Earlier this week, we shared news that Antrum: The Deadliest Film Ever Made was the #1 movie on Amazon Prime over the weekend (propelled, in no small part, by at TikTok challenge daring participants to view the potentially fatal flick). Since it was one of my picks for the Best Horror Movies of 2019, I’m excited to see that Antrum is getting the recognition it deserves!
Related Article: HORRIBLE IMAGININGS 2019: ANTRUM REVIEW—A NIGHTMARISH, SATANIC THROWBACK WRAPPED IN AN URBAN LEGEND
The film plays out like a puzzle begging to be fully assembled by intrepid, fearless viewers. The third act on Antrum informs viewers that they have just been subliminally bombarded by a series of sigils and demonic imagery designed to open an infernal portal! The YouTuber at Human Echoes accepted the challenge and assembled a video identifying everything you might have missed in Antrum. Dread Central is not responsible for the safety of those who give the video a spin at the top of the article.
Tony Southcotte is a horror junkie who breaks down films for Human Echoes on YouTube. He’s the founder of the Bad Ideas Podcast which covers the worst ideas in history. You can follow him on Twitter or Instagram at @TSouthcotte. About the identification video, he tells us:
“Like most horror fans, seeing the term ‘Deadliest Film Ever Made‘ sounds like more of a challenge than a threat. It might be hacky from the filmmakers but it was enough to grab my attention. The film itself was a wonderful retro piece of horror, but I needed to know more. I wanted to see every sigil that flashed too quickly to parse, understand every Latin phrase, and I wanted a clear look at all the demons, minions, and bizarre squirrels. After far too many hours exposing myself to Satanic imagery, I made this video for the rest of you who are curious about the world of Antrum.”
Check out the trailer and read more about Antrum: The Deadliest Film Ever Made below.
Synopsis:
Antrum, a feature length film shot in the late 1970s, is said to be cursed. In 1988, a movie theatre in Budapest that was screening the film burnt to the ground, killing the 56 people who were in attendance. This incident follows the inexplicable deaths of a number of film festival programmers that had received Antrum as a submission and died shortly after watching it. These events have created a belief that watching Antrum will kill you. Else Films has successfully tracked down a sole copy of the film and packaged it for public release. The film is about a young boy and girl that enter a forest and dig a hole to hell. As one programmer observed of Antrum, “You don’t watch the film, the film watches you”
Antrum’s reputation is partially due to additional real-world events that took place as the actual film was being shown. Market screenings during the Cannes Film Festival included liability waivers, and Fantafest Roma even brought in a priest in to bless the theater. Outside the festivals, many unexpected individuals have admitted to swapping the film with one another, with cult character actor Lawrence R. Harvey (Human Centipede: Full Sequence) even declaring Antrum “one of the best horror films of 2019.”
The heart of Antrum is the titular cursed feature, which purports to have been shot in the late 1970s by unknown filmmakers. It spins the tale of two siblings who perform an occult ritual in the woods, seeking closure after the death of a beloved pet… but their seemingly symbolic act may have truly unleashed Hell on Earth.
Related Article: ANTRUM: THE DEADLIEST FILM EVER MADE IS NOW THE #1 TRENDING FILM ON AMAZON PRIME
Are you excited to check out Antrum? Were you intrigued by the video identifying sigils and other imagery hidden in the film? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram! You can also carry on the convo with me personally on Twitter @josh_millican.