Antrum: The Deadliest Film Ever Made (also known simply as Antrum) is a 2018 horror film written and directed by David Amito and Michael Laicini. It is a mockumentary that purports to tell the story of a film named Antrum, which was shot in 1979 about a brother and sister, Oralee and Nathan, who dig a hole to find the titular entrance to Hell. The documentary staff note the incidents in which film festival organizers and goers mysteriously died after watching the film. Experts spoken to also note that Antrum was altered in some way, spliced with more horrific footage, which may or may not allow the film to kill its viewers. The staff are able to locate a print of the actual film and then screen it as part of this film proper.
Antrum itself debuted at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival in 2018 and was quietly distributed to Amazon. The film became a sleeper hit in 2020, as users of social media platform TikTok created the "Antrum Challenge" to encourage others to watch the film.
This film provides examples of:
- Abusive Parents: From what little we see of her, the kids' mother does not seem to be a good parent. While, yes, Maxine did bite someone, callously telling her grieving children that their dog was bad and wouldn't go to Heaven wasn't a good idea, especially given the outcome. She's also conspicuously absent and unmentioned when the children spend nights digging in the woods, which, while somewhat justified by the time period, can still be indicative.
- Arc Symbol: Sigils sometimes flash on screen, with the two most common being a triangle and a type of pentagram. The credits reveal that the triangle could represent either the Holy Spirit, manifestation and illumination, or spirit summoning. The pentagram is specifically the seal of Astaroth
, which is noted to appear a total of 170 times. - Bestiality Is Depraved: One of the cannibals is seen penetrating a deer carcass in his introduction.
- Bittersweet Ending: After he and Oralee escape from the cannibals, Nathan finds the chains he believes belong to Cerberus and follows them, instead finding a normal dog caught in a bear trap. He lets it loose, and then smiles as it leaves, believing he's saved Maxine's soul. Sure, both children went through something horrific, and they're likely going to be haunted by it for a long time, but they're alive and Nathan can finally be at peace with his dog's death...
- ... but then, after the "credits" begin to roll, the film picks back up with a panicked Oralee seeing demonic creatures all around her. She hides in her tent and hears a clinking chain. It's Nathan with the bear trap, but Oralee doesn't see him, and it's strongly implied that she shoots him when he tries to come into the tent.
- Brown Note: The movie Antrum is itself this in-universe, having multiple unexplained deaths associated with it. The credits come up with a possible explanation. The audio track uses binaural beats, which can cause effects ranging from euphoria to severe anxiety and hallucinations. The movie also has sigils scattered throughout, which can put someone at unease even if they don't understand the meaning, and to a highly devout person may be enough to induce adverse physical effects. That's if the film isn't summoning demons.
- Content Warning: The actual film portion opens with one, complete with a countdown allowing the viewer to leave the cinema:LEGAL NOTICE: By continuing to watch this film, you agree that the producers of this film have made you aware of the history and dangers associated with Antrum. The producers, distributors, cast, crew, unions, and theater management on all levels, are released of all liability for any event that occurs to you during or after your screening, including but not limited to illness, injury, mortal danger, or death. If you disagree in any way with this notice, you must leave the theater now.
- Convenient Escape Boat: Oralee leads Nathan to one to escape the cannibals. Subverted in that this may be the boat they arrived to this forest in, but we only previously saw them in a car.
- Credits Gag:
- The opening credits for the cursed film include names in Cyrillic script, as well as Polish and English names. It brings into question just where this film came from in the first place.
- The closing credits attempt to obscure the nature of the film-within-a-film by listing its actors as having their names "translated" from the original film.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: The two cannibals have a large statue of Baphomet that functions as a brazen bull torture device. Muffled screams are heard from inside as they stoke the fire, and the briefcase and stuffed animal lying on the ground next to it indicate that the unfortunate victim inside is the Japanese man from earlier.
- Driven to Suicide: A recurring theme. Early on the film heavily implies that the forest is a common location for people to attempt akin to Aokigahara. The two children find a gun and a pill bottle while digging, alluding to two common suicide methods (shooting and overdosing). They also interrupt a Japanese man about to enact Seppuku. Later, a heavily desiccated corpse appears in the foreground while the kids obliviously go about their business, with the implication that it was someone who died from suicide. The credits note that an Australian Aboriginal culture has had people die from despair from the sheer belief they were cursed, suggesting that some, but not all, of the deaths associated with the film were more devout viewers who were affected by the Religious Horror, sigils, and binaural beats.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: Several of the sinister elements in the film are all blink-and-you'll-miss-it. These items are all revealed by the documentary staff after the film portion finishes, with the sigil of Astaroth appearing over 170 times.
- The phrase "Abyssus abyssum invocat" (Latin, "one misstep leads to another"; lit. "Hell invokes hell") appears as the couple stand at the entrance to the forest. "Cave ab homine unius libri" (Latin, "Beware the man of one book"note ) appears backwards as Oralee jumps off the boat to find Nathan.
- A stylized pentagram revealed in the credits as the sigil of Astaroth and shots of profusely bleeding people in a tiled room or shower also appear several times throughout the runtime.
- Interrupted Suicide: Oralee and Nathan stumble upon a Japanese man who came to the forest to commit suicide. Nathan's cry causes the man to pause as he's about to disembowel himself.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane:
- There's just enough evidence for both possibilities. Either the children actually did awake something Satanic in the woods which led to (or at least coincided with) the dangers they faced, or it was all in their heads. The strongest evidence for it all being real is Nathan apparently having met Ike, who doesn't exist. While it's possible that this was just a dream or his imagination, "Ike" also told him that Oralee would try to trick him with Maxine's collar, which he couldn't have known about otherwise.
- The nature of Antrum's Brown Note in-universe is also this. The credits have analysts argue that the film uses binaural beats in its soundtrack, as well as the sigils which can induce tension even in those who don't understand the meaning. This, combined with the Religious Horror, may be enough to cause intense fear in more devout individuals. That said, that doesn't explain the more accidental deaths talked about in the intro, nor does it fully explain why the film uses that many demon-summoning sigils.
- Mercy Kill: Oralee and Nathan's dog Maxine is euthanized at the beginning of the film. Nathan begins seeing horrific visions because of this, which leads to his sister Oralee helping him overcome by digging a path to Hell.
- Possibly a subversion, as at the beginning their mother says that Maxine won't go to Heaven because she was a "bad dog," and a flashback later in the film strongly implies that Maxine bit someone, possibly Nathan.
- Nothing Is Scarier: During one of Nathan's visions, the film sound cuts entirely as a barely lit demonic face stays on screen staring at the viewer for half a minute. The sound track of the film grain cuts back in and the film continues as normal.
- Ominous Latin Chanting: A demon is heard whispering when Nathan reveals he was scratched on the leg by "them". It goes away when the "holy water" is poured on the injury. It returns later as Oralee jumps in the water to retrieve Nathan, only the second time she ducks her head underwater, the Lord's Prayer is muttered instead.
- Outliving One's Offspring: The Japanese man takes out a stuffed animal and cries over it for a while before attempting his suicide, implying this trope was his reason for said suicide.
- Overshadowed by Controversy: The movie is this in-universe. The film opens with mockumentary footage explaining the film's history of being rejected from multiple film festivals and having many bizarre deaths associated with it being screened (up to and including riots). This led to the film being banned and becoming lost media for years. The actual movie portion opens with a legal disclaimer explaining that the viewer was made aware of the film's history and that no one involved in the screening is liable for any damages that may occur during or after.
- Reality Has No Subtitles: The two cannibals speak in an Eastern European dialect and their dialogue remains unsubtitled throughout the film. Likewise, the Japanese man yells at the kids for several minutes in unsubtitled Japanese after they interrupt his suicide attempt, then apologizes to them in English before leaving. To contrast, non-English dialogue spoken in the documentary portions of the move is subtitled.
- Religious Horror: After a fashion. Oralee is pretending to dig a hole to Hell with Nathan, and there's possibly a demon or demons in the woods with them. The framing device plays with this too, with the Antrum movie said to be cursed and having had demonic imagery edited into it.
- Said edits include snippets of silent, black-and-white footage of a naked man and woman imprisoned in some sort of shower room. Eventually, their captors (presumably the same people who edited the footage into the movie) force the woman to kill the man, and the last time we see them, both of them are dead. Next to their bodies is an apple with a bite missing, suggesting that these two were meant to be some sort of twisted expies of Adam and Eve.
- Retraux: The film itself is convincingly shot like a late 70s film, including colour grading, stock, distortions, etc.
- Sdrawkcab Speech: Nathan speaks a line backwards after being rescued from the lake.
- Snowball Lie: Oralee, concerned for his brother's mental health after the death of their dog Maxine, constructs a full book of demonology, credits it to a classmate named Ike, and takes him to the woods to "dig a hole to Hell" so that the two of them can "save Maxine's soul". Oralee finally reveals this to Nathan once the charade backfires miserably.
- Snuff Film: The copy of Antrum being shown has seemingly unrelated footage spliced in that appears to be a naked man and woman being tortured in what looks like a shower room. The last time we see them, they seem to be dead, with a bitten apple next to their bodies. This implies that the two were used as a sick parody of Adam and Eve.
- The Stinger: After the Antrum portion of the film plays, Oralee is seen roaming the woods screaming for Nathan as she sees actual demonic figures in the trees all around her. Upon returning to the hole, she takes the religious icons they brought for "protection" and chucks them in, followed by some branches and torn-up pages of the book, and sets it all on fire in an attempt to make the demons go away. They do not. While hiding inside the tent, she hears the sound of clinking chains getting closer and aims the gun at the tent flap. It's just Nathan with the bear trap, but of course she can't see that through the closed tent, and it's implied that she ends up shooting him once he opens it.
- Stop Motion: The demon that takes the form of a squirrel is presented in this way.
- Title Drop: The antrum (Latin for "cave") is the gateway into Hell, according to Oralee.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: The entire movie's plot could have been avoided if the children's mother hadn't answered Nathan's question about 'where Maxine went' by saying she was a bad dog who wouldn't go to Heaven. Instead, he develops nightmares about Hell, which leads Oralee to attempt a mock ritual to ease his guilt.
- Wham Line: Nathan casts serious doubt on Oralee's Snowball Lie that Ike (and his demonology book) were made up by her:Nathan: But... I met him.
