Incubus (DVD)
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Incubus, a horror film starring none other than Ms. Tara "Taradise" Reid, is surprising un-sucky.
Let's admit it: there are times when Reid has proven she can act (The Big Lebowski, American Pie, Dr. T and the Women). It's when she's in horror films (or on the red carpet) that she gets into trouble. What genre fan can forget her abysmal turn in Uwe Boll's Alone in the Dark (can you say "Newfoundland"?), or her mortifying maneuverings in Devil's Pond and her pathetic performance in The Crow: Wicked Prayer? However, to be fair, Reid wasn't the only bad actor in those frightful flicks; I've concluded that she must require a very strong director in order to come across well on-screen.
She seems to have found that iron fist in Anya Camilleri, who helms this short (89 minutes) psychological spooker with a sure hand that just barely keeps all the balls in the air as the inherently stock script starts to run out of steam towards the end.
Although Reid was 30 when she made this film, she still passes believably enough for a 20-something college student who's out on a road trip with a group of school friends (and her brother, played by Christian Brassington) when disaster strikes and their vehicle crashes in the middle of the proverbial nowhere.
The group trudges off into the great black beyond, quickly finding themselves lost in the woods at night with no cell phone reception and no place to stay except for the strange, abandoned-looking laboratory that's plunk in the middle of the vast forest.
They break in, and are immediately confronted by a gruesomely gory dead body… obviously the victim of a brutal slaying. But where is the murderer? It can't possibly be Coma Boy (Mihai Stanescu) — a crimson-lipped underwear-clad medical patient who's encased in a triple-locked, shatterproof glass cage — … or can it?
While it's true the premise of the film is a bit shaky and the evil psychic-in-a-coma is too pink to be very scary, Incubus is tightly directed and each of the actors brings texture and depth to their otherwise essentially cookie-cutter characters. The level of suspense is pretty high, and the death scenes are sufficiently gruesome.
Reid is the main protagonist, and she manages to carry the movie as ably as anyone could. Jay-Jay is a reasonably smart young woman, and Reid is credible as she portrays the five stages of low-budget horror movie emotions (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and kicking major villain ass).
Incubus is not going to nominated for any awards, but it's doubtful Reid will be clearing off space on her mantle for a Golden Turkey either; it's a decent enough time-waster for horror fans and a sure perk for the actress's admirers.
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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson