October Horror Challenge - Antrum: The Deadliest Film Ever (2019)

I've been interested in this one for a while so I chose it for Day 19's "Folk Horror" prompt.

Plot

This film is presented as a documentary about a cursed film, Antrum, a movie from the 70's about a brother and sister in the woods digging a hole to Hell.

Review

I appreciate the film acknowledging John Carpenter's Cigarette Burns, especially considering it basically copies a big part of the premise of that Masters of Horror episode. The faux documentary actually includes the fictional cursed film. In Antrum a boy and his sister head in the woods in effort to bring back the soul of a deceased pet. Though it's a (relatively) recent film, the filmmakers did an excellent job of making it look like it's from the 70's. There are some genuinely creepy scenes too. The film also some rather disturbing twists too as the siblings descend further on their journey.

I think what made Cigarette Burns work is because it focused on the search for a cursed film and only shown really disturbing pieces of it. The framing of this film is interesting and I'm not saying the film within a film is bad, but as a whole I found it just kind of fell flat. I'm going to be honest, I had high hopes for this one, but feel I was misled. I wanted a movie about a cursed film, not a film framed as a cursed movie. 

 Your Game 

Antrum (the film within the film) would be an excellent dark artifact in a modern horror game. It could easily be a the equivalent of a Mythos tome in Call of Cthuhlu. I've given it stats and effects for What Shadows Hide and We Die Young.

Antrum

This cursed 70's film is said to cause those that watch it to go mad. Any character starting this movie gains 1d4 points of Madness. Once started an individual must make a successful Mental saving throw to stop themselves from witnessing the eerie film. Anyone completing the film gain an additional 1d10 points of Madness. However, those that complete the film also gain a permanent Advantage on rolls that involve arcane knowledge and outsiders.

Movies Watched: 21

New to Me: 13.66