Perfect cast and a good story

As Good As It Gets

Absolutely the worst movie.

The acting in this movie is really good.

William Friedkin's Cult-milestone THE EXORCIST (1973) spawned quite a number of European rip-offs, or at least of European films that treated the subject of daemonic possessions. As far as European Exorcist-rip-offs go, Alberto De Martino's L'ANTICRISTO aka. THE ANTICHRIST of 1974 is doubtlessly the creepiest and best I've seen. (There is one Italian movie with a similar possession topic, which, in my opinion, is better than this one, Massimo Dallamano's great IL MEDAGLIONE INSANGUINATO aka. THE NIGHT CHILD of 1975. That movie is far too different to label it an Exorcist-rip-off, however.)The possessed here is not a little girl but a young woman, Ippolita (Carla Gravina) who has been paralyzed since the car accident that killed her mother. Since her paralysis has no medical foundation, her father (Mel Ferrer) assigns a psychiatrist to help his daughter. The hypnosis therapy, however, has unwanted results...The storyline is not merely based on THE EXORCIST, but has similarities to a classic Italian Horror formula: An innocent young woman being possessed by an evil ancestor who is her spitting image (and, in this case, even has the same name). The innocent/evil female double role was started in Italian Horror film in Mario Bava's 1960 masterpiece LA MASCHERA DEL DEMONIO (BLACK Sunday/THE MASK OF Satan), which first brought Italian Horror film to international attention. Barbara Steele became famous for such a double role in that film, and continued to play comparable roles in several other Italian Gothic Horror movies. In L'ANTICRISTO, it is Satan who, centuries after possessing an ancestor who was subsequently burned at the stake, takes possession of a wheel-chair-bound young woman.The film is a good example for the stylistic and visual elegance of Italian Horror cinema. The settings are beautiful and eerie alike, the camera-work (done by the one and only sleaze-filmmaker Joe D'Amato) is great. The score is a collaboration of masters Ennio Morricone and Bruno Nicolai, needless to say that its brilliant and increases the thick atmosphere. The film has a good ensemble cast including Mel Ferrer, Arthur Kennedy, the great and beautiful Cult-regular Anita Strindberg, Alida Valli, who would appear in the probably most famous Italian Horror film, Dario Argento's masterpiece SUSPIRIA (1977) three years later. Carla Gravina is believable in the lead and the eerie-looking George Couloris fits well in the role of the Exorcist.Some people seem to dislike the somewhat bizarre first 5 minutes of the movie, but I actually found them to be highly atmospheric. In my opinion, the film got slightly less interesting in the second half, when some of the EXORCIST references became too obvious. The only real complaint one could have are the clumsy effects when objects and people are floating in the air; from today's point of view, they should probably just have left these sequences out, but then, any cult-cinema lover will be willing to look past that in the light of the great style, atmosphere and creepiness of the rest of the film. Overall, this is a very stylish slice of Satanic Horror and highly recommended by yours truly, especially to my fellow fans of Italian Horror.

I've only seen a handful of Italian Exorcist rip-offs; but I've seen enough to know that this type of film generally isn't very high quality. The same can't be said for Alberto De Martino's The Antichrist, however, which is so far in front of all the other Exorcist rip-offs that I've seen that you could just about throw all the rest of the Italian devil/demons films into the mix; and this one would still rise above the majority of them. Of course, the film has something of a bad reputation for a reason - and how much you enjoy this film may well hinge on just how important a coherent plot line is to you; but if you can ignore that, what we have here is a very good horror film. The plot is not far removed from William Friedkin's 1973 film and focuses on a wheelchair bound woman. Her psychiatrist believes that her problem may be mental rather than physical and sets out to cure her. However, in doing so he brings back memories of her past life; which involved her worshipping Satan, and the woman is soon possessed by the Devil...This film really is very similar to The Exorcist both in style and execution. The victim here spouts vomit and atrocities just as Regan did in the earlier film and of course we get an exorcism scene to go with it; but the film still rises head and shoulders above most films like it thanks to the visuals. Alberto de Martino really put care into how the film looks and many frames are extraordinarily beautiful. The house in which most of the action takes place is a lavish construction that is a pleasure on the eyes - while sequences such as a devil worship orgy as well as the numerous scenes that depict the result of the possession will stick in the memory long after the film has finished. It's clear that the scriptwriter wanted to shock his audience and some of the things that the leading lady spouts really are quite vulgar and blasphemous, which is a highlight. It all boils down to the big exorcism scenes; and De Martino certainly doesn't disappoint here either as its loud, brash and entertaining throughout. In fact, if it wasn't for the turgid opening scenes - this could easily be considered a masterpiece! Don't miss this one!

Unjustly maligned demonic possession outing deserves a bit better than to be blindly savaged for it's obvious culling of elements from THE EXORCIST. There are some very original and effective moments which propel this film ahead of the general horror tripe sent forth from Europe during the mid-70s. Wheelchair-bound girl, denied the love and physical intimacy vital to her happiness, becomes possessed by, apparently, Satan himself, and thus begins to walk(and become a total whore and vicious killer, as well). Too, she may be pregnant with Satan's child, The Antichrist. There is also a rather vague reincarnation issue scantly touched upon, which plays out in flashback sequences of a young lady enduring a Satanic ritual in an ethereal Hellish garden...she eats the head of a toad and licks a goat's ass before being plowed by a man in a Hairy devil costume. This scene is particularly nasty, and should please the median sleaze enthusiast and make most others very uncomfortable.Visually interesting throughout, and set almost entirely within a great looking "Hollywood Regency" styled apartment, fusing futuristic post-modernism with classic antique decorum...quite nicely done, and gives an unusual atmosphere to the proceedings.Overall, not a hands-down classic(like THE EXORCIST), but better than some(like DEMON WITCH CHILD)...5.5/10

The Tempter is a great cheesy devil flick; it rates right up there with The Eerie Midnight Horror Show and House of Exorcism ! Cheesy effect, but some great shock value ! The mix of out of work American actors, funky clothes, and some great gross out effects make this one worthwhile. Most of the Italian Horror flicks of the time were cheesy, but worth some great laughs. There are some great creepy and blasphemous scenes in this flick, including some nudity and crazy stuff! A lot of these flicks were very melodramatic and I think added to the movie. Some great visuals and interesting symbolism make this movie a great one to throw on at parties and yuk it up! Highly recommended !