Released 22 November 1974, three weeks after the Turkish film, Seytan, this is one of the first overt carbon copies of O Exorcista (1973), and borrows many elements from William Friedkin's film, including pea-green vomit, and one of the characters falling down a lengthy staircase.
Alberto De Martino would return to the satanic genre with Exterminação 2000 (1977), in itself another blatant rip-off, this time of A Profecia (1976).
Interviewed by 'Blanco y negro' magazine in 1974, Carla Gravina revealed that she was a little afraid of her character in this movie and that she would not accept again a role like that. More she confessed publicly subject to a strange disease which started after shooting. "I feel a kind of general malaise," said Gravina, wondering if it was simple exhaustion or if she had actually been possessed by the devil. "Sometimes, it translates into intense cold, others in dizziness, feeling of emptiness, severe headaches, lack of appetite , and so on ". The actress was fearful of the origins of this disease but doctors had diagnosed that, perhaps, it was due to exhaustion from overwork or curious psychic influences.
Warner Bros, producers of O Exorcista (1973), sued producers of 'L'anticristo' for plagiarism, but lost the case.
"They said our film was a remake of theirs, but that's absolutely not true-it's a different story and a totally different atmosphere," said director Alberto De Martino. "'The Exorcist' is a movie, I would add, all room and kitchen, a trick movie let's say. 'L'anticristo' is a film with a wide scope, it has the Vatican, churches, masses, cardinals in it. It has so much more in it, doesn't it? It's more cinematic."