The Antichrist

I distinctly remember heavy airwaves promotion of this film on the fledgling London Capital Radio station when this film was first released, and thinking at the time that if they had to push a film this hard, it probably wasn't any good. Actually, if you can get past the dated look of the thing and the lips-are-moving-but-not-saying-what's-coming-out-o f-their-mouths dubbing, there's a lot to like here. Unlike its Hollywood predecessor THE ANTICHRIST ramps up the religious symbolism (Ippolita's possession begins with her inability to cure her disability by touching a figure of Christ in an opening scene which also seems to use genuinely afflicted extras) and the gradual emergence of the Satanic figure echoes the classic religious ideas of the Antichrist as focus of sin. There are some EXORCIST style pea soup moments and a scene that will be a constant reminder to any viewer faced with the prospect of kissing a goat to remember which end is which, but some of the visuals must surely have stayed in Ken Russell's mind when making ALTERED STATES several years later. Carla Gravina's portrayal as the tormented Ippolita eclipses the rather daft script, and the Morricone soundtrack is genuinely eerie. In short, a strong example of European horror that escapes criticisms of it being just a shoddy EXORCIST ripoff. Recommended.

I didn't enjoy the movie becoz no subtitles but I understood it was all bout bein possessed by the devil. It was similar as exorcist :-)