Antibirth

This is an artsy horror film that embraces raw American lower class, gritty characters, drugs and neon clothing. So this isn't for everyone and certainly caters to a particular audience. That being said I can recommend this movie if you are a big fan of either Chloe Sevigny or Natasha Lyone because their real life friendship is apparent in this film, especially a stoned dance scene in a trailer. They just had fun making this and embracing the dark, quirky elements, and that made it so enjoyable. If you liked the movies #Horror, Tales of Halloween, Honeybee, Bubba Ho-Tep, ABC's of Death, BeatleJuice, An American Werewolf in London or Tucker and Dale vs. Evil.... Then it's a pretty good chance you will get a kick out of Anti-Birth.

Of course, I freely admit I would watch just about anything starring both Natasha Lyonne and Chloë Sevigny . . . what could possibly go wrong?

OK, all joking aside (well, sort of), Natasha and Chloe are absolutely brilliant here, they nail their characters perfectly, and then some.

As for the film itself, the best description that comes to mind is bizarre, twisted, completely ridiculous . . . and very fun to watch.

This is definitely a low budget, B minus sci-fi horror genre' production, with a dash of evil ET conspiracy twists submerged in a veritable swamp of drug dazed existence. Even if the story, such as it is (or perhaps tries to be) is murky at best, the characters are perfect exaggerations of characters I've seen or met over the years.

If anything, this production consists of a very loosely connected jigsaw puzzle of plot pieces, which serves as a sort of ecosystem for the aforementioned exaggerated real life type characters to flourish in.

Well, maybe flourish isn't exactly the appropriate description here.

But however one may want to judge this production, it certainly can't be criticized for lack of uniqueness.

Chloë is particularly adept at playing various roles in unique productions ("Hit and Miss" immediately comes to mind), but this definitely rates as one of the more, well, experimental sorts of indie film productions she has appeared in.

This film is certainly not for everyone, or even most, but for those with an proclivity toward indie projects more than just a bit outside the box, this just could be your cup of tea.

I'll offer a somewhat tentative 6 stars for this one . . .

"Antibirth" starts out promising with some really intriguing characterizations from Natasha Lyonne and Chloe Sevigny. The screenplay has some great dialogue, and Ms. Lyonne in particular is, as usual, fascinating to watch. Unfortunately, as the film begins to develop a plot it becomes more and more derivative, confusing and absurd and stops being enjoyable; it just becomes plodding and dull. There are so many stereotypical subplots from body-horror films as well as ripoffs from "Rosemary's Baby," "Demon Seed" and others that "Antibirth" just becomes another minor product aimed at the quickie Hollywood horror market. Meg Tilly is wasted and looks as though she's still trying to figure out the plot herself during her scenes. I recommend watching the first fifteen minutes and then turning it off and doing something more productive... I stayed until the end and felt ripped off waiting for something to original to happen.

Honestly, I was very sceptic going into this movie, however after letting my guard down and allowing the film to get going, I was drawn into its strange world. The whole experience was a rollercoaster ride. Some of the scenes are immaculately shot, the cinematography really impressed me and took me off guard more than once. And then, during some other scenes I just kept thinking: "oh my god why did they edit it this way?"

The performances are mostly good, the editing, as stated before, has its ups and downs. Honestly just give this movie a shot if you like campy weird horror movies.

So, I can't say that this was my all-time favorite movie of the year, nor can I say it didn't lack substance. However, I did watch this movie 2 times, being an indie film producer and writer before giving any rating or review. This film, in my opinion, is meant to be satirical and humorous while also being horrifying and bloody grisly fantastic. We have Natasha Lyonne, perfectly cast, as the main character who basically wakes up pregnant and has all these strange things start to happen to her. I will say, this film is not a stand alone "Thriller" so do not be confused. After my second go around with this film, I realized the meaning of it. Also, while watching, keep an ear out for the music choice as it is perfectly placed and could not have been picked better. 10 stars on music and Natasha Lyonne's performance. This movie will either be your cup of tea, or it will not. Think, Trainspotting. This movie is nothing like it, but you either loved or hated it. I loved both.