Antichrist (aka The Tempter)

[The Burgomaster]

Here's a little Italian gem from 1974 that I picked up on DVD yesterday.

Sure it's another Italian EXORCIST rip-off . . . but it's definitely a cut above the others.

Most impressive is the atmospheric lighting and cinematography. The composition in many scenes is extremely appealing and the color photography is downright striking from time to time.

Reasons to watch it:

* To add to your repertoire of Italian EXORCIST rip-offs
* To see it uncut - including the "oral sex with a goat" scene (they don't really show anything, but the way they set it up is pretty unsettling)
* It has possibly the finest "licking vomit off someone's hand" scene in the history of film
* It also has elegant "foaming at the mouth" scenes
* As previously mentioned - the lighting and rich colors make it very appealing to look at

Reasons to ridicule it:

* It has one of the cheesiest "floating hand" special effects that you will ever see
* Mel Ferrer and Arthur Kennedy are in it
* Some of the dubbing will make you laugh (or cry)
* When the possessed woman conjures up a powerful wind, which blows things around her bedroom, you keep seeing 33 rpm record albums flying around in the background. At first, it's not a big deal, but after a few minutes you say to yourself, "How many records did this woman have in her bedroom? And how come they never break? They just keep flying around the room . . . And where the hell is her record player?"

This would make a great triple feature with THE HOUSE OF EXORCISM and BEYOND THE DOOR.