Inkubus

Inkubus (Robert Englund) spends the evening tormenting the unfortunate members of a police station skeleton crew and Diamante (William Forsythe), the detective who nearly put him away years ago. While it may seem like all fun and games for the crafty demon, he has two objectives: settle a score with Diamante and find a new host for rebirth so that he may live on for another century.

While the film boasts quite a few recognizable names and faces, the dialog is feeble, in stark contrast to the menacing tone and visuals. It's not quite campy and has no flow. A lot of the banter between Inkubus and the officers are laundry lists of past victims dating back to the beginning of time. I get it, he's killed a lot of people, I don't need to hear every name and date. In fact, Inkubus talks more about murdering people than actually killing them.

Englund and Forsythe are always a treat to watch but, yeesh, the acting by the rest of the cast is shameful. It's a baby step above porno-grade. (This coming from someone who watches a buttload of indie and low budget horror.) Speaking of pornos, there are two sex scenes, neither of which contains any nudity, despite the casting of rather well-endowed actresses.

The entire movie is one, long teaser of things to come and therein lies its colossal weakness. Scene after scene, I was itching for Inkubus to go postal on someone, anyone. Is that too much to ask from a beast that, in the beginning of the film, shows up with a decapitated head and a vehicle adorned with dismembered limbs and internal organs? I was both disappointed and relieved when the movie was done. Disappointed because the final showdown between Inkubus and his rival, Diamante, had ended so abruptly. Relieved because I was finally put out of my misery.

Skip this unless you're like me and hellbent on watching every horror ever released.

If you want a movie that will scare you, this is not the movie, unless you're easily scared, or disgusted.

However, this is a nice and calm movie that twists the minds of the characters, something I do like in a horror. As a horror movie it's not high up on the scale, but as a mental game played by the devil, I think it's decent. The beginning was slightly confusing, wasn't sure if it was the past or future, but that was quickly sorted.

I do wish the director spent a little more time working on the personalities of the characters. I didn't feel like I connected with anyone, except maybe Inkubus, and that lack of connection reflected the movie. It's a nice movie to watch if you don't have anything else you want to watch, but it needs a lot of work before I would bother telling others about it.

While I think the director has done a nice job, I do think he has a long way to go.

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.

Opening with the sequence of an impending childbirth which seems to go well until it doesn't, the movie had a reasonably attention-grabbing start.

But right after, the movie completely plummets.

Shoddy production values, poor light and sound, and one implausibility after another, all variations of: "if an incubus has all these powers, then why is the entire affair not over in a couple minutes?" really mar the experience.

The actors could not save this mess. On top of that, the ending explains none of the key questions e.g. How and why did the Inkubus become suddenly vulnerable to bullets? What did the protagonist do (rather than say) to end up in an asylum? What happened in the intervening time between the police station event and the delivery?

The movie is too crappy to give much thought to these questions, though. I regret that I let its opening sequence got me to waste my time with it.

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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