Nerdly » Frightfest Glasgow 2024: ‘The Deep Dark’ Review

11th Mar2024

Frightfest Glasgow 2024: ‘The Deep Dark’ Review

by Phil Wheat

Stars: Samuel LeBihan, Amir El Kacem, Jean-Hughes Anglade, Thomas Solivérès, Diego Martín, Marc Riso, Bruno Sanches | Written and Directed by Mathieu Turi

It’s 1856, and in the historic coal mines of Northern France, a group of miners find themselves trapped in the subterranean depths after a cave-in. But they soon realise they are not alone… Decades later, veteran miner Roland is forced by management to accompany Professor Berthier underground to take samples and measurements. A sudden landslide prevents them from surfacing, and they, too, must face the ancient mutant that constantly craves blood.

Miners in 50s France come face to face with a monstrous disciple of The Old One, which has recently been a major trope in horror cinema – it seems whilst the work of Lovecraft is unfilmable, homaging it is not. We’ve had films like The Deep Ones, The Old Ones, The Lighthouse et al and now this French effort from writer/director Mathieu Turi.

From the off The Deep Dark is VERY claustrophobic, which adds immensely to the tension and the sense of urgency throughout the film. And that’s how this film generates its scares because, honestly the monster is the weakest part of the film. Speaking of the monster, the filmmakers made the decision to render their terrifying monster in practical effects made the urgency of The Deep Dark feel more real, though the monster did – at times – look like a giant puppet.

Of course this film isn’t all about the monster, at its core it’s about a group of hard-working men doing a job that, frankly, many do not and would not do. Thankfully the performances across the board are fantastic and the way in which the script and the direction builds empathy with this band of not-so-merry men is really bolstered by what feel like very human characterisations.

There’s a great take on the “who is the monster” trope in this film too, with some of the miners bringing this terror upon themselves by being [subjectively] bad people. But they’re also being played by the establishment – used by the mining company that pays them, literally bought by a scientist who accompanies them down the mines for his own personal gain; so why not try and get yourself out of the situation, out of the lousy life-threatening job, by stealing gems? But we all know that’s a mistake – it’s a cliche of cinema that thievery never pays. But it works here to add extra motivation to both the men and the monster.

The Deep Dark could have done with a few minutes trimmed out of it just to cut out a few lulls. But that’s not to say the pacing is bad, just trimming the fat – mainly the infighting and some of the “banter” between the miners – would’ve made this one even more tense. Perhaps unbearably so.