Dhruv Sharma
Add a tinge of realism with recording glitches, amateur shooting, and an extremely unsettling, ambiguous atmosphere—that right there is the recipe for a potentially viral horror movie. ‘The Blair Witch Project‘—a film that is devoid of any meaning—treads a similar path and manages to give you nightmares for days. The ‘Paranormal Activity’ series is another famous franchise that blew up because of its “found footage” approach.
Lately, another low-budget movie that is literally on everyone’s watch list is ‘Antrum.’ The title of the film—which claims that it’s the deadliest film ever made—itself manages to get your attention and with just one look at its premise, you’re hooked. With so much hype around the realism of its premise and its catchy title, you can’t but wonder if its over-the-top claims are actually true. Well, here are all the answers for you.
Is Antrum a True Story?
Before we answer this question, let us just walk you through a brief synopsis of its storyline. According to the plot of the movie, ‘Antrum’ is the name of a feature-length film that was shot way back in the 70s. Urban legends surrounding this film suggest that it’s cursed and anyone who dared to watch it ended up dying. It all started off in 1988 when the film was first screened in Budapest. This is where its screening theatre burnt to the ground, killing 56 people. Following this, several inexplicable deaths took place and all of them harkened back to the curse of the movie.
Getting back to the big question, it is pretty obvious that ‘Antrum’ is not actually based on a true story. However, inside the universe of the movie, the cursed film ‘Antrum’ is real and can very well take the lives of those who come in contact with it. The film’s entire setup reminds you of ‘The Ring‘ (‘Ringu’ in Japanese) which revolves around a similar storyline. Just like ‘Antrum’, ‘The Ring’ is also about a cursed movie tape that kills anyone who ends up watching it. The extreme supernatural elements of ‘The Ring’ make it pretty evident that it’s not based on a true story. On the other hand, the lack of these makes ‘Antrum’ a lot more believable.
Is Antrum Actually Cursed?
No matter how many times you watch it, the tape from ‘The Ring’ creates an unsettling atmosphere that creeps right under your skin. ‘Antrum’ does something similar with its quasi-documentary style and 70s setup. All of this makes its false claims of being real a lot more believable.
Even during its opening scenes, the film claims that it’s a “rediscovered print from the 1970s of a long-lost cursed cult horror movie” and also warns a viewer that watching it is not safe. However, all of this is simply a scheme to make it go viral. ‘Antrum’ claims to have been released in the 1970s but it did not come out before 2018. Its entire “cursed movie” setup is a mere gimmick that cleverly lures you in as a viewer and makes you believe that it’s a real lost footage film of some sort.
In conclusion, ‘Antrum’ can either be labeled as a publicity stunt or simply a genius method of viral marketing. ‘The Blair Witch Project’ used news article snippets, interviews, and also fake “missing students” posters to create a similar hype around it and that’s the reason why people still look back at it as one of the creepiest horror movies ever made. ‘Antrum’ manages to pull this off with its lo-fi trailer, simple yet interesting storyline, and of course, its title. This shows all the endless possibilities that come with the internet era and also, proves that as movie-goers, we are, at times, drawn to movies that are restricted in some way.
Read More: Is The Ring Based on a True Story?
