Anthony M. Taylor teamed up with Leslie Stevens (creator of The Outer Limits) to produce one of the four theatrical features from this unusual director.
Corruption can be such a bore. In the legendary Incubus, Kia (Allyson Ames), a comely succubus, has grown weary of debasing mortal men-they fall too easily for her fearsome charms. To brighten her devilish day, she decides to capture the ultimate trophy, a “noble soul” in the perfect form of a young soldier, played with sufferable sincerity by William Shatner. Filmed in stunning black and white by Conrad Hall, Incubus takes place in an imaginary land called Nomen Tuum, really the Big Sur coast, where unholy spirits stalk the earth. The almost medieval otherworldliness of this place is underscored by the strange lingo spoken there, the rarely heard language of Esperanto. Incubus is more Ingmar Bergman than Sam Raimi in its stark exploration of the darkness of desire, though it is not without terror. But the central battle is for the contested hearts of the devil's advocate, Kia, and her angelic choirboy. “There are no saints in hell,” she utters, though it comes out a little differently in Esperanto.