The Deep Dark

Claustrophobic and disturbing medium-budgeted film packed with tension , shocking scenes , thrills , and chills. Factory boss Fouassier (Philippe Torreton) assigns a mining mission to Roland. Miners (Amir El Kacem, Thomas Solivérès, Diego Martín, Bruno Sanches) led by Roland are forced to take Professeur Berthier (Jean-Hugues Anglade) underground with them, to take samples for his measurements. Later on, they're exploring deep underground , the expedition gets horribly worse when they become lost , rockfall collapse and they don't find the dark way out . After delivering further into the cavern , things go awry. A landslide prevents them from going back up, and they discover a crypt from another time, unknowingly waking up a bloodthirsty creature.

Horror story filled with suspense, upsettling supernatural events, relentless terror, as well as lots of gore and blood . This frightening french movie concerns a group of miners, being trapped and chased into claustrophobic caves. Mathieu Turi (Meander) directs this scary horror film starring Samuel Le Bihan, winner of the French Cesar for Best New Actor in 1997 for Captain Conan, and being set in the depths of a coal mine in 1956. An horror film, taking place a chilling beginning, after that, the plot jumps forward 100 years, when a group of miners and a professor in search of samples become trapped 1000 meters underground; there they must find a way out and escape the sinister presence that lurks in the tunnels. Along with Samuel Le Bihan, the cast is completed by French Cesar winner Jean-Hugues Anglade (Queen Margot), Diego Martin (Rec 3), Amir El Kacem (Overdose), Tomas Solivéres (Mr. Henri shares a flat), among others.

This is one of the creepiest french horror movies of the last years and it contains thriller, chiller , cannibalism , blood and gore. The horror and gory moments are compactly made and fast-moving in which the brutal instincts of survival of the human beings are well shown. Ordinary terror film features an acceptable french cast , being shot on location in Wallers-Arenberg, Nord, France, Oignies, Pas-de-Calais, Bruay-la-Buissière, Angoulême and Morocco.

It packs a sinister, ghastly and horrifying atmosphere, full of eerie scenes by means of shaky camera carried out by cinematographer Alain Duplantier or with camera over shoulders and at times itself takes place from personal point of sight from cameraman .

The motion picture was professionally directed by Mathieu Turi, but nothing special because we have seen these terrifying situations many times before and even better filmed. Turi is a nice craftsman, a writer/filmmaker expert on terror films ,and he has directed a few movies and Shorts, such as: Meander (2020), Hostile (2017), Broken (2012), Sons of Chaos (2010). Well worth seeing if you like the terror films.

Other pictures dealing with this sub-genre about people caught and pursued in caves are the following ones : ¨Sub-human¨ (1972) by Gary Sherman with Donald Pleasence , Norman Rossington , David Ladd ; ¨What wait below¨ (1985) by Don Sharp with Robert Powell , Timothy Bottoms , Lisa Blount , Anne Heywood , Richard Johnson . And recently : ¨The cave¨ by Brian Hunt with Cole Houser , Piper Perabo , Eddie Cibrian , Rick Ravanello ; ¨The descent¨(2005) by Neil Marshall with Alex Reid , Natalie Mendoza , Shauna MacDonald , both them dealing with people caught into caverns and besieged , chased , attacked by packs of carnivorous , bloodthirsty , crawling creatures are waiting for them and finally ¨la Cueva¨(2014) by Alfredo Montero.

I really wanted to love this, but the movie makes it impossible. It's one of these "Can you enjoy the ride?" deals. This would have been absolutely unforgivable if you'd paid cinema money to see it in a theatre, but in your living room it's a different proposition.

I thought I had stumbled upon a hidden indie horror gem for much of the movie. I'm old enough to be willing to forgive some jank in the practical effects (seriously, you feel like you're going to see the strings at any moment), especially when the movie is making up for it in so many other ways. I like the characters, I like the way it's shot and lit, I like the direction (except the framing of the antagonist in almost every shot where it appears) and the environments are great. It even seems like it's building up to something: some intriguing discoveries, some Lovecraftian details, some hints that there might be a clever denouement coming down the pipe. There is not. They really did not know how to end this.

Thematically, the fingerprints of As Above So Below are all over this. If you enjoyed that movie and you're willing to accept that you're getting more of that concept but in a package that is lower budget and mostly not as good, then congratulations: set your sights low, and you'll get more from it than you expect.

On the positive side, there were many points where I was reminded of Season 1 of The Terror, in that you have a bunch of tough men in a dangerous situation, with such daily stresses that you might expect a horror story to see them all tearing each other apart, but instead you get a lot of moments of genuine care and tenderness that make you realise that these men depend on kindness in order to survive. These moments of respect towards each other and even the animals were some of my favourite scenes. Just like The Terror, of course there's one agent of chaos in there and another figure of sufficient power to compel them forwards.

Too many directors look at the circumstances of their plot and think to themselves, "Hey! Darkness! Tight spaces! Stranded people! This is kind of like Alien!" and then barrel towards that idea without any subtlety, and unfortunately this is one of those. So, we're soon torn from the qualities of The Terror towards a box-ticking exercise of What Works (or What's Supposed To Work). Perhaps this is what they needed to do in order to get the film funded and made, but it does suffer for that. There were some ideas in here that could have been great if they'd stuck to the potential of their set-up and developed that. Given the midway reveal of what the miners are dealing with, I would have liked it to get a lot more weird and come to a very different ending.

The French horror industry provided many movies during the 2000's and early 2010's and suddenly more or less disappeared, at least in France, and the directors moved away to Hollywood ( Alexandre Aja, Xavier Gens, Eric Vallette ) because of bigger budgets at their disposal and the opportunity to increase their popularity; bigger budget but also pain the ass producers on their back. This movie offers the peculiarity to show a first part which looks like a social drama, a semi documentary about pit coal workers, underground miners, during the fifties, a plot speaking of racism...And suddenly, after the first part, it suddenly turns into a horror film, as we have seen before in the American and also some French industry stuff. Good directing, acting, production design - which surprised me, especially in the first part, with Philippe Torreton whom I did not expect to see in a horror film. I like Samuel Le Bihan, in a charismatic leader role, tough, rough, fair, the same kind of character - or more precisely personality - he had in TOTAL WESTERN. Good French horror film which also made me think of Neil Marshall's THE DESCENT. But for me it is so surprising that there is NO FEMALE character in this film, in a period where strong lead women characters, even in actioners, are galore. Galore. It would not have surprised me to have here a woman sent among men, into the mine, fighting alone against the "thing".

I wanted to watch this on a big screen when it released in May 2024 but there was only one show of 11 pm and that too nowhere in Bandra bt far off in town side.

Missed it cos of my early morning gym training duty.

Saw this last nite on Amazon Prime.

I enjoyed this movie.

It has one of the coolest monster, terrifying n intimidating.

There is ample amount of tension n the kills r gruesome.

The best part is that inspite of the movie's entire setting taking place in a mine and an even deeper cave, without any sunlight or artificial light, one can make out wots going on.

No hand held shaky cam stuff n no flickering lights.

Wish they had shown more of the monster's past.

PLOT: A group of coal miners are offered attractive bonus in return for escorting a scientist deep into an underground cave where the group encounters a terrifying mythical being.

While browsing Prime Video library, I stumbled upon "Gueules Noires" ("Black Faces" in English) and found it to be an engaging horror story that was fairly captivating despite its script flaws. The themes draw from a mix of survival horror, mythology, fantasy, and adventure, and backed with good technical execution, make the film a worthwhile viewing. Standout feature has to be excellent camerawork, given that filming had to be done in confined spaces and low-light environments. This added to the tension and in a claustrophobic environment, enhancing the horror experience. Lensman has made excellent use of clever lighting and shakycam to create tension. Editing is tight and never dilutes the tense atmosphere. There are no comic relief or other filler moments in the entire runtime. Once the dark adventure begins, you only get to see the light after the climax. Screenplay stays relevant throughout the film's length with every sequence contributing to plot's speedy progression. Actors too have delivered commendable performances. The dialogue is succinct and impactful, adding to the film's intensity.

The film obviously suffers from budgetary constraints. With a fatter wallet, better special effects and sets could have been arranged. While the script could have been stronger, the film compensates with other elements. Unlike most horror films, this film has tied up loose ends effectively and viewers won't be left with unanswered questions in the end. The emergence of the mythical being and its purpose are all well-explained in the end. The movie concludes with an ambiguous ending, allowing viewers to interpret it in their own way, which I liked a lot.

I am impressed with French Director Mathieu Turi's ideas and work and look forward to watching his upcoming projects.

RECOMMENDED.