The Antichrist

Introduction

Due to the critical and commercial success of The Exorcist and, to a lesser extent, Rosemary's Baby, the 1970s was a boom time for occult horror films, clearly influenced by these films. Aside from The Omen, there was Abby (the blaxploitation Exorcist) and Magdalena: Possessed by the Devil (another low budget knock-off) and L'Antichristo, an Italian horror about demonic possession.

Embittered and sexually frustrated following a car accident when she was 12 that left her paralysed from the waist down, Hipolita (Carla Gravina), is further infuriated when her father moves on from her mother's death and begins seeing Irene (Alida Valli) with a view to marriage.

This anger and frustration leads to a crisis of faith that ultimately sees her having flashbacks to the inquisition where a woman, the spitting image of Hipolita, is burned for witchcraft. Hipolita becomes a portal for Satan and, in an orgy scene, is impregnated by the Prince of Darkness.

Displaying a violent temper that sees her seduce young men before killing them, her father exhausts all scientific explanations, including extensive hypnotism sessions, until he turns to her uncle, Bishop Ascanio Oderisi (Arthur Kennedy) to ask for an exorcism. When his attempt fails, and another proves unsuccessful, they turn to a local monk who seems to be linked to Hipolita's visions.

Video

For its first outing in the UK, Optimum have provided a good transfer, though with some slight picture wobble. The influences are obvious in the cinematography, especially when the exorcist arrives and he's standing in the doorway in silhouette!

Some of the special effects are laughable and Alberto De Martino obviously wanted to push boundaries but didn't have the budget to do so properly so moving and floating objects are completely unconvincing.

Audio

There are no problems with the dialogue as it's dubbed, and the mono soundtrack is generally clear. Ennio Morricone was one of the composers and the score is very good, but the more intense scenes lose something with the lack of surround channels.

Conclusion

This sort of slice of Euro horror is something that I'd expect to be released by Shameless Screen Entertainment rather than Optimum but, whoever is behind the distribution, it's good to have this on DVD in the UK.

The Antichrist is an obvious rip-off of The Exorcist, with Hipolita spitting green gunk into someone's face, a victim having his head turned 180 degrees (in the same manner as Burke Dennings), Hipolita levitating and the exorcist arriving in silhouette plus the orgy where Hipolita is impregnated is also clearly a reference to the Devil sex scene in Rosemary's Baby.

Although it's completely derivative and with an exorcism scene that is more amusing than powerful and scary, The Antichrist is not without its charms, with Carla Gravina giving a terrific performance, and hardcore genre fans should check it out but the casual viewer should stick to the best and watch Friedkin's and Polanski's landmark films instead.