See “Cursed” Horror Movie ANTRUM: THE DEADLIEST FILM EVER MADE–If You Dare!

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Apr 8, 2019

The cursed videotape from The Ring has nothing on Antrum, aka The Deadliest Film Ever Made. Produced in the 1970s by brothers documenting an occult ritual, the film disappeared soon after it’s completion before reemerging in 1988. After screening at a film festival in Budapest, the theaters burned to the ground and several of the event’s programmers died under mysterious circumstances. A few years later, a riot erupted in a theater in San Francisco where Antrum was screened; in the ensuing chaos, the only physical print went missing.

Now, this damnadble piece of cinema has emerged once again, and it’s making the rounds at film festival’s nationwide.

Full disclosure: Antrum is a mockumentary. Still, the filmmaking duo behind the movie have purposely blurred the lines between fiction and reality by enouraging viewers and journalists to add to its mythology. The film screens next at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFFF) on April 18 in advance of a limited theaterical release via Uncork’d Entertainment; look for it this Fall.

The film’s announcement was made today by executive producer Eric Thirteen.

“Everywhere I went people were talking about this secret film Antrum,” Thirteen recalls. “Filmmakers passing it around. You’d hear that it was from the 70’s, or that it was part documentary, or that it had cursed footage spliced into it. One person literally dared me to watch it, which I frankly scoffed at. Still, I had to know what the film really was – and once I saw it, the feeling wouldn’t leave. The allure of something you weren’t supposed to watch. That’s how I knew people needed to see this movie.”

Synopsis:
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.

“Horror audiences are extremely smart,” Thirteen commented. “When I see the ‘cursed’ videotape footage at the heart of Ringu, I don’t look away. I’ll watch the sequels too, because I know seeing that footage won’t actually kill me. At the same time, if I get a phone call… it’s going to freak me out. In that moment, rationality is gone. In that way, horror movies do cast a spell. That spell is very real.”

Thirteen describes the “Antrum effect” by comparing it to the malicious TV signal at the heart of David Cronenberg’s 1982 classic Videodrome– a signal which triggers hallucinations that manifest themselves in horrific ways. “I couldn’t stop thinking about the Videodrome signal,” Thirteen said. “It’s always with me.”

Are you intriged by the mythology surrounting Atrum: The Deadliest Film Ever Made? Are you brave enough to check it out this Fall? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!


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