Antibirth

Antibirth

Even hard core genre fans might find it difficult to appreciate the psychedelic horror film “Antibirth”. Visually, the film is as jarring and suggestive: stunning photography, dizzying cutting and frequent deployment of double exposures evoke the pictures made by Bill Lustig, Damon Packard, Ben Wheatley, Rob Zombie or David Lynch. But on a storytelling level, “Antibirth” is filled with annoying, careless and/or ugly characters. Lou (Natasha Lyonne), the anti-heroine alcoholic drug abuser without principles who stars in this movie is also its most aggressively unsympathetic person.

At least if she had died after falling into a coma brought about by her blackout during an all night drinking session! Still one doesn’t have to identify with Lou as an individual to want to learn what occurs next in her life. The point is that “Antibirth” can be captivating for those who let themselves get swallowed up by its bold confrontationalism with avant-garde style.

Set among ex-soldiers living on skid row where everybody does drugs or drinks too much alcohol all day long every day anyway including themselves pretty often enough so why bother trying anything different when you know nothing will come out right because everything’s wrong anyway? Everybody here thinks they’re pregnant even though there haven’t been any sexual relations within months; such gloominess resembles “Jacob’s Ladder” blended awkwardly with some parts of “Rosemary’s Baby.”

That she believes herself impregnated only shows how much driven by instinctual desires Lou truly is whether consuming tequila like water while inhaling cigarettes after chips ahoy chocolate cookies then telling Chloe Sevigny’s character Sadie what she plans do suppose it turns out true still curses frequently uses other people curses at them mooches off their kindnesses watches cartoons alone until finally pushing everyone away except maybe one person whom we’ve never seen before but suddenly appears out nowhere when everything else has collapsed around us anyway so who cares really? The thing about this film is that it doesn’t let you settle.

Danny Perez’s writing and directing style draws us through his characters’ dirty surroundings. In a previous collaboration with Animal Collective on the delightfully strange short film called “Oddsac”, Perez didn’t rely on conventions for Lou’s late night encounters or those bowling alley speeches or even leisurely car rides that take forever because they’re not going anywhere fast enough; instead he nurtured them as being sinister and unreal within themselves.

His world of beefy drug dealers lifting weights yoga instructors preaching quietly until they start shouting about Satan pizza delivery boys dressed up like killers these are ominous things happening in places where they shouldn’t be happening (or should?). You always know it’s just another director looking at life from behind bars but sometimes I wonder where does Danny come off showing us all this stuff?

This movie is odd. It speeds up then slows down then speeds up again; violence threatens to break out but never in the way you expect; sex can be creepy or disgusting funny depending on how much pot have smoked prior to viewing experience; secondary characters like Meg Tilly playing dual roles as conspiracy theorist/good Samaritan pop into frame without any logic other than wanting them there at moment we least expect someone else might show up instead which happens too often anyway because people keep disappearing left right center only reappear later point saying they never went anywhere would rather just forget about whole thing but can’t because no matter where turn something new seems happen while not understanding why this keeps occurring over again makes one feel crazy enough pull hairs out head scream blood-curdling screams till throat turns raw red!?

This is weird because, at its core, “Antibirth” irked me. I don’t like Lou which, fair enough, I’m not supposed to. Perez ensures that by hitting us with early lines of dialogue like, “I think I’d remember if I had a dick inside me.” But then the movie keeps going and the film’s slimy tone becomes slightly more palatable.

Yes: Lou’s constant self-endangerment made me feel like a worried mom who’s ready to tsk-tsk her every time she picks up a bottle or bong. But you start to get the sense that Perez is doing it on purpose; he knows how far he can take it without losing you. You know something? Those trippy images of eerie silhouettes and creatures that look like what would happen if Tinky Winky and the gremlin from “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” had babies? They’re both mesmerizing AND off-putting.

I’ve tried to keep this review as fuzzy as possible because most of the fun of watching “Antibirth” is wondering whether you’re losing your mind while you do it. How can any one movie be so ugly and yet so alluring? It would be very easy for someone to bounce off this feature debut from Mr. Perez (he’s worked as a producer and production designer before now), but if you find yourself being able to roll with its punches well then you’ll find yourself getting punched in the gut by one of the year’s most original horror movies.

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