strike and the production values - in particular the sound - was unforgiveingly bad. Each line sounded as if it was dubbed in an empty school hall and if not for the talented cast trying their best to overcome the inferior production values, I would have likely turned this mess off within minutes and chalked it up to a bad investment.

Surprisingly, the main cast come out of the experience no worse for wear, in particular Englund that shows he has acting chops even when not donning prosthetics that turn him into a burn victim that haunts teenagers on Elm Street in their dreams.

Still, a salvageable performance or two is hardly cause for a celebration. Writer/director Glenn Ciano had some pull to get Englund, Forsythe, Silverman and Joey Fatone to the location shoot every day. But whether this still novice director has any true talent is yet to be seen.

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