Ippolita’s ancestor renounced him in her dying moments, preventing him from taking her soul, and now intends to finish its original goal through Ippolita’s body. The Vatican authorizes Father Mittner (implied to be the reincarnation of the original Ippolita’s executioner) to carry out a formal exorcism. The demon tries to stop him through all manner of psychic manifestations and telepathy, revealing that the incestuous child of Ippolita and her brother will be his son; the Antichrist. Mittner prevails and Ippolita flees the house, her father and brother in pursuit. She reaches the Colosseum, but is felled by the sound of church bells, allowing Massimo to force her hands against an iron cross and finally expelling the demon and its child from her body. Restored, Ippolita’s helps her brother up and walks off with her father as the sun rises. Cast Release The Antichrist was released on November 22, 1974 in Italy. It was released in the United States in 1978 by AVCO Embassy Pictures under the title The Tempter. Reception From contemporary reviews, Geoff Brown (Monthly Film Bulletin) stated that "admirers of carbon-copy cinema—if any exist—will be well pleased with Alberto De Martino's The Antichrist" noting that it managed to emulate The Exorcist more closely than the Italian film The Devil Within Her. In retrospective reviews, AllMovie gave the film a negative review, noting that "long stretches of not a lot happening are supposed to create suspense, but all they do is delay the inevitable finale, which was the original audience's entire reason for being there since they knew it was going to include elements of The Exorcist." The review concluded that The Antichrist "probably was intense, but that intensity has diminished over the years" and that the film was "for Italian horror collectors only." References External links 1974 films 1974 horror films Italian horror films Italian supernatural horror films 1970s Italian-language films English-language Italian films Films about exorcism Films about Catholicism Films shot in Rome Films directed by Alberto De Martino Films scored by Ennio Morricone 1970s Italian films