Carla Gravina plays Ippolita Oderisi, a young woman who's been physically disabled due to a long ago accident. At present she is suffering a lack of faith, feeling abandoned by both God and her father Massimo (Mel Ferrer), who's hooked up with a younger woman (Anita Strindberg). A psychiatrist (Umberto Orsini) is called in to help her, but he only makes things worse by hypnotizing her. She is able to recall a past life, centuries ago, when she was persecuted as a witch. Now she's easy prey for Satan himself, who possesses her. Ultimately, a professional exorcist (George Coulouris) is brought in.
"L'anticristo" wins no awards for originality, but for a (mostly) uninspired "Exorcist" cash-in, it's actually pretty good. Certainly, less patient horror fans will be squirming in their seats, as the story is stretched out to almost two hours long. (It was trimmed of approximately 16 minutes in North America, where it was called "The Tempter".) Fortunately, director / co- writer Alberto De Martino takes the story, and its themes of faith, seriously, and directs his cast toward performances that help to get the viewer involved. Still, it's gratifying when, after an hour has gone by, he and his crew start pulling out all the stops for the sake of an entertaining show. There are plenty of practical effects, and some hilariously bad effects as well. Of course, we also get a fairly familiar demonic sounding voice, who utters the usual amusing obscenities, and Ms. Gravina spews up a generous amount of bile. Whatever the film may lack in creativity, De Martino makes up for that with a decent sense of showmanship.
This is a reasonably trashy film, for those who enjoy the sleazier side of Italian genre cinema, boasting a "goat orgy" as a highlight.
The cast gives it 100%, especially Gravina. Ferrer (Tobe Hoopers' "Eaten Alive"), Coulouris ("The Skull"), and Arthur Kennedy ("The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue") lead a solid supporting cast, also including Alida Valli ("Suspiria"), Mario Scaccia ("The Perfume of the Lady in Black"), and Remo Girone ("Live by Night").
All in all, a fun enough spook show.
Seven out of 10.
"L'anticristo" wins no awards for originality, but for a (mostly) uninspired "Exorcist" cash-in, it's actually pretty good. Certainly, less patient horror fans will be squirming in their seats, as the story is stretched out to almost two hours long. (It was trimmed of approximately 16 minutes in North America, where it was called "The Tempter".) Fortunately, director / co- writer Alberto De Martino takes the story, and its themes of faith, seriously, and directs his cast toward performances that help to get the viewer involved. Still, it's gratifying when, after an hour has gone by, he and his crew start pulling out all the stops for the sake of an entertaining show. There are plenty of practical effects, and some hilariously bad effects as well. Of course, we also get a fairly familiar demonic sounding voice, who utters the usual amusing obscenities, and Ms. Gravina spews up a generous amount of bile. Whatever the film may lack in creativity, De Martino makes up for that with a decent sense of showmanship.
This is a reasonably trashy film, for those who enjoy the sleazier side of Italian genre cinema, boasting a "goat orgy" as a highlight.
The cast gives it 100%, especially Gravina. Ferrer (Tobe Hoopers' "Eaten Alive"), Coulouris ("The Skull"), and Arthur Kennedy ("The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue") lead a solid supporting cast, also including Alida Valli ("Suspiria"), Mario Scaccia ("The Perfume of the Lady in Black"), and Remo Girone ("Live by Night").
All in all, a fun enough spook show.
Seven out of 10.