The Antichrist

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

This filthy and spooky movie results to be a wildly popular ¨Exorcist¨ imitation , concerns Hipolita (Carla Gravina), she's an invalid young with unsettling problems from his mother died for a car crash in an accident along with her father (Mel Ferrer) and then she resulted paralyzed . She only has understanding for his brother (Remo Girone) . Her mental problems and intervention a doctor (Umberto Orsini) lead to an act of possession by an ancestor framed as a witch by the Inquisition . Eventually she's deeply possessed and starts seducing a young and other local men in order to murder them . Hipolita becomes possessed and a strange exorcism seems to be the only solution to stop the craziness and heal the young invalid . An exorcism carried out by a Father exorcist (George Colouris) turns out to be the mean to save her , but the surprising events go awry . What it says is what it means. Deliver her from evil. From the bowels of hell, the serpent has risen, to pour foul evil upon the world

This exploitation picture displays eerie horror , witchcraft , grisly killings , bestiality , satanism and lots of blood and gore . Most often films made to cash in on another hugely box-office ¨The Exorcist¨ tend to be inferior to the template but I have to say, as far as rip-offs of the Freidkin's classic go, ¨The Antichrist¨ is on the better end of the spectrum . Large cast with American actors working in Italy , such as Arthur Kennedy , Mel Ferrer and George Colouris . Revolting , scary scenes and nasty images take place on orgy scenes with goat included . Packs luxurious scenarios with a lush corridor plenty of sculptures and careful cinematography showing glamorous sets by known cameraman/director Joe D'amato , though cheesy special effects on the levitation scenes . Creepy and terrifying musical score composed by classic musician Ennio Morricone and conducted by Bruno Nicolai .

The motion picture was well directed by Alberto De Martino , though it has some flaws , gaps and failures . Martino was an Italian craftsman , working from the 60s in all kind of genres , B-movies and exploitation flicks . As he directed Peplum (Secret seven , Spartan gladiators , Invincible gladiator , Valley of stone men) , Spaghetti Western (Django shoots first , Providence , Charge of seven cavalry) , Warlike (Dirty heroes) , European spy genre (OK Connery , Operation Lady Chaplin) , and Terror (Miami Golem , Horror , Holocaust 2000) , among others. Rating : 6/10, acceptable and passable , though sometimes embarrassing .

THE ANTICHRIST sounds a lot more frightening / controversial than it actually is. Sure, there's the utterly icky "goat butt" sequence (thankfully, shown from a distance), as well as the notorious "Jeezuz woody" picture that we could have done without.

In spite of these anomalies, the rest is sort of a calculated retread / hybrid of BLACK SUNDAY and THE EXORCIST, green puke, pottymouth, and all. The final 20 minutes are extremely entertaining, complete with incomprehensible histrionics and hyper-cheeeze.

Well worth the time for any group of friends and the appropriate intoxicants...

Great stuff. The Italian exploitation rip-off bandwagon didn't miss a beat on any genre, and here we have THE EXORCIST acting as the "inspiration" for a horror picture. Naturally, the sleaze is turned up enormously and the result is a truly entertaining piece of cinematic scuzz. I think the other reviewers have covered the majority of the fun stuff that goes on herein, but I'd just like to add that the movie is nicely put together and photographed, and the hilarious dialogue is sufficiently hammed up by the actors. Plus, it's great to see Arthur Kennedy in ANY movie!

My highlight of the film was when the "possessed" woman seduces a German exchange student- truly hilarious.

I personally found the oft-revered THE EXORCIST to be laughable and ludicrous. L'ANTICRISTO simply goes even further, and if you are equipped with an imagination and a sense of humour, I can think of a lot worse ways to spend an hour and a half.

"L' Anticristo" is far from being a perfect horror film but it does manage to entertain. Made purely to cash in on the success of "The Exorcist", Alberto De Martino's "The Antichrist" is a relatively high-budget Italian possession movie with a talented cast and some ambitious (if a little dated-looking) effects. With a soundtrack by Ennio Morricone and Bruno Nicolai, plus cinematography by Joe D'Amato, this is a polished affair with real talent being thrown at it. It's not surprising, therefore, that the film is successful in some areas.

The film's strong points are the acting, a genuinely unpleasant possession and the soundtrack. Carla Gravina is excellent as the aristocrat who is possessed and proceeds to leak green soup and waggle her tongue like there's no tomorrow. Combined with great potty-mouth demon dialogue and a startling appearance, the possession is both startling and unintentionally humorous in equal measure.

I won't go into detail but after watching this film, I'll never look at a goat in the same way again.

Worthy of a rental if you're looking for an alternative horror film, this should provide an entertaining evening's viewing, providing you're in the right mood.

6 out of 10.