Advances in technology and the availability of the internet in virtually every home and mobile device means that the horror genre will never be able to truly replicate the genius of The Blair Witch Project‘s marketing campaign, which hoodwinked a whole lot of people into thinking the documentary depicted in the film was a real thing. That being said, 2018’s haunting Antrum: The Deadliest Film Ever Made comes pretty damn close.
Existing somewhere between a gimmick and stroke of creative genius, Antrum was marketed as a cursed movie from the 1970s of which only a solitary copy remains, with a side story finding two young children heading deep into the woods to try and dig a whole straight through to hell after little Nathan refuses to accept his recently-euthanized dog has been cast into the fiery bowels of Satan’s realm.
Split into two parts that combine mockumentary and narrative storytelling techniques, as well as a myriad of distortions and after-effects that merge between reality and fiction to disorientating effect, there’s a high chance you’ll be left questioning what exactly falls into the fiction column by the time the credits roll. Naturally, the unique framing devices proved polarizing among audiences, but a celebratory Reddit thread indicates the adulation for Antrum is alive and well.
A movie telling the story of a movie that’s been turned into a movie sounds confusing to say the least, but based on the comments and responses to the original post, it evidently had the desired effect after many people found themselves doing online research of their own to determine whether or not is was based on or inspired by a true story.
You might not entirely buy into the hype, but it’s a weapons-grade mindf*ck that leaves a lasting impression.
Published: Dec 7, 2022 04:43 am