Ever since the release of Neil Marshall’s The Descent, we have seen a slew of claustrophobic horrors set in various locations.
While initially billed as closer to Marshall’s classic, The Deep Dark has more DNA with another film set in France, As Above So Below.
Kicking off in 1856, we see a group of miners encounter something over 900 metres down, they take dynamite to it, entombing them and whatever it is for over 100 years.
So a century later an ambitious professor wants to take a mining crew down to the location of the explosion.
I have to admit, The Deep Dark is initially a slow burn, laying the groundwork and doing some excellent character development which will come into play later.
Writer/director Mathieu Turi builds a really rich mythology which only gets better as our miners are put into further peril.
In terms of what they encounter down there, well let’s just say it’s quite striking. There is some seriously good effects work that feels plucked from the mind of H.R Giger.
The Deep Dark is a claustrophobic horror with the added bonus of some monster work that will stay long in the memory.
It is slightly bloated at over 100 minutes, but this doesn’t take away from a memorable feature.
The Deep Dark screens as part of Toronto After Dark Film Festival 2023.
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