Antrum: The Deadliest Film Ever Made

Just watched this film and have still been alive for about 20 minutes now so I'm pretty pleased about that.

This was a film that I heard about from one of the people that voted on what films to have at the Nightmares Film Festival. The little bit he told me, I made sure this was one that I would check out as it kind of sounds like similar to things like The Ring where there's a curse film. This was also the regional premiere for it, so that was kind of a cool aspect as well. The synopsis is a young boy and girl enters the forest to dig a hole to hell. Said to be a cursed film from the late 1970's, Antrum examines the horrifying power of storytelling.

We actually start this off as a mockumentary of the history of this film. It is supposed to be coming out of Russia from what I could tell. This was screened in Romania and the theater burned down. There were also mysterious deaths when it was shopped around to show at film festivals. I really like how you get this uneasy feeling before it is actually shown. There's even a warning at the beginning stating that anyone who watches it, will die.

The story itself is very basic. We have Nathan (Rowan Smyth) and his sister Oralee (Nicole Tompkins). They're family dog has to be put down and Nathan takes it quite hard. His mother isn't the nicest when he asks if the dog will go to heaven. He's shot down on this. His sister finds a book where she thinks that she can go to Hell to bring the dog's soul back. Near them, in the woods is antrum, or the door to hell. They have to dig a hole and go through the many layers in order to get to the level the dog's soul is at. Things aren't necessarily how they seem though and there are these weird men nearby who also seem to be Devil worshippers.

The recap to this had to be a little bit shorter as there's actually not a lot to the story here. I actually don't mind this though, because a lot of what happens here is really in the visuals. I don't really want to spoil a reveal that happens late in the movie, because it actually makes a lot of sense to the truth of what is going on. A lot of this is actually based on perception though.

There's really cool aspect to this film that if you're paying attention of you will see flashes of images in different places. What makes this even better is that at the very ending during the credits, it goes back to the documentary aspect to explain them. It actually makes sense why this is a cursed film and possible why the bad things happen. I'm not going to lie, I'm a sucker for this even though I know that it's not real.

Something else I should point out is that this is from Canada, but they make it out to be like it is from Russia. They do a clever job at that making it seem why things are so off like they are. They also did a great job in filtering the images to make it look like it was filmed in the 70's. It is little attentions to details like that which make me appreciate the work that the filmmakers are doing. There's also not really a lot in the way of effects and what we get are more tricks of film and the look of things, which definitely adds to what they're going for.

To shift to the pacing, the runtime comes in at 95 minutes. I think this actually works here, because the film within the film is probably just over an hour. The opening takes time to set the stage and try to build the fear of what happens to those that actually watch this. I'm not going to lie to you, I was a bit unnerved even though I knew nothing would happen. I do think that the lack of story does hurt just the slightest bit because I just feel it doesn't necessarily know where it was going. The ending was fine in my opinion and worked for what they were building toward.

This would take me to the acting of this film, where I have to say overall they were fine. The historians and film experts I believed. They don't really come off as actors so that helps with the realism. The actors in the film are definitely amateurish feeling, which actually adds to creepiness of it for me. Like I said, they're not great, but there is something to what they're doing.

Now with that said, this is an odd film that stuck with me a bit longer than it should have. It doesn't have a lot in the way of story, but I like the back-story they create for it. The pacing is good for the most part, but the lack of story does make it lose its way a bit in later in the story for me. There are some cool visuals and some really creepy parts for sure. The acting comes off very amateurish, but I actually think that works in the favor of the movie. The soundtrack doesn't necessarily stand out, but it does fit for what was needed and I do have to say, there's some really creepy ambient noise as well. Overall I'd have to say this is a slightly above average film. I liked it, but I think there's some missing parts to it really set it apart from similar type movies.

While clearly not appreciated by everyone, I found Antrum incredibly effective.

I would start with the pitch-perfect performances of the two protagonists, played by Nicole Tompkins and Rowan Smyth. At times you forget you're watching a movie; you can tell the direction is very deliberate here as the script slithers along in an unorthodox and bizarre way, yet these two actors somehow manage to express exactly what you'd believe real people would at any given moment.

Secondly, the film is disorienting and oppressive. This is accomplished, first of all, by invading a "safe space" from demons, Satan, hell, and the occult: a sunny, almost idyllic forest. Usually, dark forces creep around in gothic mansions or dark forests after midnight, around bonfires.

Not so, here. Instead, the bad stuff happens mainly in broad daylight in an otherwise peaceful, appealing setting. The effect, therefore, is more unsettling because daylight and nice forests are supposed to be the respite between the periods of darkness where evil things rise and run amok in the shadows.

There is no respite here.

Further, the not-quite-subliminal frames inserted into the film really amplify matters, which brings me to the most important point:

If the filmmakers would have asked me my opinion of this, I would have advised them to ditch the concept of a "cursed film" leaving the middle part - the Antrum story itself - to speak for itself. It feels like the filmmakers started out with this idea of a cursed film, perhaps with the film's plot as a secondary concern, but in reality the film itself holds up well and exceeds expectations.

In particular, we're not 100% sure that what we're seeing is really happening, or whether the two characters have unwittingly created an egregore, in which a consensus hallucination of sort is occurring.

Had the filmmakers had a much larger budget, they might have been tempted to use CGI to represent actual supernatural elements, but, in particular, the chains dragging across the forest floor were somehow more horrifying than a full-bore representation of what was supposed to be pulling at those chains.

I might have even advised pulling back further to make this even more subtle. The real tension here is between what is real and what is imagined in the minds of the characters.

The metal baphomet is reminiscent of the wicker man, which I appreciated, and the way the film doesn't feel the need to explain the presence of that or the forest Hungarians who treat it as some kind of totem, is greatly appreciated. Any attempt to tie this film together with a grand explanation would have been far less satisfying.

Something is seriously wrong in this forest.

Lastly, there is the soundtrack, which must be fully heard to be believed. As with the deft editing, I kept wondering how the filmmakers figured out how to combine all of these things the way they did to create a deeply unsettling experience.

I am not sure why this is not rated higher. Viewed in the right state of mind, the film really breaks a lot of conventions.

I like it a whole lot. What starts as a film about tunnelling to hell morphs into folk horror, as the landscape - the sunny forest - becomes a character unto itself.

The opening mockumentary about the movie was the best part and interesting. You hear people talk about the film and where it came from and how it supposedly killed everyone at the initial screening, which is why it was banned and supposedly lost forever. There was some very intriguing lore there. I wish that would have been the whole movie. Instead we get shown the movie that was recently uncovered and it's pretty boring.

A girl and her brother go into the woods to try and find their dog... Or bury their dog; I'm still not sure. The sister has been telling her younger brother about the entrance to hell through a sort of folklore story.

They walk a lot, they barely talk for a while, they meet some rednecks who have some satanic plot. They dig some more. Supposedly digging their way to hell. Looking for a dog that died, but the brother loved him so the sister thinks she can find the dog again by digging their way to hell. It's convoluted and boring.

It looks like a movie made in the 70's through grainy after effects and the styling of clothes is appropriate. The acting isn't bad at all. For how young the leads are I think they did a good job overall in that respect. It just fails to capture any real suspense or even a slight thrill. There are moments of unease and some cool visuals, but most of that has nothing to do with the main storyline.

Overall, I think this was a huge missed opportunity. When the most compelling part of your movie is the first ten minutes (which actually isn't part of the 'movie') you have a problem.

It is slow, uneventful, messy and just uninspired. When I want to see more of a mockumentary about a cursed tape (which we have all seen before) then you know the rest is a dud.

I am giving it 3 stars because the mockumentary section was good, the acting was decent and it did give that 70's lost film kind of vibe at times. Beyond that there is nothing to see here. If you were drawn in by the marketing of the most horrifying, deadly movie then don't watch this. If you want to see a slightly well crafted 70's style movie then maybe give it a watch, but don't expect anything super compelling or scary at all.

This film will only kill you with boredom.

7/10

I liked the film. The film succeeds in creating a creepy atmosphere. It is not as scary as some people in the review mentioned, it is definitely creepy and an interesting watch.

Plot: The film starts by introducing the legend of the film named Antrum. It is said to be cursed and anyone who saw it died. The Antrum starts. A boy has nightmares that his dead puppy Maxine is in hell, so his older sister takes him to a forest where with help of a mysterious book they can dig into second layer of hell and save the soul of Maxine. On this journey things gets increasingly disturbing and the question arises are we really in a forest or descending into hell.

The imagery is effective and creepy. We see lots of sigils, markings and blurred face of demons. The editing is done intentionally in a way that makes seem like made with some sinister purpose. The cautionary tale in the beginning is very clever, it makes the viewing feels like something we shouldn't be doing.

The acting is amazing, there are some twists there. Which makes sense and was hinted early on. The characters of brother and sister is likable.

The film has similar feelings of The Blair Witch Project. Towards the end film gets intense. Enjoyed the film.