Antrum (2018)
Written by: DMG
Film Information
Director: David Amito, Michael Laicini
Producer: Eric Thirteen, David Bond, et. al.
Writre: David Amito, Michael Laicini
Date Released: October 14, 2018
Cast:
Nicole Tompkins as Oralee
Rowan Smyth as Nathan
Dan Istrate as Cassius
Circus-Szalewski as Hanzie
Shu Sakimoto as Haruki
Kristel Elling as Amber
et. al.
Rating = 1/5 Graves
***May contain some spoilers***
Synopsis
Antrum begins by introducing a mini documentary about the film. According to this documentary, Antrum was played in a theatre in Budapest. As a result, 56 people had died after viewing the film and the theatre burned down. It is said that those who see this film will die. There have been multiple cases of people who have coincidentally died after viewing the film. This film would thereafter disappear, but producers later found a sole copy of the film in an estate auction in Connecticut in a 35 mm format.
The story of Antrum follows siblings, Nathan and Oralee who venture into a forest to find and release the soul of their dog, Maxine, who recently died. After their mother told Nathan that Maxine is not in heaven but in hell, Oralee attempts to ease Nathan’s mind and informs him that there is a place in the forest where you can dig to hell so that they can find Maxine. In the forest, Nathan and Oralee create a summon-like circle and perform a ritual. Based on Oralee’s witchcraft book, it is said that the more you dig in the circle, the farther in hell you will get. As they dig through the layers of hell, Nathan and Oralee soon regret their decision.
Gore Factor
There is not much blood and gore. However, there is a scene where a cannibal has sex with a dead deer (certainly not a pleasant site). The scene where the two cannibals burn another man alive inside a goat-like statue (also known as Baphomet) is also quite disturbing. In addition, there are other figures lurking around the forest which adds suspense and anticipation. However, there are no other notable scenes which are out-right grotesque.
The Grave Review
The first question you may have is, is this film made up? The answer is yes. Antrum attempted to create a fictious documentary of a supposed cursed film that was released in 1979. They even having an ending with the copyright symbol and year. The concept of creating a fictious “cursed” film is clever since there are now multiple layers of interest: 1) the history of the film and 2) the film itself. Viewers may be interested because they want to know if this film truly was “cursed” and whether the film is as demonic as rumored. Unfortunately, the hype was so high that the film was a complete let down in virtually every way.
Let’s start with the time period that the film was supposed to be set in. If you want to create a “cursed” film and sell it as such, you must adapt to the way the film would have been at the time it was originally released (a little over 40 years in this case). We have reviewed 1970s films and they do not look like this. Other than the fact that the film incorporated some random burn marks with demonic symbols, there was nothing else to really create the impression that this film used 35 mm reels. The other problem is the style of attire that Nathan and Oralee wore. The type of clothing that both characters wore was not the fashion in the 1970s. It would have been nice to make the film more dated to add to the believability of the film.
The pace of the film was also very slow. There were long periods of time between scenes until something interesting happened. In that respect, it was difficult to feel engaged in Antrum for the duration of the film (or less). As to the performances, no one particularly stood out or left a lasting impression.
I will say that the Baphomet statue was impressive. The amount of time to put that statue together for the film probably took a long time and so the prop was well-crafted. In all fairness, the concept was also sound but unfortunately the execution was very poor.
To put it simply, the film is boring. It is disappointing because the concept of digging to hell and experiencing darker and more demonic situations as you enter each layer of hell is a terrific idea.
For the foregoing reasons, Grave Reviews gives Antrum (2018) one grave out of five graves.
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