THE ANTICHRIST (1974)
Director: Alberto De Martino
Anchor Bay Entertainment

After the groundbreaking success of William Friedkin's THE EXORCIST in 1973, a flood of rip-offs emerged from Spain, Germany and of course Italy. THE ANTICHRIST (L' ANTICRISTO) is not the worst of these predictable imitations (a 1975 film called THE POSSESSOR with Richard Conte can probably take that honor), but it's no masterpiece either.

Italian actress Carla Gravina plays Ippolita, a young woman whose legs are paralyzed after a car accident that took her mother's life. After undergoing regressive hypnosis, she envisions the past life of a look-alike ancestor who was tried as a witch during the Inquisition. One night she is violated by Satan and is demonically possessed, enabling her to walk again with the expected disastrous results. Her devilish shenanigans include yelling out harsh sexual innuendoes, picking up a teenage student and breaking his neck, having sex with her wimpy brother, forcing people to lick her chunky green barf, making furniture hover around her room, and levitating herself with the aid of some lame rear projection special effects.

Alberto De Martino's entry in the Pea Soup Stakes begins really serious, but then falls apart into a blatant EXORCIST copy--vomit and curse words spewing galore. The director does manage to have some striking imagery, such as the nightmarish depiction of a gray forest Hell, and some of the art direction is worthy of Dario Argento. The cinematography was actually done by the late Aristide Massacessi (aka Joe D'Amato). Gravina is pretty intense as the possessed one, becoming more ugly, punkish and nasty as the film progresses. The film boasts a number of veteran stars during their downhill duration of cinematic Euro sleaze. A bored-looking Mel Ferrer is the girl's wealthy but guilt-ridden father, a shaky Arthur Kennedy is a useless Irish priest, and British favorite George Coulouris is the Australian monk who performs the possession (his initial appearance at the family home is a laughable mockery of Max Von Sydow's in the Friedkin film). Alida Valli (LISA AND THE DEVIL, SUSPIRIA) is the concerned housekeeper, but a more gentle-sounding actress dubs her husky voice.

Anchor Bay here presents THE ANTICHRIST uncut for the first time on U.S. home video. The American distributor, Avco Embassy, released it as THE TEMPTER in 1978 and removed about 20 minutes. The film is transferred in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio and Anamorphically enhanced, so the composition looks terrific, especially when compared to the old pan & scanned version on the Embassy VHS label. The colors are very strong, and aside from some grain and minor blemishes, the overall transfer looks outstanding. The audio consists of the English-dubbed track and is distinct with no noticeable defects.

Included is an 11-minute featurette called "Raising Hell" that includes interviews with director DeMartino and composer Ennio Morricone, who did the score with the late Bruno Nicolai. Both men speak in Italian (with English subtitles), and although Morricone's comments are brief, DeMartino has some interesting things to say as he's interviewed from his office (the camera pans around the room to reveal framed posters from all the films that he's done). DeMartino also points out a controversial, blasphemous image of Christ (he's now regretful about it) that you might have missed on your initial viewing. Also included is a U.S. TV spot (as THE TEMPTER) and a nice still gallery. (George R. Reis)

 

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