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[Sundance Review] ‘Antibirth’ is Gross as Hell!

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Antibirth is a good old body horror movie. It’s got the suggestion of pregnancy, so you’re dealing with the undertones of a woman’s mixed feelings about her own capacity to give life, but if you don’t want to go there it’s really just gross as hell.

Lou (Natasha Lyonne) starts getting sick and the symptoms suggest pregnancy, but she hasn’t been with a man in eight months. Yet her stomach starts growing and she can’t figure out what’s going on. Her friend Sadie (Chloe Sevigny) assumes she did get pregnant and isn’t telling, but a mysterious stranger (Meg Tilly) believes her.

There are plenty of nasty secretion coming out of Lyonne’s body and her belly begins to protrude to a ridiculous, surreal degree. She pops an extreme blister in the Sundance tradition of Stoker, which opened with Mia Wasikowska popping a blister. Lyonne wins because her blister covers a lot more of her foot than Wasikowksa, like a lot.

Lou isn’t the only one suffering from gory effects. There’s some good face splatter when others try to help. The end result is one hell of a climax. It looks like a practical suit with some CGI enhancements and it totally works.

There’s some visual uncertainty in writer/director Danny Perez’s presentation. Lou does all the drugs (pot, coke, pills) so she is possibly unreliable. Her nightmare visions culminate in plushies from a children’s restaurant (off brand Chuck-E-Cheese but definitely not Chuck-E-Chees) probing her. The dealer Gabriel (Marc Webber) is a significant character too, and some of his junkie harem have some completely unrelated body horror going on to complement Lou’s.

Antibirth is simple in genre terms. It knows body horror and does it well. The mythology it reveals is clever, but I don’t want to spoil it. Perez’s style keeps everything nasty, but it’s fun to go on the nasty ride with him and this cast.

Indie

“Bite Size Short: Her House of Horrors” Announce Short Grant Program!

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Her House of Horrors, the horror division of Independent Production House WOMXNOGRAPHY, has launched its Bite Size Short Grant Program, ahead of its film festival Dollhouse of Horror, which will take place in March 2025 in Los Angeles, CA.

The Bite Size Short Grant Program awards $2,000 film grants to female-identifying and queer horror filmmakers. Shorts must be able to be made for $2,000, with a minimum runtime of 8 minutes. Submissions are now open on Filmfreeway, and are being judged by a panel of horror lovers and content creators.

The 2024 Bite Size Short Grant Program judge lineup is as follows:

“James H. Carter II- A documentary director, film producer, podcaster, marketing specialist, and writer. James is the founder and co-owner of Creepy Kingdom. Creepy Kingdom was founded in 2011 and is a multimedia website, and production studio specializing in creepy content. Their primary focus lies at the intersection of childlike fantasy and the macabre, covering horror films, theme parks, haunts, and much more. Beyond their extensive media coverage, Creepy Kingdom hosts events, offers original merchandise, and engages in film production under the Creepy Kingdom Studios brand producing original films like “Foolish Mortals”, exploring Disney’s “Haunted Mansion” fan culture, and “Georgie”, featuring Tony Dakota from the original “It” miniseries.

“In addition to founding Creepy Kingdom, James has won awards for his documentary work, including the award-winning “Foolish Mortals,” which has earned him recognition. He has been featured on Freeform’s 31 Nights of Halloween special.

“Ashleeta Beauchamp is the editor-in-chief of Peek-A-Boo! Magazine, a cheeky horror magazine created to uplift marginalized writers, artists, models and other creators within the horror community. She also runs The Halloween Coalition, a community group to provide support and marketing for horror and Halloween events around the Southern California area.

“Titeanya Rodríguez is a multi-hyphenate creative, and the founder and owner of HER HOUSE OF HORRORS, home of DOLLHOUSE OF HORROR and the horror division of WOMXNOGRAPHY. As a fellow storyteller and a self-proclaimed artivist, Titeanya’s mission is to create opportunities for women of color and queer women, across film, tv, sports, music, and beyond. She is also the creator of the BITE SIZE SHORT grant program.”

Winners will have a one-night theatrical screening at Regal Cinemas. Submissions Close April 8 at Midnight. Winners will be announced on May 27, 2024. Shorts must be shot and through post-production by June 30, 2024. The screening will take place on July 8, 2024, in Los Angeles, CA.

WOMXNOGRAPHY, HER HOUSE OF HORRORS, and Rodriguez are represented by Azhar PR, Granderson Des Rochers, and Kinsella Holley Iser Kump Steinsapir.

To submit your short to the Bite Size Short Grant Program, go to the FilmFreeway link here.

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