The Antichrist is set in Rome where businessman Massimo Oderisi (Mel Ferrer) lives with his lover Irene (Alida Valli), his son Filippo (Remo Girone) & paralyzed daughter Ippolita (Carla Gravina) who has been unable to walk properly since childhood when she witnessed her mother killed in a car accident. Her father Massimo has tried everything, from faith healers to psychiatrist's to no avail, Massimo will not give up however & ask's psychiatrist Dr. Marcello Sinibaldi (Umberto Orsini) to see if he can do anything for Ippolita. Dr. Sinibaldi is convinced that Ippolita's condition is mental & if she can overcome the mental issue then she would regain the use of legs, in an attempt to discover what is affecting Ippolita psychology Dr. Sinibaldi hypnotises her which releases regressed memories of one of her distant ancestor's who was a Nun but turned to Satan & was executed soon after for Witchcraft. Ippolita soon changes as she becomes possessed by the Devil who wants to be reborn through her, it's decided an exorcism is the only answer...
Originally released in the US theatrically under the title The Tempter this Italian production was co-written & directed by Alberto De Martino & is your basic rip-off that the Italians were so famous for during the 70's & 80's, to be fair to them they were pretty good at them & some terrific horror, gore, sci-fi, sleaze & trashy films exist because of this entire sub-genre. No-one made rip-offs like the Italians, I am not sure if that is a good thing or not but they sure made lots of entertaining films during this period. There's absolutely no prizes for guess that The Antichrist is a straight rip-off of The Exorcist (1973) which is rightly regarded as a classic, while it's fairly entertaining in a sleazy & silly way The Antichrist is a million miles away from being described as a classic. At just over 110 minutes the script takes a while to get going & it's 40 odd minutes into the film before Ippolita is astrally raped & becomes possessed complete with a hilarious flashback to some guy in a Goat mask having sex with her ancestor after he makes her lick a Goat's ass, no I am not making that up either. There's the green vomit, some head twisting (although in a twist not the possessed Ippolita) & lots of foul language directed to polite members of society including her father & lover whom she ask's if she likes his cock in her. While watching The Antichrist I got the impression that the makers were playing it deadly straight & some of these scenes come across as silly & a little funny at times (the floating hand scene has be be seen to be believed) which does lessen the impact a bit but if taken in the right spirit there's some fun to be had here. The script doesn't make any great statement about religion or faith or psychological conditions like it might have but that would have slowed things down even further so it's no great loss.
If you like your 70's & 80's Italian exploitation then The Antichrist will be right up your street but don't expect lots of gore, only one person is killed during the entire film although several Toad's are killed. There's a bit of nudity & sex including some incest which is then seemingly forgotten about after the cheap shock value is over. One thing that did impress me was the visuals, not so much the photography or direction but the locations & sets which are sumptuous, varied & striking. The blood red corridor lined with bust's that stare in all directions is ultra cool, the deserted streets of Rome & it's architecture is amazing, grand Churches & Cathedral's along with the Italian countryside, huge halls with walls covered by massive oil paintings & the climax set in one of those Gladitorial coliseum things The Antichrist surprisingly is a visually superb film.
Not that scary thanks to all the bright colours & slightly silly set-pieces The Antichrist is well made although the English dubbing is sometimes pretty bad, the cast is a mixture of English & Italian speakers so who know's how it was actually film? The five times Oscar nominated Arthur Kennedy & the highly respected Mel Ferrer probably need the money, why else would they be in this? I must admit I really disliked the lead actress here, I thought Gravina was unappealing & unlikable.
The Antichrist is a great film to look at with some brilliant sets & locations & it has some entertaining sleaze & exploitation but it's slow & predictable & it is just an inferior rip-off of The Exorcist although it entertains in it's own right I suppose. It could have been much worse that's for sure, fans of Italian exploitation should definitely give it a go.
Originally released in the US theatrically under the title The Tempter this Italian production was co-written & directed by Alberto De Martino & is your basic rip-off that the Italians were so famous for during the 70's & 80's, to be fair to them they were pretty good at them & some terrific horror, gore, sci-fi, sleaze & trashy films exist because of this entire sub-genre. No-one made rip-offs like the Italians, I am not sure if that is a good thing or not but they sure made lots of entertaining films during this period. There's absolutely no prizes for guess that The Antichrist is a straight rip-off of The Exorcist (1973) which is rightly regarded as a classic, while it's fairly entertaining in a sleazy & silly way The Antichrist is a million miles away from being described as a classic. At just over 110 minutes the script takes a while to get going & it's 40 odd minutes into the film before Ippolita is astrally raped & becomes possessed complete with a hilarious flashback to some guy in a Goat mask having sex with her ancestor after he makes her lick a Goat's ass, no I am not making that up either. There's the green vomit, some head twisting (although in a twist not the possessed Ippolita) & lots of foul language directed to polite members of society including her father & lover whom she ask's if she likes his cock in her. While watching The Antichrist I got the impression that the makers were playing it deadly straight & some of these scenes come across as silly & a little funny at times (the floating hand scene has be be seen to be believed) which does lessen the impact a bit but if taken in the right spirit there's some fun to be had here. The script doesn't make any great statement about religion or faith or psychological conditions like it might have but that would have slowed things down even further so it's no great loss.
If you like your 70's & 80's Italian exploitation then The Antichrist will be right up your street but don't expect lots of gore, only one person is killed during the entire film although several Toad's are killed. There's a bit of nudity & sex including some incest which is then seemingly forgotten about after the cheap shock value is over. One thing that did impress me was the visuals, not so much the photography or direction but the locations & sets which are sumptuous, varied & striking. The blood red corridor lined with bust's that stare in all directions is ultra cool, the deserted streets of Rome & it's architecture is amazing, grand Churches & Cathedral's along with the Italian countryside, huge halls with walls covered by massive oil paintings & the climax set in one of those Gladitorial coliseum things The Antichrist surprisingly is a visually superb film.
Not that scary thanks to all the bright colours & slightly silly set-pieces The Antichrist is well made although the English dubbing is sometimes pretty bad, the cast is a mixture of English & Italian speakers so who know's how it was actually film? The five times Oscar nominated Arthur Kennedy & the highly respected Mel Ferrer probably need the money, why else would they be in this? I must admit I really disliked the lead actress here, I thought Gravina was unappealing & unlikable.
The Antichrist is a great film to look at with some brilliant sets & locations & it has some entertaining sleaze & exploitation but it's slow & predictable & it is just an inferior rip-off of The Exorcist although it entertains in it's own right I suppose. It could have been much worse that's for sure, fans of Italian exploitation should definitely give it a go.