Incubus [DVD] [2006] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

Incubus is strange film. Whilst the premise sounds very good, the actual film is interesting in places and baffling in others.

A group of teenagers have crashed their car in the middle of no-where and we join them with the car on its side and the group ready to walk off to "get help". Why none of them try to push the car back onto its wheels is never explained. Also after crashing a car onto its side you might expect a couple of injuries, but miraculously they are all fine. There isnt even one of those carfully place blood stains on the forehead. Eventually after walking (and whingeing) through a forest they find a seemingly empty bunker and the lead character (a very old looking Tara Reid) climbs in through the roof to try and find the front door to let everyone in. Obviously all abandoned bunkers have huge doors with massive security but just in case anyone REALLY wants to break in, they leave a big hole in the roof!

As the story progresses we are introduced to a character sat in a chair with all sorts of strange tubes coming out of him. This at first seems like an interesting twist but bizzarely, Tara Reids character (sorry, I can't remember her name) starts talking in so much detail about what is going on, it's as if she put him there and invented the experiments herself. How she has so much knowledge is never properly explained. There are other bits where different characters say things which would be impossible to know unless someone had told you.

It is not the worst film I have seen (that award still goes to Blood Trails) but definitely near the bottom of the pile. The acting is truly dreadful (including Tara Reid). The performances are so bad they would not even have got a bit part in the Bill and even Russell Brand was in that once! It is worth seeing if only to compare how Tara Reid has changed from her sexy, girl next door type in American Pie, to someone who has seemingly aged about 20 years from a lifestyle of hard drinking and partying.

Being a Tara Reid fan, I really wanted to love this film. I wanted it to be one of those B horror movies you suddenly find, and it turns out to be a rare gem of a film - sadly this never came true. In fact, no more than 20 minutes into the movie, I knew it was headed for disaster.

The movie is just....very dull, bland and boring. I mean, the writers didn't even try to come up with anything new. Same plot, 6 friends go hiking, or they are trying to get to a football game, the car breaks down, they have to spend the night in an abandoned house, nuclear plant..yada, yada, yada - you get my point! It's so predictable and lazy. It's like there isn't even a script. No thought went into this movie. It's like they said to themselves, okay the 6 friends will go inside the "scary building", find bodies - and we will come up with a further story later. The characters decisions aren't even cliché, they're incredibly stupid. None of they're actions make sense!

One of the biggest problems is the dialogue. It's unbelievably bad. When they first approach the building, one of the friends ask "What is this place?" Tara replies "It's not on the map" - obviously! Did she really think there would be a little arrow pointing to where they are, with the name of the building and a little information about the place. Who wrote this script? One point Tara (Jay) starts talking about floating. She says she had this period were she started floating out of her body, and how others would give anything to float. Float where? You're guess is as good as mine. Confused? I know! I actually burst into laughter - something tells me that's not a horror movies intention. I'll point out a few (understatement) moments that will make the average person say "Huh?" after watching this "terrifiying film" (no pun intended of course) Okay, Jay's "Tara Reid" brother dies almost a quarter into the film. But it's weird, after her brother is killed, she quickly manages to get over it and suddenly takes on the role of Nancy Drew - like she's some kind of detective. She then seems to be more interested in the "killer" who is locked in a tank, for experiments, than the fact that her brother is lying dead on the floor. After reading his file for about 6 minutes, she suddenly knows every single thing there is to know about him - are you getting how bad it is? There are so many obvious, stupid mistakes. Like the girl "Holly" is holding her flash light (the power is dying) and she's sobbing, "No, no, please no" - yet the lights are on. So why does she need a flash light? Another example, Jay tells her brother to go fix the breaker. Holly is creeped out and thinks someone else is down there. Jay tells him not to worry, just go fix the breaker - right, like the breaker is more important than his life. Then, at the end, (when Jay (Tara) is the only one left), she throws the rope up to try get out. At the start of the movie the rope snapped, so how did it get fixed? And if it indeed was fixed, why didn't they all climb out before this madness happened?

Tara (poor thing) does her best and gives it her all. Now, I'm simply giving the thumbs down to the movie, not to Tara. I actually think Miss Reid is a damn good actress, but how can she shine with such a dull, dainty script! As for the rest of the cast, one word: Dreaful. Their acting was bad. They looked as though someone was holding up their lines on pieces of cardboard - ever so wooden.

They tried to "surprise" you with some, dare I call them twists. But it just didn't work. There is no excitement. Just "Oh, is this movie still on?".

I really hope Tara gets her head together and proves she is actually an actress too - not just a crazy party girl. If she keeps taking scripts as poor as this, no one is going to take her seriously.

Dodge this like the plague.

Because if I had bought it, it would be in the bin now. I remember once reading a book about a demon (Incubus), and on seeing the title sort of rushed into ordering the film. This film has absolutely nothing to do with any book or demon that might be about an Incubus.

The film is dull and predictable; don't waste your money on this one.