Antikörper (2005)- REVIEW

★★1/2

I recently had a conversation with my dad about the state of contemporary German horror cinema, the crux of it being that the majority of well-known German-language horror films originate from Austria. Obviously Germany's influence on the horror genre is immense, the clear impact of films like Nosferatu, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Vampyr are testament to the country's expansive history with the genre.

Being half-German, I had mentally decided to circle back to this conversation, This eventually leading me to seek out a list of examples I could explore over the following weeks. The 2005 crime horror film, Antikörper was the start of my search.

Now I had previously become aware of this film from discussion I had seen online of its disturbing nature, placing my small amount of knowledge toward the right back of my brain. The film opens up with an introduction to Gabriel Engel, a notorious serial killer that we follow as a main source of context throughout the film's runtime. Critical moments in Antikörper happen through interrogations with Gabriel and our protagonist Michael Martens, a police officer from Herzbach who questions Engel over the unsolved murder of a 12-year-old girl in his village.

Though the murder is largely attributed to the psychotic serial killer, Martens is unsure and believes the murderer resides in Herzbach thanks to unsettling interactions during questioning. Michael Martens is playing a game, one constructed by his fear of evil and what he may be capable of. The devout Christian ends up cheating on his wife with a woman in Berlin, the first sign of his mind corrupting at the hand of Engel.

Eventually, Engel speaks of the instances of the 12-year-old's murder, claiming he had seen Martens' son kill her in cold blood. Martens is hysterical. He rushes back to the village, callously bringing his child to the hunting tower we see at the start of the film. He tells him to go down the ladder and to "stay clearly visible". Slowly, a teary-eyed Martens raises his gun, and aims directly at his son's torso.

While this is occurring, Commissioner Seiler uncovers Engel's deceptive scheme, intending to lead Martens into depravity. Fortunately, before any action could be taken, a helicopter lands, and Seiler steps out holding a notebook (the same one the killer had specifically asked for during his initial meeting with the Commissioner). As his wife arrives, the family embraces, and the realisation of his son's innocence brings Martens to tears of relief.

Though this may be considered a happy ending, the realisation that this father had been seconds away from shooting his son and will have to live with this guilt, recontextualises how I view this conclusion. This is what I believe makes this film's delivery effective. Tackling the evil of human psychology, having Martens come to doubt both his own morality but also his 13-year-old son's is a great device to invest the audience in the conclusion of these characters. I remember believing, at one point, that Martens himself may have even committed the crime. The effectiveness of this film's conclusion is, however, muddled with a confusing sequence of some CGI deer which completely messes with the film's attempted dark realism, adding a sort of fantastical tone when it is not at all needed.

The biggest issue I have with Antikörper is actually with its dialogue. Lots of scenes came off as incredibly stiff and unnatural, I distinctly highlighted a scene in which Martens barges into his son's room, exclaiming angrily that he won't let his own son get corrupted by evil. The delivery on this is just... awful and the "Not my son, not my son" as he walks out of the room is so rigidly performed but also very poorly written. It takes a lot for me to be brought out of a film's world by its script but Antikörper sadly manages to accomplish this.