Antichrist [Blu-ray]

Product Information

Eden - production designer Karl "Kalli" Juliusson, producer Meta Louise Foldager and director Lars von Trier talk about the specific locations used in the film. In English and Danish, with optional Italian subtitles. (6 min). The Making of Antichrist - a gallery of supplemental features, produced by Zentropa's DVD production company, Electric Parc, featuring director Lars von Trier and various members of his tech team, including director of photography Anthony Dod Mantle, sound designer Kristian Eidnes Andersen, production designer Karl "Kalli" Juliusson, producer Meta Louise Foldager, researcher Heidi Laura, etc. In Danish and English, with optional English subtitles where necessary. RAISING HELL: Featuring Alberto De Martino and Ennio Morricone. The score is one of the film’s strongest selling points, even if it is something of an outlier in Morricone’s filmography—sounding nothing like what we expect a score of his to sound like. That makes this featurette all the more essential and interesting, as it’s always fascinating to hear Morricone discuss his work. Again I was a little disappointed the supplements concentrated more on the technical aspects of the film I must admit they were all still rather fascinating and each one is still worth going through. Closing The Visual Style of Antichrist - director of photography Anthony Dod Mantle talks about the level of naturalism in Antichrist, the specific type of look desired by director Lars von Trier, how some of the most controversial scenes were shot, etc. In English, with optional Italian subtitles. (16 min).

On its theatrical release there was an unholy (pun apologies) fuss made about Antichrist's content, and it split critics pretty much straight down the middle, with some deriding it as tasteless, self-indulgent nonsense and others lauding it with equal passion (see above quote). The Cannes premiere saw several mini exoduses from the auditorium, while many of those who stayed to the end raised the roof in applause. The Make-Up Effects and Probs of Antichrist - a look at the special effects. In English, with optional Italian subtitles. (9 min). Selected items are only available for delivery via the Royal Mail 48® service and other items are available for delivery using this service for a charge.

Table of Contents

Like other releases for Lars von Trier films I was disappointed that as a whole the supplements are more technical in nature and not all that analytical, with most of the supplements have been ported over from other releases, using supplements produced by Zentropa Films. Thankfully the supplements are all quite engaging, and still feel better than most other similar features found on big studio releases.

Overall, The Antichrist is a fun ride that borrows liberally from several sources but does just about enough with it so it doesn’t feel totally recycled. Yes, it isn’t very original but entertainment value trumps originality, and this being an Italian production it has plenty of competition from dozens of other Exorcist/ Rosemary’s Baby clones that aren’t half as much of a good time as this is. Granted, given how cheap and grimy this is you won’t see it double-billed with the movies it wants to be in the same company as, but apart from the admirably sleazy Amityville II: The Possession (of which we still don’t have a decent Blu-ray release), The Antichrist is probably the best Exorcist wannabe there is, and given it is nearly 50 years old itself, that clearly tells you something.Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Lars von Trier's Antichrist arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

A car accident caused by her father leaves the young Ippolita paralyzed and her mother dead. Following her uncle’s advice she undergoes a hypnotic session with the intent to heal her, but it actually awakens the spirit of her ancestress who was condemned for witchcraft. The Antichrist (not to be confused with Lars von Trier’s Antichrist from 2009) is the creation of writer/director Alberto De Martino ( 100.000 dollari per Ringo) and writers Gianfranco Clerici ( Cannibal Holocaust) and Vincenzo Mannino ( The New York Ripper).Whatever one’s personal views are on the existence of The Devil, there was no doubt about his impact on movies in the early 1970s.While the execution of The Antichrist’s more fantastical aspects leaves much to be desired, there’s no denying the positives in this oblique and sometimes wild horror programmer.In short, this encounter with The Devil and all his works mostly works. Paralyzed Ippolita (Carla Gravina, The Violent Four) has lived an isolated life within the confines of her father’s lavish Italian home after a car accident killed the family’s matriarch. Seeking cures for her disability, the depressed young woman seeks help from the Virgin Mary. When she isn’t granted the power of her legs by a heralded statue in the village, Ippolita loses her faith. She begins to hear voices and sees blasphemous images around her. After undergoing hypnotic regression therapy Ippolita sees her past life as a witch burned at the stake for challenging the Church. Soon after Satan impregnates her in an infamous dream sequence which turns the invalid woman into a foul-mouthed bile-spewing lust machine out to kill everyone and bring about the child of Satan. When father Massimo (Mel Ferrara, The Longest Day) calls for an exorcism all hell breaks loose. Interviews - a gallery of interviews with director Lars von Trier, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Willem Dafoe: De Martino and writers Gianfranco Clerici and Vincenzo Mannino certainly took copious amounts of notes from The Exorcist for their blasphemous offering, but The Antichrist has a number of divergences that make it stand out. Of particular note is the film’s alarming opening sequence, which finds Ippolita and her father (Mel Ferrer) attending a ceremony at a creepy Catholic statue where multiple afflicted and possessed people prostrate themselves, ultimately resulting in a man plummeting to his death from a cliffside. The Antichrist makes use of a number of these disturbing sequences that invert normal Catholic practices, taking inspiration from The Exorcist but in new and intriguing ways.

First, Antichrist is not a symbolic film. What you would see in it is what von Trier wanted you to see. The visuals are so direct and powerful that you won't have to speculate about hidden meanings or unspoken messages. The horror is right there, on the screen; it will hit you in the face and you will react to it during the film, not after the final credits roll. Where The Antichrist succeeds is in taking the demonic possession trope and applying it to a sexually frustrated woman. This allows for a broader exploration than a mere child robbed of innocence. We see someone who is defined by their disability and loses their faith in hopes of finding a sexual awakening and purpose in life. When she is unable to get approval (sex?) from her father and brother she opens herself to demonic temptation through a hunky psychotherapist bent on his own masculine need to cure Ippolita. To celebrate the release of The Antichrist available now on Blu-Ray, DVD & Digital, we have 2 Blu-Rays to give away!Description: A car accident caused by her father leaves the young Ippolita paralyzed and her mother dead. Following her uncle's advice she undergoes a hypnotic session with the intent to heal her, but it actually awakens the spirit of her ancestress who was condemned for witchcraft. Directed by Alberto De Martino, starring Carla Gravina and Mel Ferrer, and featuring an amazing score by Ennio Morricone. I had a very difficult time taking the screen captures that you are seeing in this review. For some strange reason, there was a lot of "combing" that was visible on some of them, which I don't recall seeing on the screen captures that I took to include with our review of the French release, courtesy of M6. De Martino utilises further jump cuts and one can only assume a gigantic wind machine to some effect, but it’s Gravina’s commitment to looking utterly possessed that gives these scenes any heft. She goes full-throttle in the final half hour, with decent makeup work adding to a purely physical and malevolent performance. The film was shot in 4K resolution with the RED One Digital Camera; in addition, the Phantom HD camera was used for the high-speed sequences. The entire production was completed in a fully digital workflow. Postproduction and color timing were done using Assimilate's SCRATCH and Nucoda's Film Master systems. The final color-corrected DPX files were output to Rec. 709 high-definition color space for Blu-ray and DVD release.