The Antichrist (1978)

Very best movie i ever watch

Touches You

Absolutely the worst movie.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

William Friedkin's Cult-milestone THE EXORCIST (1973) spawned quite a number of European rip-offs, or at least of European films that treated the subject of daemonic possessions. As far as European Exorcist-rip-offs go, Alberto De Martino's L'ANTICRISTO aka. THE ANTICHRIST of 1974 is doubtlessly the creepiest and best I've seen. (There is one Italian movie with a similar possession topic, which, in my opinion, is better than this one, Massimo Dallamano's great IL MEDAGLIONE INSANGUINATO aka. THE NIGHT CHILD of 1975. That movie is far too different to label it an Exorcist-rip-off, however.)The possessed here is not a little girl but a young woman, Ippolita (Carla Gravina) who has been paralyzed since the car accident that killed her mother. Since her paralysis has no medical foundation, her father (Mel Ferrer) assigns a psychiatrist to help his daughter. The hypnosis therapy, however, has unwanted results...The storyline is not merely based on THE EXORCIST, but has similarities to a classic Italian Horror formula: An innocent young woman being possessed by an evil ancestor who is her spitting image (and, in this case, even has the same name). The innocent/evil female double role was started in Italian Horror film in Mario Bava's 1960 masterpiece LA MASCHERA DEL DEMONIO (BLACK Sunday/THE MASK OF Satan), which first brought Italian Horror film to international attention. Barbara Steele became famous for such a double role in that film, and continued to play comparable roles in several other Italian Gothic Horror movies. In L'ANTICRISTO, it is Satan who, centuries after possessing an ancestor who was subsequently burned at the stake, takes possession of a wheel-chair-bound young woman.The film is a good example for the stylistic and visual elegance of Italian Horror cinema. The settings are beautiful and eerie alike, the camera-work (done by the one and only sleaze-filmmaker Joe D'Amato) is great. The score is a collaboration of masters Ennio Morricone and Bruno Nicolai, needless to say that its brilliant and increases the thick atmosphere. The film has a good ensemble cast including Mel Ferrer, Arthur Kennedy, the great and beautiful Cult-regular Anita Strindberg, Alida Valli, who would appear in the probably most famous Italian Horror film, Dario Argento's masterpiece SUSPIRIA (1977) three years later. Carla Gravina is believable in the lead and the eerie-looking George Couloris fits well in the role of the Exorcist.Some people seem to dislike the somewhat bizarre first 5 minutes of the movie, but I actually found them to be highly atmospheric. In my opinion, the film got slightly less interesting in the second half, when some of the EXORCIST references became too obvious. The only real complaint one could have are the clumsy effects when objects and people are floating in the air; from today's point of view, they should probably just have left these sequences out, but then, any cult-cinema lover will be willing to look past that in the light of the great style, atmosphere and creepiness of the rest of the film. Overall, this is a very stylish slice of Satanic Horror and highly recommended by yours truly, especially to my fellow fans of Italian Horror.

I remember seeing this movie when I worked at one of my local video stores back in 1998. The description of the movie on the box was rather hilarious as it is obviously bashing itself by saying "Move over Linda Blair". Yes, this is one of the many rip-offs of the famous Friedkin directed film "The Excorcist". Now, just because it was a blatant rip-off does not mean that it wasn't a decent film.First of all, this movie has a very good and creepy soundtrack done by Ennio Morricone. If it weren't for the soundtrack this movie would not have been very good. Second, one of the leading stars in the movie is the infamous Mel Ferrer who has been in many Italian horror flicks in the later part of his acting career. Third, the atmosphere of this movie is actually very well done. It was done well enough to keep your interest high.Unfortuanitly, the down parts of the movie are when the lead actress who gets possessed starts talking just like Linda Blair in "The Excorcist" and she also starts vomiting green crap all over the place just like in "The Excorcist". But if you are a fan of this genre of film making than you can overlook these blatant rip-offs. All in all, I liked this movie. It is nothing great but still enjoyable and worth watching. 7\10 stars

Dismissing The Antichrist as a rip-off of The Exorcist is too easy. Sure it was designed to cash-in on The Exorcist's success, but it's not the first movie to ride the coattails of another movie. Just look at all the sequels that Jaws spawned (Piranha, Tintotera, Crocodile, etc.) for an even better example. My problems with The Antichrist have nothing to do with comparisons to The Exorcist. Instead, I think that The Antichrist is a mess of a movie on its own.I suppose that for a movie of this type to be effective, it helps if the audience cares or has some sort of feelings for the characters. Other than the main character, Ippolita Oderisi (Carla Gravina), we never learn enough about them to care what happens to them. As for Ippolita, she's so unlikable that I couldn't have cared less whether she was possessed or not. She's a bitter woman with no redeeming characteristics that I could discern. Even before the possession, she seems to relish making everyone's life miserable. And why should it bother me that she is possessed by the devil? She asked for it – literally. So, she got what she wanted. I had no sympathy for this woman, and without that, the movie doesn't work.There are other problems with The Antichrist beyond whether or not I cared about the main character. The acting is plain old bad. Even somewhat accomplished actors like Mel Ferrer look like their starring in the local amateur hour. In one scene, I swear he looks embarrassed to be anywhere near this film. The only actor of any consequence who comes off with any dignity in tact is Anita Strindberg and that's just because of her limited screen time.I suppose that I'll leave it at that and not write anymore about the other areas where the movie fails. Writing about everything I had a problem with in The Antichrist is like shooting fish in a barrel. I could target the special effects, a score that's not up to Morricone's high standards, or the cheap attempts to gross-out the audience, but you get the idea.

Ippolita (Carla Gravina) is a stunningly beautiful young woman, who is paralyzed and having doubt in God (Especially in Faith). Ippolita has some serious mental problems, since she vividly remembers the death of her mother. Her well-meaning psychologist (Umberto Orsini), who believes in re-incarnation. The psychologist find that Ippolita had another life as a Witch during the Inquisition. Eventually, she becomes possessed by a demon and she seducing local men in the city, only by murdering them. Only an exorcism could save her soul.Directed by Alberto De Martino (Blood Link, Djanga Shoots First, Holocaust 2000) made an interesting, arresting horror film for the first hour until it's turns into a shameless rip-off to "The Exorcist". Despite an strong performance by Gravini and dated but good special effects. The good cast helps (Including the late Mel Ferrer and the late Arthur Kennedy) ease certain idiocies moments during the second act.DVD has an sharp anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1) transfer and an good-Dolby 2.0 Mono Sound. DVD has interviews with the director and co-music composer:Ennio Morricone (The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, Once Upon a Time in the West, John Carpenter's The Thing-1982), T.V. Spot and Poster & Still Gallery. This film could have much more successful, especially in the second half. But Still, it is more stylish than expected with executional cinematography by the late:Aristide Massaccesi (Which Massaccesi is best known for directing Hard-Core Porn Films as Joe D'Amato). Also known as "The Tempter", which runs 96 minutes. Since the DVD is the original 112 minutes uncut Italian version. It is worth a look. (***/*****).